Navigating climate change: Climate change awareness and strategies in micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises in a developing economy

PLOS One | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0327165 July 2, 2025 8 / 26 Lastly, we examined the factors influencing ventures’ awareness regarding (a) the feasibility of achieving carbon neu- trality within five years and (b) whether carbon neutrality was perceived as unfeasible or not part of their strategic plan. To analyze these decisions, we employed a Probit model with robust standard errors. This model incorporated independent variables related to awareness, including capital and technology barriers, gender balance in leadership, perceived pres- sures from customers and investors, perceived support from the government and key stakeholders (employees), ventures’ awareness of carbon markets, and the adoption of carbon-related practices and programs. To mitigate potential omitted variable bias, we controlled for economic sector and organizational characteristics. The code and data supporting these analyses are publicly accessible via the DOI provided in the Data Availability Statement. Results MSMEs description Initially, we explored the nature of the sample obtained through the survey, categorizing each respondent based on their nature (whether juridic or natural person). Given the scarcity of empirical studies exploring the perceptions, awareness, and CC strategies among non-large organizations, we developed three categories that encompass the majority of Colom- bian business ventures [55,56]: (a) Self-employed -SE- (i.e., single natural individuals who manage all business functions

independently, that is, without employees); (b) Small Business Owners -SBO- (i.e., single natural individuals with at most ten employees but lack a formal organizational structure); and (c) Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises -MSMEs- (i.e., juridical persons with a formal organizational structure). These categories were chosen to capture different types of entities within the Colombian business community, allowing for a more nuanced analysis of the MSMEs’ CC awareness and strategic responses with relevant contrasting groups. Table 1 overviews the sample distribution categorized by the nature of the respondents and their corresponding economic classification (by economic sector and industry). Most of the sample consisted of SE (44.6 percent; N = 648), followed by SBO (37.9 percent; N = 551) and MSMEs (17.5 percent; N = 254). In terms of economic sectors, most of the sample was categorized within the tertiary economic sector (64.3 percent; N = 934), followed by the secondary sector (29.6 percent; N = 430) and the primary sector (6.1 percent; N = 89). Regarding industries, most of the sample consisted of ventures in the wholesale and retail trade industry (Tertiary Sector; 35.2 percent; N = 512), followed by manufacturing industries (Secondary Sector; 26.1 percent; N = 379) and accommo- dation and food services (Secondary Sector; 6.2 percent; N = 90). Overall, the sample distribution is representative of the research context under study, as it reflects the predominant economic activities within such, emphasizing the significant

presence of the tertiary sector over the other ones. Awareness: From global warming to decarbonization Subsequently, we explored the awareness-perceived knowledge of the sample regarding CC and decarbonization (please refer to Table 2 for an overview). Panel A of Table II summarizes the results for the overall sample. The findings indicate that ventures show a considerable familiarity with general concepts such as “Global warming” (36 percent of the sample selected “5” on the scale; Mean All = 3.79) and “Climate Change” (36 percent of the sample selected “5” on the scale; Mean All = 3.81). However, knowledge levels are more moderate for terms such as “Greenhouse Gas Mitigation” (25 per- cent of the sample selected “3” on the scale; Mean All = 2.82), “Adaptation to climate change impacts” (29 percent of the sample selected “3” on the scale; Mean All = 3.31), and “Offsetting of greenhouse gas emissions” (25 percent of the sam- ple selected “3” on the scale; Mean All = 2.70). In contrast, a significant portion of respondents was unfamiliar with “Carbon Neutrality” (38 percent of the sample selected “1” on the scale; Mean All = 2.33) and “Decarbonization” (33 percent of the sample selected “1” on the scale; Mean All = 2.57). These findings indicate that while there exists a slight common knowl- edge of general CC phenomena, more specific terms related to carbon management remain largely unknown among most respondents.