The importance of green entrepreneurship in the context of green economy and sustainable development

Abstract

Green entrepreneurship is becoming more and more seen as a tool that could connect environmental goals with business development; however, empirical evidence is in many instances still scattered between the global market and national policy and energy indicators. This study assesses the role, opportunities and constraints of green entrepreneurship through peer-reviewed literature and secondary institutional data (from LSEG, World Economic Forum, OECD, ICC and Sage, IRENA and ILO as well as official sources of Azerbaijan). Non-equivalent indicators are not compared, but rather the study uses structured descriptive benchmarking in the areas of market expansion, technology costs, SME finance and Azerbaijan's renewable-energy and policy environment. The data reveal that global green-economy market capitalisation surpassed US$10 trillion in 2026, and that green revenues increased by 5.3% in 2025; the value of the green economy is projected to exceed US$7 trillion by 2030 and is already more than US$5 trillion. The share of SMEs stating that sustainability is important grew from 67% in 2024 to 70% in 2025, while green-finance applications and receipts stayed at 3% and 1% respectively. The share of renewables in Azerbaijan's overall energy supply increased from 1.3% in 2021 to 2.3% in 2025, with robust renewable energy development in solar and wind, and over AZN 34 million in concessional financing for 36 green projects. The results show that the market and technology momentum need to be supported by available finance, reporting ability, regulatory certainty, and specific government assistance to ensure that green-economy growth leads to greater entrepreneurial activity.