Firm for Promoting Nature- based Solutions to Increase Climate Resilience in South Asia’s Water Sector

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

(CONSULTING SERVICES – FIRMS SELECTION)

Thailand

Climate Adaptation and Resilience (CARE) for South Asia Project

Grant No.: IDA-D6210

Assignment Title: Consulting Firm for Promoting Nature-based Solutions to Increase Climate Resilience in South Asia’s Water Sector

Reference No. TH-ADPC-280588-CS-CQS

The Asian Disaster Preparedness Center has received financing from the World Bank toward the cost of the Climate Adaptation and Resilience (CARE) for South Asia, and intends to apply part of the proceeds for consulting services.

The consulting services (“the Services”) include Promoting Nature-based Solutions to Increase Climate Resilience in South Asia’s Water Sector. The focus of the study will be to enhance regional capacity for the application of Nature-based Solutions in the water sector as a strategy to improve the long-term resilience of key economic sectors and reduce climate induced disaster risks. The details of the assignment are provided in the Terms of Reference (ToR). The services shall be concurrent with the term of the project, nine (09) months, and should include a team of international, regional, and national experts to ensure the integration of international and national best practices and standards of NbS into the study.

The detailed Terms of Reference (ToR) for the assignment are attached to this Request for Expression of Interest.

The Asian Disaster Preparedness Center now invites eligible consulting firm or association of consulting firms (“Consultants”) to indicate their interest in providing the Services. Interested Consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the Services. Consultants will be selected in accordance with the Consultant's Qualification-based Selection (CQS) method set out in the World Bank’s Procurement Regulations and the minimum qualification and experience requirements.

Section I: Introduction and Background

A. About Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC)

ADPC is an autonomous international organization with a vision to reduce disaster and climate risk impacts on communities and countries in Asia and the Pacific by working with governments, development partners, international organizations, NGOs, civil society, private sector, media, and other key stakeholders. Established in 1986 as a technical capacity building center, ADPC has grown and diversified its expertise across social and physical sciences to support sustainable solutions for risk reduction across a broad range of specialist areas. With over 100 staff from 19 different nationalities and a wide range of professional expertise from atmospheric scientists to social scientists with experiences from all levels of engagement typically required for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Resilience (CR) in an effective manner. ADPC is a competent regional resource center and has seven thematic departments: Risk Governance, Climate Resilience, Urban Resilience, Health Risk Management, Preparedness for Response and Recovery, ADPC Academy, and Geospatial Information. These are supported by Finance, Human Resources and Administration, and Strategic Planning departments. In addition to the departments, ADPC works on three cross-cutting themes: Gender and Diversity, Poverty and Livelihoods, and Regional and Transboundary Cooperation through permanent working committees.

For details, please refer to ADPC website at http://www.adpc.net/.

B. About Climate Adaptation and Resilience for South Asia project

The "Climate Adaptation and Resilience for South Asia" or CARE for South Asia project is a five-year (2020-2025), regional project supported by the World Bank, and implemented by Asia Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) and Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System for Africa and Asia (RIMES). The project is supporting the region in building resilience to climate change by improving the availability of regional data and knowledge, developing guidelines, tools and capacities, and promoting climate-resilient decisions, policies and investments across key sectors. The development objective is to contribute to an enabling environment for climate resilience policies and investments in select sectors and countries in South Asia. Key stakeholders include governments and technical agencies at the regional and national level. With the financial support from the World Bank Group, ADPC will be implementing a five years’ project, titled “Climate Adaptation and Resilience Project for South Asia” (CARE).

C. Background

Countries in South Asia face different levels of water stress. The United Nations Water Development Report 2020 suggests that snowmelt and the loss of glacial buffering in the Hindu Kush–Himalayas will affect the seasonal water supply for a significant proportion of South Asia’s population (UNESCO, UN-Water, 2020).

Making up 23.7% of the global population, South Asia has only 4.6% of the world’s renewable water resources. According to the World Bank, the key challenges include ensuring there is a reliable supply of water for daily life while ensuring that the consequences of extreme hydrometeorological events are better managed (Hirji et al., 2017). According to a report from the International Displacement Monitoring Centre, floods and extreme weather events temporarily displaced around 3.4 million people in the Bay of Bengal region in India and Bangladesh in 2019. Water-related natural disasters will lead to increased casualties and impact agriculture and fisheries, the main sources of livelihood for millions of people across the region. The World Bank estimates that climate change could push 62 million South Asians below the extreme poverty line by 2030[1], further increasing their vulnerability to climate change impacts.

The impacts of climate change are further compounded by anthropogenic pressures. Unplanned land use changes and overexploitation of water resources lead to the degradation of ecosystems and water catchment functions, and reduce the overall ability of nature to sequester carbon, maintain biodiversity, retain water and healthy waterways, promote social well-being, and sustain the productivity of agriculture and fisheries.

Nature-based Solutions (NbS), offer a powerful strategy to manage floods, droughts and extreme weather events using approaches that are more flexible and resilient than many traditionally engineered solutions (Browder et al., 2019). Nature-based solutions are approaches that use nature and natural processes for delivering infrastructure, services, and integrative solutions to meet the rising challenge of territorial resilience[2]. Research highlights that NbS can provide approximately 30% of the cost-effective mitigation needed to stabilize warming to below 2°C by 2030 (Griscom et al. 2017). The need to advance nature-based approaches is endorsed by many international agreements and initiatives such as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Paris Climate Agreement.

Recognizing the need to effectively adapt and build resilience to climate change in the water resources sector, the services of a consulting firm will be required to promote Nature-based Solutions in South Asia (with special focus on Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan) under CARE for South Asia project.

Section II. Objective and Scope of the Services

A. Objective

The main objective of the consultancy services is to enhance regional capacity for the application of Nature-based Solutions in the water sector as a strategy to improve the long-term resilience of key economic sectors and reduce climate induced disaster risks. The work will be carried out in three concurrent work packages:

Work Package 1: National government capacity building on NbS tools and approaches;

Work Package 2: Policy analysis and documentation of existing NbS in the water sector;

Work Package 3: Regional guidance for upscaling NbS in the water sector to strengthen long-term resilience to climate change.

B. Scope of Work

The scope of work is as follows:

Work Package 1: National government capacity building on NbS tools and approaches.

Outcome: Enhanced institutional capacity for the application and upscaling of NbS in the water sector to strengthen long-term climate resilience in South Asia with special focus on Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan.

The Work Package 1 would ideally design and deliver a four-hour virtual training module on Nature-based Solutions for relevant government stakeholders (in discussion with ADPC) in Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan. The training module should discuss NbS and its relevance for the water sector, introduce global standards and share relevant global and regional case studies carried out by the firm, illustrating the application of NbS in the water sector as a mechanism to reduce vulnerability to water insecurity and climate induced hydro-meteorological disasters. Experience in developing and delivery of training on NbS with relevance to water sector need to be demonstrated by the consultancy firm.

Work Package 2: Policy analysis and documentation of existing NbS in the water sector

Outcome: Improved understanding of opportunities and barriers to mainstreaming NbS in the water sector in South Asia.

The Work Package 2 is expected to carry out analysis on the level of inclusion of NbS in selected national policies and programs by documenting specific objectives and targets linked to NbS. Selected flagship initiatives funded by the national governments and international development partners are required to be analyzed to document the relevant water and climate change adaptation strategies from these initiatives. Primary data is required to be collected through FGDs/ KIIs targeting officials from the relevant government agencies and private sector companies. The analysis needs to capture officials' understanding and perceptions of NbS in the water sector, as well as policy, institutional and financial challenges hindering its upscaling. The analysis should specifically document private sector expectations of NbS, and potential mechanisms for private sector financing of water and climate-related NbS in South Asia.

Work Package 3: Regional guidance for upscaling NbS in the water sector to strengthen long-term resilience to climate change.

Outcome: Regional guidance creates an enabling environment for upscaling NbS in water management across sectors and contributes to long-term climate change resilience and adaptation in South Asia.

The Work Package 3 is expected to develop a regional guideline on the application and upscaling of NbS in the water sector for long-term resilience to climate change as well as highlight the opportunities and hindrances for upscaling NbS in the water sector for long-term climate resilience. The guidelines should also incorporate:

• Strategic opportunities for ecosystem restoration at all levels, and highlight strategies for engaging the private sector in implementing and financing water-related NbS for climate change adaptation.
• Emphasize the importance of engaging indigenous and marginalized communities, women and youth in mainstreaming NbS.

The consultancy firm also need to support in organizing a dissemination workshop targeting government and private sector partners from all South Asian countries as part of CAP-South Asia, a regional platform, hosted and facilitated by ADPC as part of this assignment.

Section III. Deliverables

The consulting firm will be required to submit the following deliverables as a result of the implementation of activities as outlined in this terms of reference:

• Inception report elaborating on the methodologies for key activities, workplans for the consultancy and outline of the regional guideline (15 days after signing contract).
• Detailed final closure report covering the results and achievements including knowledge products prepared, analysis, findings, lessons learnt, and conclusion and recommendations (8 months after signing contract – to be discussed at contract negotiation)**.**
• Monthly report on the progress of activities and monitoring of deliverables (end of every calendar month).

Besides the above the following essential outputs are required for each package

Work package 1 output:

1. Training materials for the NbS capacity building (presentations, case studies and group exercises);

2. Implementation of three half-day training workshops, one each in Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan;

3. Three national reports summarizing key discussion points and participants' feedback.

Work package 2 output:

1. A regional report sharing key messages and recommendations from policy analysis and perception surveys.

2. Policy Brief for South Asia on promoting NbS for building resilience water resources sector in South Asia.

Work package 3 output:

1. Regional guideline for promoting and mainstreaming NbS in the water sector for climate change adaptation

2. One regional dissemination workshop with government officials and key stakeholders from South Asia in collaboration with ADPC.

Section IV. Selection, and Others

A. Selection Criteria

• The Consultant is expected to be a firm or an association of consulting firms with the appropriate capabilities and experience of at least 10 years in the field of Nature-based solution development and capacity building with specific capacity to execute the services in implementing Nature-based solutions, policy recommendations in Asia in the last 5 years.
• This assignment requires a team of international, regional, and national experts to ensure the integration of international and national best practices and standards into the study.
• The consulting firm or association of consulting firms shall have profiles and strong background in: i) natural resource management and NbS in Asia, ii) river/wetland management, iii) water governance, iv) capacity building and mainstreaming of NbS, v) climate change, and vi) other relevant fields.
• The firm or association of consulting firms should have experience in development of global standards and tools related to NbS.
• The firm or association of consulting firms should have a track record in carrying out technical assistance and consultancy services on Nature-based Solution, water resource management, and project management, and have proven experience in planning, implementation and management of programs related to Nature-based Solutions in the water sector, and stakeholder engagement.
• The firm or association of consulting firms should have proven experience of working with federal and provincial government agencies, the Green Climate Fund, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, UN or international agencies in South Asia.
• The firm or association of consulting firms should have proven experience of undertaking assignment of similar nature in South Asia.
• The firm or association of consulting firms should have good understanding of water resource management sector and climate change issues in South Asia.
• The firm or association of consulting firms should have proven ability for primary data collection, and analysis for relevant activities.
• The firm or association of consulting firms should have availability and access to Infrastructure/equipment/software etc. required for the completion of the assignment.
• The firm or association of consulting firms should demonstrate financial capacity to execute this requirement.
• The firm or association of consulting firms should demonstrate financial capacity based on previous activities which align to the current requirements.
• The firm or association of consulting firms should evidence financial size of the last three (3) projects and year wise turnover for the last five (5) financial years.
• The firm or association of consulting firms should have country office or country representation in all the three project countries and in South Asia.
• The firm or association of consulting firms should provide a list of essential technical expertise/human resources with their detailed CV in World Bank format to complete activities and tasks and deliver quality outputs on time.

B. Selection Method

· The firm or association of consulting firms will be selected in accordance with ADPC’s procurement process and in compliance with the World Bank Procurement Regulations. Firm or association of consulting firms will be selected on Consultant’s Qualification-based Selection (CQS).

Note: Firms should not submit any financial proposal with the EoI.

C. Reporting Relationships

The Team Lead from the firm or association of consulting firms will report to Director, Climate Resilience and work in close coordination with Project Director CARE for South Asia Project, Bangkok (Thailand).

The technical oversight will be provided by Integrated Water Resources Management Specialist (Regional) at the Bangkok office and country water sector specialists through the PIU.

D. Contract Duration

· The contract duration will be for Nine (09) months from the date of signing of the contract. It is important to note that the consulting firm or association of consulting firms will be expected to produce a few priority deliverables in the shortest possible time.

E. Other Eligibility

·State-owned enterprises (SOEs), NGOs and universities (either alone, joint venture or sub-consultant) may be eligible to compete and be awarded contracts only if they can establish, in an acceptable manner that they (i) are legally and financially autonomous; (ii) operate under commercial law; and (iii) are not under supervision by the agency(ies) they will work with.

How to apply

Visit EoI and ToR for more information

Expressions of interest must be delivered in a written form to the address below (in person, or by mail, or by fax, or by e-mail) by 23.59 hours ICT/BKK Time) on 25 April 2022.

The Asian Disaster Preparedness Center

Attn: Ms. Kulradtha Sukprasert, Chief of HRA

SM Tower, 24th Floor, 979/66-70 Paholyothin Road,

Phayathai, Bangkok 10400 Thailand

Tel: +66 2 298 0681-92

Fax: +66 2 298 0012

E-mail: procurement.care@adpc.net