Consultancy: Climate change and disaster risk reduction field guide

Background

In September 2008, CRS articulated the agency perspective on global climate change in the paper Climate Change and the Call to Global Solidarity. The paper concludes with the recommendation that CRS respond in several ways. Overseas programs should help communities to increase their resilience to climate shocks. Through its operations in the US, CRS should educate and engage the Catholic community from the perspective of justice and solidarity with the poor and marginalized overseas. CRS should advocate with policy makers on legislation and issues of adaptation funding, regulating carbon emissions, the role of biofuels in the global food crisis and commitment to effective international agreements. CRS should reduce its own carbon footprint and help offset carbon emissions. In April 2010 CRS convened a Disaster Risk Reduction Climate Change Workshop (DRR CC) at which 36 key staff and partners gathered to share approaches to climate change and disaster risk reduction across regions and sectors and to define how CRS can move beyond business as usual practices. During this four day workshop, participants agreed that CRS can and should become a recognized industry leader in the response to climate change. The Call to Respond The Bishops have prioritized the focus on poor and vulnerable persons and communities at home and abroad to protect them from the impacts of climate change and to provide them the resources needed to address climate change.

CRS has a vital role to play in two aspects of climate change initiatives

• Through innovative and excellent field programs to mitigate against climate change, adapt to the impacts of climate change and reduce risks to increasing disasters.
• CRS and local partners are the interface between communities and opportunities to manage their climate related risks
• By engaging US Catholics to better understand how climate change affects the poor and marginalized overseas and to be better stewards of the environment.

The second priority recommendation upon which the group agreed was that CRS should develop a Disaster Risk Reduction Climate Change Field Guide with the following purpose. The guide should:

• Provide guidance for program staff to carry out holistic climate change mitigation and adaptation programming
• Include a brief overview of what CC is, how it will affect the people we serve and our programs.
• Explain overlaps between climate change adaptation, climate change mitigation, disaster risk reduction and food and livelihood security.
• Be developed by sector with the inclusion of a brief table that allows country programs to focus on what’s most relevant to the user’s region/country.
• The guide should highlight major hazards and risks with links to “further resources” for more information to keep it from becoming a resource that appears overwhelming to busy field staff.
• How to engage with communities provide information on CC and ways they can reduce adverse impact.
• Include the importance of CC programming from an Environmental Do No Harm lens
• How to use the CRS Integral Human Development Framework to understand climate change (trends & hazards/shocks) and develop appropriate interventions.

Tasks

One of the tasks prior to the 2010 DRR CC workshop was to inventory DRR and CC projects at that time. Though this has not been updated, several regional workshops have focused on advancing staffs’ understanding of climate change issues and defining how CRS will advance programs that include climate change considerations and appropriate and cutting edge interventions.

CRS has prioritized the development of a guide/document to advance climate change initiatives to be completed in 2012.

Scope of the consultancy

Due to the time that has passed since the development of a field guide was proposed in May 2010, the consultancy will be carried out in a three-phase process:

Phase 1

• The consultant will carry out a desk scoping study to understand what key stakeholders define as most useful to advance CRS’ programs that address CC at this point in time.
• This may take the form of a concise guide/document to support the design of CC programs or perhaps a compendium of case studies of current CRS field work in CC and in DRR programs that include a CC dimension.

Phase 2

• Coordinate with the consultancy team (see below) supporting the consultancy to finalize the scope of the final guide/document that would be most useful for field staff to advance CC initiatives.

Phase 3

• Work with key staff in the regions to develop the guide/document as agreed with key stakeholders in Phase 2.

Deliverables

• Report on the scoping study
• Outline of the CC guide/document
• First draft of the guide/document
• Final guide/document

Key working relationships

• Senior Advisor for Climate Change & Rural Livelihoods, Latin America & the Caribbean Senior Technical Advisor for Disaster Risk Reduction
• Key Technical Staff Engaged in the Project Senior TA for Agriculture and Natural Resource Management Regional Technical Advisor, Agro Enterprise and Climate Change
• Senior Technical Advisor for Agriculture and Environment Principal Technical Adviso , Ag & Env (Global)