Individual Consultant (Bangladesh – Pre-feasibility Study of carbon project)

Hardship Level (not applicable for home-based)

H (no hardship)FamilyCONS Local2025-01-15January 4, 2025Individual Consultancy Contract with UNHCR, Division of External Relations, Innovative Finance
Duty station: Home-based
Duration: To start as soon as possible for a duration of five months
Working arrangement: Part-time

Title of project: REP Fund – Bangladesh – Pre-feasibility Study of carbon project
Purpose of project:
This consultancy aims at (i) assessing the feasibility of transitioning the existing SAFE+2 LPG supply programme in Bangladesh Cox’s Bazar to a carbon-financed model and (ii) recommending project structure and arrangements with stakeholders.

GENERAL BACKGROUND OF PROJECT OR ASSIGNMENT, OPERATIONAL CONTEXT:

Climate change and environmental crises such as deforestation are critical problems in refugee situations. UNHCR estimates that 20-25 million trees are cut down annually in and around refugee settlements. The urgent need for cooking fuel drives 90% of this deforestation. The need for cooking fuel often results in environmental degradation, such as soil erosion, landslides, and desertification, which threaten safe living conditions and livelihoods for forcibly displaced and their hosts alike. Also, as the wood collection perimeter widens with deforestation, it leads to protection risks, especially for women and girls who must travel further to collect wood, putting them at increased risk of sexual- and gender-based violence. It also adversely affects the education of adolescents, resulting in reduced learning hours due to time spent collecting wood. Environmental degradation also heightens the risk of conflict between refugees and hosts. Finally, the indoor air pollution caused by cooking with firewood can be improved by introducing cleaner cooking solutions, reducing associated health hazards.

UNHCR will continue strengthening existing clean cooking and environmental programming to mitigate these negative impacts and improve protection outcomes. Against this backdrop, UNHCR has launched the Refugee Environmental Protection (REP) Fund to invest in impactful reforestation and clean cooking programs in climate-vulnerable refugee situations around the world.

The Fund aims to plant tens of millions more trees and enable hundreds of thousands of refugees and their hosts to access clean cooking solutions over the next decade. Doing so will link refugees and host communities to the global carbon markets, empowering them to become part of the worldwide movement to combat climate change.

As part of this effort, the Fund also seeks to build on developing existing activities implemented by Country Operations, such as reforestation or clean cooking programs, and registering those activities with carbon standards to secure additional funding sources.

UNHCR Bangladesh is coordinating the SAFE+2 program implemented by FAO, IOM, UNHCR and WFP that includes the distribution of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and cooking kits to refugees in Cox’s Bazar camps in Bangladesh, which benefits close to 1 million persons. The current program will run until 2025 and requires annual funding of approx. USD 32 million. Fundraising for such programs has become more complex over the years as humanitarian funding shrinks, posing the risk of halting the program despite its various benefits.

A multi-year study was carried out between 2019 and 2022 by Stanford University as part of the SAFE+ program and found significant multisectoral benefits: refugees had more time for learning and livelihood activities, ate better, and were less stressed. Indoor air quality improved, and thousands of hectares of forests were regenerated. Through this field study, a large amount of data was gathered, which can be helpful for the certification of the project.
Considering the difficulties to maintain funding levels in a protracted crisis such as the Rohingya response, SAFE+ 2 partners have been highlighting the need to identify alternative financing mechanisms to ensure the provision of LPG amongst other key humanitarian services. In particular, IOM is launching an Innovation Norway funded project to explore sustainable financing mechanisms for green shelter and settlements interventions that can be complementary on its scope to the present ToR.

Statement of Purpose and Objectives:
The REP Fund aims to help address these complex issues by creating an innovative and sustainable financing mechanism to invest in strengthening and scaling up UNHCR reforestation and clean-cooking programs in climate-vulnerable refugee-hosting communities worldwide. This funding mechanism should contribute to sustainable funding and facilitate long term financial planning.

The carbon impact of these programs would be registered and verified (e.g., via Gold Standard) to generate the first-ever large-scale refugee-generated carbon credits. The sale of these credits would help replenish the Fund, allowing it to re-invest in new reforestation and clean cooking programs, making the Fund more financially and operationally sustainable. The Fund’s environmental programs would also generate green jobs for refugees and host communities in places where they can be employed. In the case of Bangladesh, the carbon revenue will subsidize the existing activities and allow to scale them up.

This proposal seeks to identify a consultant to conduct a pre-feasibility study to determine the appropriate contractual arrangements for transitioning the existing LPG distribution program in Bangladesh to a carbon-financed model and assess the viability of such a conversion.

The Scope of Work of the consultancy does not include the registration and certification of the project.

PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF ASSIGNMENT:

1. REQUIREMENTS
1.1 Project title or core requirement

The consultant would be responsible for analyzing the following topics and providing a recommendation on the structure and arrangements needed for the new implementation modality:

A. Review the current model
1. Review the existing framework and activities of the SAFE+2 programme
o Focus on the LPG, pressure cooker, and cookstoves distribution model
o Identify other activities that could be included later in the project design, such as reforestation, plantations (e.g., bamboo or mangroves), solarization, etc., or that could be further developed by other SAFE+2 partners (e.g. by IOM through similar funded projects).

2. Map all entities in the current model framework and provide an overview of their roles/responsibilities and contractual obligations.
o List to be refined together with UNHCR but would include: UNHCR and partner agencies involved in the SAFE+2; current and prospective donors to SAFE+2 program; LPG suppliers, cookstoves and pressure cookers manufacturers, distributors, implementing partners; Government of Bangladesh; refugee and host community representatives.

3. Assess implications of terminating/renegotiating existing contractual arrangements (e.g., LPG or stove supply contracts with third parties) to transition to the new project structure and recommend preferred approach and timeline

B. Regulatory framework analysis:
- Mapping applicable local, national, and international regulations related to energy and cooking access, including registering and monetizing carbon credits.
- Assessment of government climate strategy and action plan for implementing its NDC and existing agreements with other countries to foster climate investments in Bangladesh through compliance and voluntary carbon markets
- Assessment of supply regulatory framework in Bangladesh for LPG and other relevant clean fuels
- Review the Government of Bangladesh’s refugee policies and existing agreements defining UNHCR’s work in the country and the project area.


C. Develop new implementation structure and contractual arrangements needed under a carbon-financed model

- Identify the stakeholders required in the new model and define their roles and responsibilities:
o Flag the entities whose roles should evolve or cease under the new structure and provide a rationale
o Develop diagram structures for the new model: high-level, operational, and financial
o Specify the financial flows between the different project entities over the project cycle, covering the different funding sources available, and flag where any financial buffer or guarantee mechanisms are needed against identified risks.

- Consult with, together with UNHCR, existing and future project stakeholders to
o Assess their support for transitioning to the new model and collect views on the project structure design,
o Assess the Government of Bangladesh’s support for the project and willingness to expand to host communities
o Confirm their capacity to take on the envisaged role (e.g. carbon developers contracting direct suppliers of LPG and other potential clean cooking fuels, monitoring, distribution, and stove maintenance)
o Assess their interest in financing under the new model whenever applicable. This is particularly relevant for UNHCR donor countries that have developed crediting mechanisms or other carbon finance agreements with Bangladesh, e.g., under Art 6 of the Paris Agreement. The type of financing requested will need to be defined.
o Assess their interest and capabilities to benefit from the carbon model especially for other UN Organizations and NGOs involved in LPG provision and looking to leverage carbon finance for energy and environmental conservation interventions in displacement settings.
o Project stakeholders to consult include:
• Government of Bangladesh
• existing donors to UNHCR Bangladesh and Regional Bureau
• existing donors to SAFE+2
• SAFE+2 partners (FAO, IOM, WFP)
• Refugees and host communities
• The Energy and Environment Network
• Corporate investors
• Carbon developers
• Current and prospective project implementers
• UNHCR teams: IF, LAS, Bangladesh CO (including Energy and Environment and Field and Site Management unit), HQ Energy and Environment team, Procurement team, regional Climate Action Team

- Coordinate with the IOM project on “sustainable financing for green shelter and settlement interventions” to leverage synergies between the two interventions.

- For the LPG supply and distribution, based on market and regulatory assessments:
o Summarize typical payment and delivery terms and contractual arrangements with LPG suppliers
o Recommend preferred order, delivery/offtake, and distribution modalities of the fuel to the project area
o Suggest any changes to the current business model to (i) improve project efficiency - e.g., review cases of recent fuel shortage, purchase price above market price, or other reported issues – or (ii) accommodate the future project design parameters, e.g., if demand is increased. Suggest possible remedies, including operational changes, additional storage capacity, infrastructure investments, etc.
o If required, explore the feasibility of introducing guarantee or hedging mechanisms to mitigate associated risks under the envisaged structure, e.g., in case of partial deferred payment by the purchaser, unavailability to secure a fixed/subsidized price contract from the suppliers, etc.
o Develop risk matrix and mitigation actions including policy risk, funding risk and other relevant risks.

- Consult key UNHCR stakeholders in the Bangladesh operation, headquarters, and the regional bureau on the recommended arrangements’ technical, legal, and financial feasibility.

D. Carbon asset development and certification
- Document project additionality and eligibility for carbon finance (i.e., validation that the donor-funded project is not economically viable without carbon credit revenue, is not required by law, and will not result in double counting of carbon credits generated).
- Confirm the project’s financial, legal, and technical feasibility and whether some design parameters must be adjusted (stove type, distribution model, monitoring)
- Recommend the carbon certification methodology to be used and under which regulations (compliance market or Art 6 voluntary market)
- Provide an overview of the legal arrangements for project implementation and carbon credit ownership and certification (e.g., registration and approvals required from the government, carbon certifiers, etc.).
- Assess the need for political insurance coverage depending on the Government of Bangladesh’s support for the project and the inclusion of host communities in the project.
- Map existing or potential project implementation partners and carbon project developers.
- Provide a financial estimate of project economics over the life of identified cookstove and fuel options, including a detailed estimate of expected carbon credits generated, costs generated (including one-time stoves costs, replacement costs, fuel costs, maintenance costs but also additional investment to accommodate project demand and ensure long term sustainability), and associated expected carbon credit revenue generated.
- Provide an estimation of project outcomes and benefits, including environmental, social, protection, and economic benefits for refugees and host community beneficiaries. Note: existing data was collected under previous research spanning 2019-2022 on SAFE+2 multisectoral benefits conducted by Standford University and will be available.
- Any other recommendations for implementation
- Provide an overview of similar and associated projects within neighboring areas and geographies.
- Timeline for registering the project with carbon standards

Key questions to address on the topics mentioned above include:
1. Which entities need to be involved along the supply chain of LPG and cookstoves and their distribution and maintenance? Should a third party deliver the LPG -or other clean cooking fuel if relevant- and cookstoves at UNHCR distribution points or perform the distribution within the camps? Who should be responsible for the maintenance of the devices?
a. Identify private companies, social enterprises or NGOs, and state agencies that may be suitable implementing partners for these activities.
2. On financial flows:
a. Who would own the carbon certificates, monetize the carbon credits, and who would be the final recipient of the carbon revenue, depending on the LPG contracting entity (UNHCR, carbon developer, etc.)?
b. Estimate liquidity buffer/working capital needed to deal with timing difference between financials outflows (project operating expenses) and inflows (carbon revenue)
3. Are benefit-sharing agreements needed, for example, with the Government of Bangladesh, host communities, or cookstoves users?
4. Describe local, long-term best-practice examples for clean cookstove projects.

Additional legal questions:
For each type of ownership identified under the point “location,” clarify:
a. Who owns the carbon sequestered in the light of the subject of Nationally Determined Contributions?
b. Who owns the carbon sequestered carbon in light of the Gold Standard certification or other selected scheme?
c. Who owns the carbon sequestered in the light of general national property rights?
d. Specify which party in the envisaged project framework will have the legal obligation to justify the values of carbon sequestered.


1.2 Deliverables and Timeline

The project is expected to take [4-5] months and will comprise the following phases of work:

I. Planning and inception Phase

The first step of the consultancy would be to review the Document Package made available by UNCHR about sections A and B above and request any missing information. [3 weeks]

Based on this review, the consultant and UNHCR will agree on the assessment work plan, especially the stakeholder consultation strategy. UNHCR will coordinate and schedule initial meetings in [week 4].

The expected scope of work would be:
• Compilation and preliminary review of documents
• Mapping of stakeholders
• Designing and agreeing on consultations needed
• Scheduling initial appointments with other key stakeholders and agreeing that UNHCR should facilitate and join.

II. Consultation Phase

This second step is expected to take [6 weeks]. The anticipated scope of work would be:
• Appointments with critical stakeholders
• Review of additional documentation made available.
• Weekly Steering Committees with UNCHR to present the latest findings or debrief the latest meetings, refine the initial project framework, and solve any blocking points or issues.
• On a need basis, present progress and raise blocking points to the SAFE+2 monthly coordination meeting.
• Preparation and submission of the Draft Project Feasibility Assessment Report

III. Data Management and Report Compilation

The consultant would be responsible for synthesizing the data collected and preparing the Final Project Feasibility Assessment Report, including incorporating feedback from key stakeholders and clearly stating any outstanding gaps to be bridged before the project can be implemented. The Final Project Feasibility Assessment Report should provide a timeline and recommendation for implementing the new model structure.

This phase should take up to [6 weeks]. The expected scope of work would be:
• Data Analysis and Synthesis
• Preparation and submission of a draft Report for final review by UNCHR
• Validation workshop
• Incorporation of comments
• Preparation and Submission of the Final Report
• Report workshop with wider UNCHR audience and key stakeholders
• Training of technical staff (internal and external) on methodology

IV. Cross-cutting tasks

In addition to the above, the consultant is expected to:
i. Develop a detailed work plan and timeline for all three phases of the project, which will be submitted to and agreed upon with UNHCR. This should be finalized within the first two weeks of the contract, though it may be adjusted and amended over the project as needed with agreement with UNHCR.
ii. Update UNHCR on Project activities and findings on a biweekly basis.
iii. Update the UNHCR Project Steering Committee to review the project’s findings and provide guidance on the planned activities for the subsequent Phase, as applicable. The consultant shall prepare pre-read and presentation materials to the feasibility studies project. In coordination with UNHCR and if needed, provide up to two [2] briefings to SAFE+2 coordination committee to inform them on progress and final outcomes of the study. Final briefing may be done as part of the report workshop.
iv. All written communication with UNHCR shall be in English.

CANDIDATE REQUIREMENTS, SELECTION CRITERIA

Required/mandatory:

- University degree required - Environmental Science preferred

The personnel are expected to meet the following requirements:

A. Proven track record of feasibility assessment and experience with assessing project development relating to carbon credit-financed reforestation and clean cooking projects, including understanding applicable legal and regulatory considerations, preferably in developing countries and in resource-poor, resource-constrained, or humanitarian settings.
B. Experience in displacement, conflict, and fragile settings, including experience in environmental management, conservation, and restoration, is highly desirable.
C. Can collate and analyse primary and secondary data relevant to the feasibility assessment, draw conclusions, and make recommendations accordingly.
D. Expertise in the geographies under consideration, including language skills necessary to conduct primary and secondary research.
E. Capacity to assess partnerships with organizations in the country and region of the studies.
F. Expertise in project management.
G. Travel will be required to country, if agreed with UNHCR

The selected consultant can subcontract individuals to assist them with the assignment. The quality of work will be the sole responsibility of the consultant contracted by UNHCR. The consultant should provide UNHCR with the CVs of personnel assigned to work with them. UNHCR will accept/reject any proposed subcontractor.

The ideal candidate must have experience designing carbon-finance clean cooking projects in Bangladesh, including LPG as the primary fuel source.

Desirable:
Experience with other fuel types, such as biomass or solar, will be looked upon favorably but is not a requirement.

Travel:
Travel will be required for the selected country feasibility study team. The selected consultant must have relevant language capabilities and arrange translation services as needed. The consultant(s) will make all travel arrangements, which UNHCR can facilitate if required. Team members who are providing back-up support may not need to travel.

Content of the Technical Offer:

A description of your professional background with evidence of your and your personnel’s capacity to perform the services required, including:
• CVs of personnel/subcontractors to be involved in the feasibility study
• Description of the personnel/subcontractor expertise in these services, including geographic coverage, technical abilities, and language abilities
• Number of, experience in, and relevance and quality of, similar projects completed and ongoing. Descriptions of up to 5 examples of relevant previous projects, summarized in 1 page each or less.
• Proven track record of research, policy, and feasibility development relating to carbon credit-financed reforestation and clean cooking
• Understanding the central policy and financing approaches towards carbon credit-financed reforestation and clean cooking projects.

Minimum years of work experience (NOTE: candidates with less years of experience cannot be short-listed or recommended): 10 years

Language: English

 

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Home-Based

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