PURPOSE OF THIS CONTRACT

The purpose of this procurement is to obtain a consultant for the realization of research on a selection of specific cases of Climate Finance projects (for adaptation, L&D, transition/mitigation) to national governments and/or (development) banks in Bangladesh and Philippines; assessing the level of grassroot community involvement in its design, implementation and spending, the level to which they respond to the needs of the communities and the level of direct access to this climate finance of the grassroots communities in the frontline of climate change.  

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT

This research is a joint initiative of 2 regional programs in Asia: Fair Finance Asia - FFA and Transboundary Rivers of South Asia – TROSA.

TROSA (Transboundary Rivers of South Asia) is a regional programme funded by the Swedish Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, which started in 2017 and continues till 2027. The program promotes inclusive water governance in transboundary river basins (Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna) in South Asia. Currently, TROSA is operational at the regional level and in 4 countries in South Asia, namely Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Bhutan. TROSA’s PMU is hosted at Oxfam in Cambodia with a regional team-based Bangladesh, India and Cambodia.  Program partners work with a cross-section of stakeholders involving river basin leaders, communities, women groups, and Civil Society Organization (CSO) networks, governments, and the private sector at various levels. (https://cambodia.oxfam.org/TROSA)

FFA (Fair Finance Asia) is funded by the Swedish Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand. FFA Phase 1 was from 2018 to 2022. FFA launched Phase 2 in January 2023. FFA is a network of over 90 CSOs in Asia working to ensure that financial institutions operating in Asia are transparent and accountable to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria in their business activities and investment decisions. FFA aspires to reduce inequality in Asia by creating an enabling policy environment for integration of social and environmental considerations among financial institutions (FIs) in the region and ensuring that FIs advance the interests and needs of local communities towards their well-being. FFA is operational at the regional level and in 10 countries across Asia, namely Bangladesh Cambodia, Lao PDR, India, Indonesia, Japan, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. FFA’s regional Executive Team (ET) is hosted in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, with staff based regionally. (https://fairfinanceasia.org/)

SCOPE OF WORK

An analysis of the level of involvement of grassroots communities in the frontline of climate change in the design, implementation and spending of Climate Finance projects; the level to which these projects respond to the needs of the communities; and the level of direct access to this climate finance of these grassroots communities; with specific attention for diversity in terms of gender, age, ethnicity and castes.