Consultant to Prepare an Action Plan and Finance and Investment Plan under the Forest Finance and Investment Incubator Project At Conservation International

Background

This consultancy is part of the project, “Forest Finance and Investment Incubator” (hereinafter, “FFII”), which aims to catalyze private sector financing of national and sub-national climate strategies in the forestry, agriculture, and land-use sectors. FFII is led by Conservation International (CI), in collaboration with the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) under a three-year cooperative agreement with the US Department of State (DOS).

Given deforestation’s role as a main source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Colombia, national mitigation efforts have focused on the agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU) sector. The private sector can play an important role in reducing deforestation by increasing the supply and demand of legally harvested wood, improving the productivity of coffee and cocoa on lands already cleared, and integrating forestry elements in agricultural practices, among other activities, such as forest restoration and the collection of non-timber forest products. The FFII project consists of three stages. The first consisted of identifying the enabling conditions that currently limit investment, as well as key investment opportunities. The second is focused on the development of Finance and Investment Plans (FIPs) that provide roadmaps to channel capital towards projects aligned with public policies on climate change and financing, as well as an Action Plan to address the enabling conditions to enhance investments on key drivers of GHG emissions. The third stage will facilitate the mobilization of specific flows of capital to the identified investment projects.

FFII Focus in Colombia

In Stage 1, CI and GGGI conducted a preliminary assessment of the Colombian economic and investment environment and relevant climate policies, strategies, and plans to identify agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU) sector opportunities with the potential to deliver significant national-level emissions reductions and removals and attract increased domestic, regional and global climate financing. Based on the Stage 1 analysis, the following opportunities were prioritized. A summary of government spatial area and emissions abatement targets for each of opportunity area.

(a) Sustainable livestock management, including opportunities to reduce GHG emissions by optimizing soil carbon management (improved grazing management) and reducing deforestation driven by pasture expansion (cattle intensification). Investment opportunities may include but may not be limited to mobilization or optimization of payments for ecosystem services schemes, livestock productivity enhancements, creation, or expanded access to sustainable product niche markets, and both domestic and international carbon opportunities.

(b) Sustainable forest management, including but not limited to opportunities for agricultural production co-located with native timber species, which may require local capacity building to establish sustainable projects and to generate viable financing mechanisms.

(c) Sustainable forestry integrated with cocoa farming, including but not limited to opportunities to expand sustainable and “climate smart” agriculture practices, and expanding marketing opportunities for Colombia’s nearly 2 million hectares of cocoa production. Although its GHG emissions mitigation potential is low compared with other land use strategies, pairing sustainable cocoa production with agroforestry may enable expanded access to existing green financing markets.

In each case, opportunities for domestic and international carbon market financing as a means of supporting reduced AFOLU sector emissions and transition toward low-carbon development pathways will be explored. Colombia’s carbon market stakeholders, and other forms of Payment for Ecosystem Services, could be expected to offer financing opportunities to both the public and private sectors, as well as support other climate-related national or subnational government initiatives.

Consultancy Objectives

1. General.

Lead the development of the Action Plan and the Finance and Investment Plan, which will address enabling conditions and next steps to mobilize project financing tailored to specific opportunities with partners.

2. Specific.
• Create a map of actors with a relationship-building strategy that guarantees the participation of various stakeholders, particularly the active involvement of the private and financial sectors.

• Consolidate an Action Plan to improve or establish the enabling conditions and incorporate feedback from discussions with partners. It is expected that this will contain concrete actions and overarching strategies to address these challenges.

• Develop Finance and Investment Plans for specific opportunities to be defined in the two priority investment areas, following the guidelines provided for each activity in the following sections and other relevant guidance.

• Ensure the final products identified in Stage 2 of FFII receive endorsement from the relevant authorities, the identities of whom will be determined by discussions with project partners.

Chronological List of Proposal Events

The following calendar summarizes important dates in the solicitation process. Offerors must strictly follow these deadlines.

RFP Amended & Reposted 4 October 2021

Complete proposals due to CI 22 October 2021 (due by 18:00 Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)

Final selection 5 November 2021

For the full Request for Proposals, please click here: https://cicloud.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/default-source/s3-library/rfps/rfp-ffii-stage2-consultant-colombia_amended.pdf?sfvrsn=b851c1ad_2