Short-Term Consultant on Climate Public Expenditure Analysis At Asian Disaster Preparedness Center

B. Background

Disasters take a huge toll on the development agenda of SAR countries. Between 2000 and 2017, disasters in South Asia incurred estimated damages of US$ 149.27 billion. Public expenditure is under stress by the repeated need to reallocate capital budgets away from long term development planning and towards reconstruction activities in post-disaster environments.

According to the Ministry of Forest and Environment (2018), Nepal has witnessed more climate-induced disaster events in which 80%-property loss accounted for water-related disasters alone. A study from the Integrated Development Society Nepal (2014) claims that the estimated direct loss due to climate change in Nepal is equivalent to 1.5–2% of GDP per year—approximately US$270–360 million per year—and loss is much higher in extreme years, rising to 5% or more. Furthermore, a study on the cost of climate change adaptation in South Asia suggested that the total climate change cost in Nepal will increase over time, with the GDP loss at more than US$62 billion by 2050 (ADB, 2014).

Apart from climate-induced losses, Nepal needs additional mobilization of and access to multi-billion US$ of international and domestic climate finance to build sufficient climate resilience. In the face of apparent climate impacts in the national economy, climate risk informed decision-making and mainstreaming climate finance in national planning and budgeting have been integral for climate-proofing of development gains. To achieve Nepal’s commitment to building a climate resilient future, there is a need for a transformational shift towards policies and institutions that enable climate resilient investments.

With the financial support from the World Bank Group, ADPC is implementing a five-year project titled “Climate Adaptation and Resilience Project for South Asia (CARE for South Asia)”. The project aims to create an enabling environment for climate resilience policies and investments across South Asia. This objective will be achieved through enhanced regional cooperation and knowledge exchange for climate resilience and adaptation and mainstreaming of resilience and adaptation in national policies, plans and investments.

The objectives of this consultancy service are to:

· Conduct an analysis of public finance in relation to climate budgeting and expenditures to understand how the country is delivering climate change activities through public sources of financing in all three tiers of the government (federal, provincial, and local).

· Conduct data collection from key institutions for analysis and develop the climate change expenditure analysis sections of the Climate Public Expenditure and Institutional Review (CPEIR) reports.

C. Statement of Intent

ADPC, through the CARE for South Asia Project, is currently updating Nepal’s CPEIR, which was developed in 2011, within the federal context of the country. The activity aims to better understand the current state of climate change policy and the institutional mechanism to deliver the expected results in relation to the existing policies and targets. The activity also aims to compare the climate change budget allocations and expenditure patterns together with analysis of the budget allocations and audited expenditures at all three tiers of the government. The findings of the activities will provide a comprehensive view and action points for developing a financing framework for climate informed investment plans.

The overall activities on review and update of the CPEIR are being carried out by the Policy Planning and Finance (PPF) team of the project, led by the Climate Finance Specialist based in Nepal. Closely with the Climate Finance Specialist, a qualified and experienced consultant will be required to support the PPF team in providing technical inputs to analyze climate public expenditures in the country. S/he will be selected on a competitive basis following the World Bank Consultants Guidelines.

The consultant will be based in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Note:

It is not the intent of this Terms of Reference to cover every aspect of the position requirements, rather to highlight the most important areas of personal and joint responsibilities.

D. Duties and Responsibilities

The purpose of the consultancy service is to analyze the national, provincial, and local governments’ spending on the climate change adaptation and their effective systems in managing public budgeting and expenditures in Nepal. The consultant is expected to undertake the following tasks:

· Budget review of the federal, provincial, and local governments covering the following specific tasks:

o Collect data and quantify the public finance and climate change related finance in the past 3-5 years

o Track the expenditure of the public finance and climate change related finance against federal, provincial, and local level spending

o Proportional analysis of the public climate finance in relation to national GDP

o Assess the link between the total value of existing public plans and programmes, medium term and annual budget based on the data collected.

o Assess the link between activities related to vulnerable livelihoods/ poverty and climate change budgets at federal, provincial, and local levels based on the data collected

o Quantify the actual funding gaps for financing the climate risk by assessing the difference between existing public financing in the country and financing required to fund the planned spending based on national/ sectorial targets.

· Based on these findings, work alongside the CARE Nepal Planning and Finance Team to support in the development of a climate and disaster risk informed investment action plan for Nepal

Scope of work and deliverables:

Sl no.

Scope of work and deliverables:

Number of working days

1. Report on quantitative data analysis of the national public finance and climate change expenditure at the federal, provincial, and local levels and present results to Nepal PPF team 15 days
2. Report on climate risk informed investment analysis 15 days
3. Develop a concept note on developing a Nepal National Action Plan for Climate and Disaster Risk Informed Investments 5 days

Total: 35 days

E. Qualifications

· Master’s degree or higher in economics with a focus on natural resources, environment, and public economics

· Minimum of 7 years of experience in public financial planning & budgeting, revenue management and budget allocation, tax specialization, public or private procurement, and internal and external auditing at the federal or local government levels, or other professional experience in the finance and accounting field in the public or private sectors

· Demonstrated experience in qualitative data analysis on public finance and expenditures

· Extensive knowledge and understanding of public finance management systems in Nepal

· Proven experience in engaging with public officials in Nepal, especially with the Ministry of Finance

· Work experience with World Bank funded projects is an asset

F. Reporting Relationships

The consultant will report to the Project Director and work closely with the Climate Finance Specialist–Nepal of the CARE for South Asia project and with the Policy, Planning and Finance team in Nepal and Bangkok.

G. Contract Duration

35 working days over a period of 6 months.

H. Selection Method

The consultant will be selected in accordance with ADPC’s recruitment process and in compliance with the World Bank Procurement Regulations.