Background

The Government of Mongolia has committed to a green development path, notably through the preparation and approval of the Green Development Policy, Government Policy on Forest and Sustainable Development Goals in Mongolia. REDD+ has the potential to contribute to green development by protecting global environmental resources (forest carbon stocks and biodiversity), helping to reverse land degradation, promoting the improvement of rural livelihoods and aiding adaptation to climate change. On the basis of the above international and national contexts, the country has quickly taken steps since 2011 to start implementing REDD+ readiness activities, including the preparation of its National REDD+ Readiness Roadmap, which was officially adopted by the MEGDT in June 2014.  To support this effort, the UN-REDD Mongolia National Programme (NP) was established to provide technical assistance to the Government of Mongolia in implementing the National REDD+ Readiness Roadmap through which to prepare Mongolia’s REDD+ Strategy and establish other key elements and information streams required under the UNFCCC to make REDD+ operational in the country.  

Duties and Responsibilities

The objective of this assignment is to do a review of financing mechanisms, natural resource tax and ecosystem service payments, to elaborate and discuss with relevant Ministries whether these could be included for development in the REDD Action Plan. The work will primarily be based on review and updating of existing assessments undertaken by BioFin, Adelphi, ADB etc.  and supplemented by focus group discussions with relevant stakeholders. This work will feed into the development of Mongolia’s National REDD+ Strategy. In undertaking this assignment, the international and national consultant (working closely with the UN-REDD PMU, and close collaboration with UNDP BIOFIN and UNDP MRPA projects who are also working on sustainable financing options) to identify existing and potential national, private and donor financing mechanisms for the National Strategy including.

The International Consultant will be supported by a National Consultant and the Project Management Unit.

• The International Consultant will provide conceptual leadership to guide the work of national expert to deliver below described expected results.  The International consultant will lead the preparation of written deliverables, including final report, and assume ultimate responsibility of the overall study.       
• The National Consultant will lead the organisation and facilitation of workshops to be conducted and assume leadership for discussions with key stakeholders. The National Consultant will contribute to the final report and collate / analyse documents and policies from Mongolian Government that are of relevance. The following tasks will be undertaken:

1.0 Literature Review

To undertake a literature review of reports analysing financial issues to summarise opportunities related to the REDD+ or forests sector and to identify any further research, disagreements or issues that need to be expanded upon for the assessment of finance mechanisms and opportunities for a REDD+ strategy.

2.0 National Finance Mechanisms:

To identify existing national financial mechanisms, taxation, levies and proposals that may be available for future leveraging for climate change and forest management as part of the National Strategy; including a review of the roles and responsibilities of the Nature Conservation and Climate Fund, and the new proposed Natural Resource Tax and other mechanisms; 

Identification of opportunities to re-direct finance flows that are supporting activities linked to sustainable forest management, deforestation and degradation;

Identify highest potential or ‘low hanging fruit’ funding mechanisms which can be applied to the forests sector including ecosystem services payments and identify specific changes required to existing or proposed laws/policies to establish forest financing mechanisms. The report should also suggest benefit sharing mechanisms to ensure transparency and equitable revenue sharing;

The report should identify which specific measures should be developed as a Policy and Measure for the National Forest and Climate Change  / REDD+ Strategy;

The report should also look at regular budgeting process (analysing flows, amounts, processes, bottlenecks; Role of Nature Conservation and Climate Fund; Extra budgetary mechanisms; Entities to government (fiscal and para fiscal); fiscal system analysis from a forest protection point of view; Analysis of what financial systems can be modified or leveraged for the forest and climate change sector.

To propose institutional mechanisms for the cross-sectoral valuation of forests ecosystem services and reporting on this for reporting on Green GDP / Sustainable Development Goals and the non-financial services of forest benefits.

3.0          Private Finance Mechanisms & Donor Financing

To examine existing private sector and donor mechanisms, including funding and  banking institutions and long-term financing under the umbrella or REDD+ or Sustainable Development, a paid analysis of the following should be done and also building upon existing studies completed by BIOFIN, PAGE, GGI, GIZ etc.

A. Private flows

• Which Institutions and sectors
• What instruments they use (equity, debt)
• Their size (deals, portfolio, totals)
• Characteristics (term, conditions, collateral, access etc.)

B. Donor flows

• Percentage in relation to public and private flows
• Where money goes (which Ministries)
• For what activities
• Through which mechanisms and tools
• Which could be leveraged, which could be replicated

4.0 Feasibility of a National REDD+ Fund

The document should also conclude with a brief assessment of whether a separate REDD+ Fund is suitable for Mongolia, given the context of donor flows and low feasibility of REDD+ results Based Payments

Deliverables

The international consultants will deliver the following items; all items will be validated through a consultation and review process, and with final approval from PMU technical staff, the Chief Technical Advisor. The following deliverables shall be produced:

Reporting

The international consultant will work closely with and under the overall guidance of the Chief Technical Advisor of the UN-REDD Mongolia National Programme, Program analyst, UNDP CO and Regional Technical Advisor, UN-REDD Programme. All deliverables will be approved by Chief Technical Advisor, UN-REDD Mongolia National Programme and Program analyst, UNDP CO.  The International consultant will coordinate the work and provide technical guidance to the national consultant to deliver above described outputs.  Logistical support such as translation and organization of meetings will be provided by UN-REDD Mongolia National Programme management unit.      

Duration of Assignment

The work is expected to start in August 2017 and be concluded by beginning of October 2017.

The overall duration of the assignment covered by this ToR has been estimated not to exceed 40 days, including 15 days in country and 25 days related desk-work and online consultations to review documentation and finalize final report.

Payment Schedule

The payment of the consultant will be done in three instalments upon receiving the abovementioned deliverables, as indicated in the table below.

Competencies

Functional competencies

• Good facilitation and communication skills;
• Ability to plan, prioritize and deliver a variety of tasks on time;
• Be a team player and be able to work with national consultants and counterparts;
• Ability to provide constructive coaching and feedback for others;
• Ability to liaise with a variety of stakeholders and partners, including government, civil society, international organizations and partner organizations;
• Ability to work in culturally diverse environments and handle sensitive issues with diplomacy and tact;
• Ability to plan for and produce quality results in meeting established goals.

Corporate Competencies

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability
• Treats all people fairly without favouritism;

Required Skills and Experience

The international consultant will undertake conceptual leadership in close coordination with the national consultant. This includes overall coordination of all deliverables, leading the development and being ultimately responsible for all written deliverables.

Required Skills and Experience:

Academic Qualifications

• Post-graduate degree (MSc or PhD) in natural resources economics, development economics, finance, or closely related field.

Professional Experience

• A minimum of 10 years’ progressive experience in natural resource economics and management or a related field;
• Strong understanding of REDD+ under the UNFCCC, including understanding of financing options and ecosystem service payment mechanisms;
• Experience with public expenditure reviews related to natural resource management in developing country contexts;
• Strong inter-personal skills, in particular, demonstrated team leadership qualities and excellent oral communication skills.
• Experience with REDD+ and forest finance in Mongolia is an advantage.

Language Requirements

Excellent writing, editing and oral communication skills in English.

Application Procedure

A. Financial Proposal and Schedule of Instalments

A total Lump Sum Fee should be submitted which includes the all-inclusive fixed total contract price supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided.

Note: Instalments will be based on invoices on achievement of agreed milestones i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR and certification by the UNDP. While preparing your submission, please use the “Template for Confirmation of Interest and Submission of Financial Proposals” found on the right side of the procurement webpage for downloading. No costs other than what has been indicated in the financial proposal will be paid or reimbursed to the consultant.

B. Recommended Presentation of Offer 

For purposes of generating Offers whose contents are uniformly presented and to facilitate their comparative analysis, it is best to recommend the preferred contents and presentation of the Offer to be submitted, as well as the format/sequencing of their presentation.  The following documents may be requested:

1. Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;  
2. Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references;
3. Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a methodology on how the Candidate will approach and complete the assignment. Applicant shall also submit a draft work plan and sample report(s) of similar assignments he/she produced;  
4. Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided.  If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP. 

C. Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer

Criteria for selection of the best offer will be based on Combined Scoring method – where the qualifications and methodology will be weighted a maximum of 50%, interview – 20% and combined with the price offer which will be weighted a maximum of 30%.