Historique

India has demonstrated its commitment to making the economy more sustainable through ratification of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the adoption of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and launching the International Solar Alliance. To deliver on these commitments, a robust sustainable financing system is needed, that can complement public-sector resources by mobilizing domestic and international private financing. In order to address the funding gap for sustainable development and to make the financial sector resilient to extra-financial risks, India needs to make concerted efforts to signal its seriousness towards taking a leadership position on sustainable finance through its policies and actions. Such efforts will also pave the way for attracting finance from international financial institutions who are increasingly attaching “green” or “social” conditions to loans and investments as well as reorienting capital towards low-carbon sectors as part of their recovery plans.

In August 2020, the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance launched the Sustainable Finance Collaborative, in partnership with UNDP. The Collaborative was an effort to bring together leading stakeholders in the financial eco-system with a view to ideate, collaborate and contribute to the Government’s sustainable finance agenda. As a follow-up, UNDP is supporting an expert group that is working to identify and articulate the regulatory changes required to support India’s sustainable finance ambitions.

The group on regulations is part of a broader effort and is already constituted, however additional/ dedicated technical capacity is required to build out a comprehensive report/ set of recommendations. A draft report is due 30 October, which will be followed by a period of wider stakeholder consultations post which revisions are expected and a finalized report would be due no later than 31 December 2021.

Devoirs et responsabilités

The primary responsibility of the Consultant is to support the expert group on ‘Regulations’ in developing a comprehensive report and making presentations to stakeholders as needed.

In addition to conducting own analysis and research, this will also require engaging with other expert groups and members of the Task Force, as well engaging with external experts (Special Invitees) requested to provide inputs to the group.

While the Consultant will be formally working under the supervision of the Advisor, Social Impact Investments, South Asia at UNDP, he/ she will also be working under the guidance of the co-leads of the working group. The consultant areas of work are defined as such:

Reviewing the Expert Group’s current approach and draft recommendations

• Review the group’s existing note on recommendations and approach for any conceptual and structural revisions.
• Translating high level nature of recommendations to make them more granular and detail oriented.
• Identify the scope for additional recommendations and recommendation categories, with guidance from expert group members and UNDP.  
• Reviewing the identified barriers for growing sustainable finance.

Development of a detailed note on barriers facing the mobilization of Sustainable Finance.

• Draft a comprehensive note on the barriers for Sustainable Finance, building upon the expert’s group’s existing note.
  • While the focus will primarily be on regulatory barriers, non-regulatory barriers may also be explored.
  • Barriers for the integration of E&S risks within financial decision making or pertaining to disclosures should be limited only to regulatory barriers and may be developed with the support of the respective expert groups.

Conducting Research and Analysis to inform additional recommendations or to make existing recommendations more detailed or nuanced.

• Based on guidance from co-leads, conduct secondary research and interviews with experts to draft out additional recommendations/ frameworks not already covered by the expert group. These recommendations would a have specific focus on mobilizing sustainable finance for India. Whilst focusing on regulatory enablers, non-regulatory recommendations may also be considered as per the discussions of the expert group.
• Work under the guidance of the expert group/ special invitees and co-leads to make existing recommendations more granular and detailed. This will require a degree of research and analysis.

Engaging with other expert groups/ working groups to identify and incorporate aspects that could be covered under regulations

• In addition to this group on Regulations, there are also other expert/ working groups covering Disclosures, Resilience and Taxonomies. The Consultant would also be expected to engage with other groups to identify and detail out potential recommendations relating to the abovementioned areas that could or should be included in the report of the Regulations group.

Please note: as part of above deliverables, consultant should factor in a number of 1 to 1 consultations with select expert group members and account for 2-3 progress/ update presentations that will be needed.

Expected Deliverable/ Outcome

Deliverable 1

• Detailed review of the group’s current approach and recommendations.
• Revised chapter on regulatory barriers for sustainable finance.
• Work plan and approach for supporting the group in developing draft and final report.

Deliverable 2

• Draft report of regulations sub-group including regulations aspects pertaining to other expert groups and accounting for at least 2 rounds of feedback/ revisions prior to draft finalization
• Assistance with developing a template for feedback for regulations and other working groups  

Deliverable 3

• Checklist/ repository/ log detailing feedback received from various stakeholders pertaining to regulations report/ recommendations and steps taken to address the same.
• Final report  of regulations group.

Compétences

• Analytical skills: Able to synthesize large sets of inputs and data to form coherent outputs
• Ability to effectively and efficiently interact with senior members and stakeholders
• Must be detail-oriented
• Communication skills: Able to communicate clear ideas across a variety of mediums
• Writing and presentation skills: Able to produce high quality reports and presentations
• Team skills: Able to work independently as well as in teams
• Great organizational and time-management skills

Qualifications et expériences requises

Academic Qualification:  

• Advanced degree in finance/ climate finance, sustainable finance, economics, business, public policy or related areas (essential)

Professional Experience: 

• At least 8 years of directly relevant professional experience in financial management; financial services or consulting/ advisory (with focus on climate/ sustainable finance),
• Practical experience working with or supporting global development organizations or governments on policies and strategies, with a specific focus on working with Financial Institutions and topics pertaining to sustainable finance / investment.
• Strong understanding of the global sustainable finance industry including green instruments and sectors, sustainability disclosures, sustainable taxonomies, ESG risk management tools and models
• Familiarity with domestic Indian initiatives around sustainable development and sustainable finance.
• Strong experience in research, analysis and in preparing recommendation notes / strategy documents.

Language Requirement:  English

Evaluation Criteria

The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as Responsive to the requirement. Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation;

•           Technical Criteria weight - 70%;

•           Financial Criteria weight – 30 %

Technical Criteria (70% of the total evaluation)

1. Criteria 1: Prior Experience (30%)

1. At least 8 years of directly relevant professional experience in financial management; financial services or consulting/ advisory (with focus on climate/ sustainable finance), 15%
2. Worked on at least 2 projects that demonstrate practical experience working with or supporting global development organizations or governments on policies and strategies, and topics pertaining to sustainable finance / investment (15%)

2. Criteria 2: Demonstrated Knowledge on Sustainable Finance (25%)

1. Worked on at least 2 projects that demonstrate familiarity with Indian/global initiatives around sustainable development and sustainable finance. 15%
2. Worked on at least 1 project that demonstrates familiarity with the financial services sector. 10%

3. Criteria 3: Multi-stakeholder coordination (15%)

1. Consultant should have demonstrated experience (at least 2 projects) in coordinating and working with multi-stakeholder groups– 15% 

Financial Proposal:

Technically qualified consultants will be requested to submit their lump sum rate i.e. consultants who score more than 70% i.e. 49 marks with respect to the above-mentioned evaluation criteria. Consultant should not specify their consultancy fee on their CV or with the submission. The CV will not be evaluated further in case the consultant submits the same.

Payment Scheduled: Payments will be deliverable linked per the following schedule of payments:

Notes: 

• Miscellaneous charges i.e. internet, phone, relocation charges, local travel etc. would not be reimbursed separately.