Climate Policy Initiative is hiring a
CLIC and Connector Background
CPI is the Secretariat for the ClimateShot Investor Coalition (CLIC), an action-oriented group for leaders in the impact investment community working in agriculture and food systems. This member-driven coalition aims to collectively scale-up and accelerate finance for agriculture and food systems globally, with the goal of shifting them to a low-carbon and climate-resilient pathway by 2030. CLIC is funded by the UK FCDO.
The CLIC Agrifood Investment Connector (the Connector) is one of CLIC’s workstreams which develops a high-quality pipeline of climate and nature-positive agrifood businesses in developing countries. The Connector identifies suitable SMEs and works with them to assess their climate and nature risks and impacts in preparation for investor pitching and due diligence. In parallel, the Connector identifies pools of interested investors and builds a solid understanding of their requirements to facilitate meaningful connections with SMEs. In 2023, CLIC started work with its first cohort of 8 SMEs in collaboration with AGRA and CGIAR. See more here. The type of agribusinesses supported are wide ranging and have so far included companies doing one or more of the following activities:
Consultancy Support Sought
The Connector seeks expert input to enhance and further develop The Connector’s approach and tools for Impact Assessment, in particular related to nature and biodiversity. These methods and tools will be used by CLIC Secretariat analysts (typically with economics, finance or environmental science background) to perform impact assessment of agribusinesses activities.
For each cohort, the CLIC Secretariat’s team of analysts typically have a window of 1-2 months to work with each agribusiness on their climate and nature impact assessment (and pitch preparation) ahead of a pitching event.
Analysts work with the business on their impact narrative, identifying key areas of climate and nature impact. Where possible the team aim to produce quantitative assessments of climate mitigation, adaptation and nature impacts of the agribusiness to date and potential going forward, using existing data from the agribusiness, complemented by evidence from scientific literature. Where a quantitative impact assessment is not possible, the team seeks to collect and present activity data or statistics on the company activities that help to demonstrate potential impact. Results are then integrated into PowerPoint pitch deck of each agribusiness and in their talking points.
Following the pitch event, the CLIC Secretariat prepares an Impact Overview document, outlining in more detail the areas of impact assessed, the methods and data used as well as suggested areas for further/deeper assessment going forward, to be used as an internal reference document by the agribusiness to support investor discussions, business planning etc. The CLIC Secretariat also provides 3-4 months of ongoing support to agribusinesses after the initial pitch event, depending on needs, which may focus on enhancing the assessment of certain impacts beyond what was achieved pre-pitch event.
Scope
The existing guidelines used by analysts include methods related to the climate impacts listed in the box below. Those methods are currently being reviewed and developed. In addition an impact metric repository tool is being developed as a resource for analysts as well as more structured guidance for an initial climate risk assessment.
Within these ToR, the consultants are expected to deliver a full guidance for nature/biodiversity impact assessment of agribusinesses, as well as a list of resources on nature/biodiversity risk assessment.
To this end, the consultants should review the CLIC existing guidelines and tools , test and add content to them to enable analysts to complete robust yet efficient assessments related to nature and biodiversity. A separate consultancy and internal work is ongoing focussed on strengthening the guidance for climate impact assessment and risk assessment. The consultant selected to fulfill the current ToR will have to ensure the nature/biodiversity guidance is compatible with the climate guidance and as much as possible integrate the nature/biodiversity components into the structure of climate assessment guidance. The ultimate objective is for CLIC analysts to be able to conduct the impact assessments in an integrated manner.
Based on the final version of the guidelines, the consultants should also develop a training session for CLIC analysts which includes a brief overview of key relevant background which informed the guidance developed e.g. key standards and frameworks, as well as a full run through of the guidance developed, steps and resources, examples etc.
1. Mitigation:
2. Adaptation:
Tasks
Task 1: Scoping report.
Brief report (Word or ppt format, up to 5 pages/slides) with initial recommendations on how to incorporate nature and biodiversity into CLIC Secretariat’s existing approaches, guidelines and tools for risk and impact assessment. This report should include initial suggestions for improvements that the consultants can make to the guidelines under this contract as part of Task 2 including suggestions on any additional or alternative areas of impact that should be considered for inclusion in the guidelines and for related impact assessment methodologies. Key findings should be discussed with the CLIC Secretariat.
Task 2: Provide inputs to impact assessment guidelines and tools (first draft) to:
Task 3: Final Guidelines and tools
Provide final revised input to guidelines and tools incorporating CLIC Secretariat feedback.
Task 4: training session
Develop and deliver a training session for analysts t which includes a brief overview of key relevant background which informed the guidance developed e.g. key standards and frameworks, as well as a full run through of the guidance developed, steps and resources, examples etc... This session should be recorded for use by analysts in the future.
Additional considerations:
Given the short amount of time available to support the agribusinesses and the limited time the agribusinesses have to implement impact assessment amidst their daily business activities, the principal methods proposed should be simple and quick to implement with minimal data requirements. Ideally they should also be time-proof and/or easily updatable by the respective agribusinesses i.e. remain relevant unless there are significant changes to the business model. However, any areas of complexity should be highlighted separately, and suggestions should be included for additional methods/tools to be used in the future.
Methods proposed should highlight points of caution and complexity that should be considered and caveats that should be added to any results to ensure the assessment does not risk greenwashing.
Methods should be flexible to allow application to multiple business contexts and geographies. Work to date has focused on sub–Saharan Africa but will expand to support SMEs in Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean in future years.
Background Materials Provided to the Successful Consultant
CLIC will provide the following materials to the Consultant(s).
Outputs and Timeline
Outputs will be delivered to the CLIC Secretariat team. The precise scope, structure and length of outputs will be agreed with the consultant(s) during the assignment kick-off meeting and where appropriate, amended during regular check in meetings between the consultant(s) and the CLIC Secretariat team.
All changes to the agreed scope, structure, and length of outputs of outputs following the kick-off meeting must be approved in writing over email by the CLIC Secretariat team.
The possible sequencing of outputs is set out below.
Proposal Requirements
The consultant(s) must be able to demonstrate the following areas of expertise:
Proposals for this work will need to set out:
Interested consultants should get in touch to request the CLIC budget template. Please email angela.falconer@cpiglobal.org.
Deadline for proposals is 9am (GMT) on Friday 29th March.
Budget
A maximum budget of £33,000 is available for the assignment inclusive of UK VAT.
Financial proposals must detail all proposed experts individually in the budget proposal as per the requirements above. The successful consultant(s) will be contracted based on milestone payment points.