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Saint Lucia: Debt for Climate Swap Expert Consultant

Remote | Home Based - May require travel

  • Organization: GGGI - Global Green Growth Institute
  • Location: Remote | Home Based - May require travel
  • Grade: Consultancy - Consultant - Contractors Agreement
  • Occupational Groups:
    • Environment
    • Meteorology, Geology and Geography
    • Climate Change
  • Closing Date: Closed

Saint Lucia: Debt for Climate Swap Expert Consultant

 

Based in Seoul, the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) is an intergovernmental organization founded to support and promote a model of economic growth known as green growth, which targets key aspects of economic performance such as poverty reduction, job creation, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability. GGGI works with countries around the world, building their capacity and working collaboratively on green growth policies that can impact the lives of millions. The organization partners with countries, multilateral institutions, government bodies, and private sector to help build economies that grow strongly and are more efficient and sustainable in the use of natural resources, less carbon intensive, and more resilient to climate change.

The Debt for Climate Swap Expert consultant will be primarily responsible for the delivery of technical assistance to the Government of Saint Lucia (GoSL) to develop and advance the implementation of a Debt for Climate Swap strategy. S/he will work closely with the Department of Finance, Department of Economic Development, and Department of Sustainable Development to develop and implement a Debt for Climate Swap Roadmap assessing the country´s debt profile, public finance policy, macroeconomic situation, and defining the process, actors and steps involved in a possible transaction. Additionally, s/he will provide awareness raising and capacity building to government actors, and support the GoSL throughout the engagement process with potential creditor counterparts. The Consultant will work under the supervision of the Caribbean Program Representative and Regional Investment Lead. The consultant will be expected to follow a highly consultative process, with biweekly validation calls with the Department of Finance, Department of Economic Development and Department of Sustainable Development.

    • Project:  Mobilizing International Climate Finance and Private Investments for Low-Carbon Development in Saint Lucia (GCF Readiness)
    • Duty station:  Home-based
    • Consultant Level:  Level 5
    • Total fees:  Maximum contract value is USD $80,000, dependent on selected candidate's experience and qualifications

 

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Saint Lucia relies heavily on grant funding and concessionary loans from development partners to finance its development and climate change objectives. The achievement of Saint Lucia’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) targets is conditional on external financing. Although international climate finance and ODA offer some relief to Saint Lucia’s growing debt to GDP ratio, the decreasing level of international aid undermines the long-term sustainability of this approach. Consequently, the GoSL is pursuing efforts to diversify the country donor engagement, access under-utilized climate funds and develop new and innovative finance mechanisms to de-risk mitigation projects to attract private sector investments.

Given the above, the Government of Saint Lucia has developed a Private Sector Engagement Strategy and NDC Financing Strategy to develop an enabling environment for private sector investments, with the goal of having the private sector contribute an estimated US$ 218 million in mitigation investments by 2030 (that is 90% of the total). GGGI’s technical assistance project supports these efforts by delivering technical assistance across 5 workstreams:

  1. Supporting Saint Lucia’s capital market’s readiness assessment for a sovereign green bond issuance
  2. Providing technical assistance to the Government of Saint Lucia to pursue the implementation of a debt for climate swap transaction to raise long-term funds earmarked to climate change adaptation and mitigation projects.
  3. Providing technical assistance to local financial institutions to integrate environmental and social standards into their processes, procedures, and instruments in order to increase the availability of green finance for private-sector led climate change adaptation and mitigation projects.
  4. Increasing the Government of Saint Lucia’s institutional capacity to design and structure Public-Private Partnerships.
  5. Advancing the development of a PPP flagship project: Saint Lucia Green Affordable Housing project.

The Debt for Climate Swap Expert is expected to be the main subject expert of Workstream 2.

 

DELIVERABLES

Deliverable 1: Detailed Workplan

Upon taking on the assignment, the consultant is expected to arrange and complete consultations with relevant project stakeholders to develop a detailed workplan outlining the timeline of main activities, methodology, milestones, validation meetings, draft and final deliverables.

The deliverable must be approved by the Project Steering Committee and the GGGI Project Manager.

 

Deliverable 2: Debt for Climate Swap Awareness Raising Material and Workshops

The consultant will develop awareness raising and capacity building material to increase the capacity of the Government of Saint Lucia to implement Debt for Climate Swap transactions. The consultant shall deliver the following:

a)     PowerPoint presentation on the Debt for Climate Swaps instrument concept, including an outline of the stakeholders, processes, transaction requirements, appraisal methods, expected benefits and case studies relevant to the context of Saint Lucia. The precise content and scope of the capacity building material will be defined in collaboration with the Department of Finance, Department of Economic Development and Department of Sustainable Development.

b)     Capacity building (virtual) workshop targeting representatives of the Department of Finance, Department of Economic Development and Department of Sustainable Development. The consultant will deliver the PowerPoint presentation developed in deliverable 2.a above. The workshop will have a duration of at least 120 minutes, of which 60 minutes will be reserved for the presentation from the consultant, with additional time for questions and discussion.

The deliverable must be approved by the Project Steering Committee and GGGI Project Manager.

 

Deliverable 3: Debt for Climate Swaps Baseline Report

The Consultant shall produce a diagnostic study of Saint Lucia’s fiscal situation, readiness, and capacity to implement a Debt for Climate Swap Transaction. The tentative structure of the baseline report is as follows:

    • Assessment of Saint Lucia’s outstanding debt and current debt service capacity;
    • Assessment of Saint Lucia’s public debt management plan;
    • Characterization of the main holders of Saint Lucia’s external debt;
    • Identification and review of principal debt management polices and climate finance strategies and plans;
    • Preliminary screening of credits to identify possible counterparts for the swap transaction;
    • Mapping of stakeholders involved in a possible swap transaction;
    • Review of international best practices and case studies applicable to Saint Lucia’s context;
    • Annex: Table of Contents of Saint Lucia’s Debt for Climate Swap Roadmap.
    • Annex: minutes from bi-weekly validation meetings, including participants list, feedback and next steps

The consultant will deliver the baseline report in a Word document accompanied by a brief PowerPoint presentation (10-15 slides). 

The precise scope and content of the baseline report will be defined in collaboration with the Department of Finance, Department of Economic Development and Department of Sustainable Development.

The deliverable must be approved by the Project Steering Committee and GGGI Project Manager.

 

Deliverable 4:   Saint Lucia´s Debt for Climate Swap Roadmap

The consultant shall engage with relevant government counterparts, conduct desk research, and analysis to produce a Debt for Climate Swap Roadmap outlining the step-by-step process to implement the proposed transaction.  The tentative structure of the base line report is as follows:

-       Climate and fiscal rationale for the Debt for Climate Swap transaction

-       Government stakeholders involved in the transaction and their respective roles and responsibilities

-       List and description of eligible creditor counterparts, including names, amount of external debt currently held, main ODA and climate change priorities and targets, contact information

-       Portion(s) of external debt that may be subject to a Swap, amount, rationale and justification

-       Step-by-step process, including pre- and post- transaction requirements

-       Creditor engagement strategy

-       List of required documentation

-       Expected cost of the transaction

-       Annex: minutes from bi-weekly validation meetings, including participants list, feedback and next steps

The consultant will deliver the Debt for Climate Swap Roadmap in a Word document accompanied by a brief PowerPoint presentation (10-20 slides). 

The deliverable must be approved by the Project Steering Committee and GGGI Project Manager.

 

Deliverable 5: Debt for Climate Swap Project Pipeline and Documentation

The consultant will assist the Department of Finance, Department of Economic Development and Department of Sustainable Development to identify, screen, evaluate and select eligible projects and initiatives to be financed with proceeds from the swap transaction. The consultant is expected to conduct the following tasks:

a)     Define a list of Environmental, Social and Financial Indicators to be utilized for the evaluation and selection of eligible projects;

b)     Development of an Excel-based Evaluation Matrix enabling the transparent evaluation and selection of projects on the basis of environmental and social impact indicators;

c)     Engage with relevant government departments and agencies to collect a longlist of climate change projects and initiatives;

d)     Facilitate the evaluation of identified projects by representatives of the Department of Finance, Department of Economic Development and Department of Sustainable Development;

e)     Develop Investment Teasers and PowerPoint presentations for at least 3 prioritized projects to introduce the project opportunity to potential creditor counterparts. Each Investment Teaser and presentation is expected to include the following: investment highlights, overview of the project, deal information and financial summary, expected environmental and social impacts, main beneficiaries, actors involved, alignment with the GoSL climate change targets. Investment Teasers will be 2-3 pages in length. Each PowerPoint presentation will be 5-10 slides in length.

The consultant is expected to collect and record the results of the tasks a) to d) above into a Word document accompanied by a brief PowerPoint presentation (10-20 slides).

The deliverable must be approved by the Project Steering Committee and GGGI Project Manager.

 

Deliverable 6: Engagement with Swap Counterparts  

The Consultant will accompany the GoSL to engage with identified creditor counterparts (see Deliverable 4), organize introductory calls and actively participate to outline the opportunity, answer questions and, in case of confirmed interest, define the next steps.

The consultant is expect to support the GoSL to engage with at least 2 creditor counterparts, and organize as many calls. The consultant is expected to produce:

a)     PowerPoint presentation to facilitate the conversation with the creditor counterpart. The content of the PowerPoint presentation will be agreed with the Department of Finance ahead of the call.

b)     Meeting minutes, including participants list, summary of the meetings and next steps  

The deliverable must be approved by the Project Steering Committee and GGGI Project Manager.

 

Deliverable 7: Conceptualization of a Governance, Monitoring and Reporting System

The Consultant shall work closely with the GoSL, particularly with the Department of Finance, Department of Economic Development and Department of Sustainable Development to conceptualize a Governance, Monitoring and Reporting system to guarantee a transparent and efficient use of proceeds from the swap transaction.

The consultant is expected to produce a report outlining the following information:

-       Define the expected MRV requirements of the transaction

-       Conceptualize governance body of the MRV structure

-       MRV requirements of comparable Debt for Nature Swaps

-       Review the viability of utilizing existing MRV systems within the GoSL

-       Estimating the costs and next steps for implementing the MRV

The consultant is expected to collect and record the results of the tasks a) to d) above into a Word document accompanied by a brief PowerPoint presentation (5-10 slides).

The deliverable must be approved by the Project Steering Committee and GGGI Project Manager

 

Deliverable 8: Final Report

The Consultant will produce one Final Report in Word outlining the activities and results of the assignment. The structure of the Final Report will be agreed with GGGI Project Manager and shall include, at least:  a description of all activities, including a description of tasks, primary beneficiaries, stakeholders, results, conclusions and future recommendations, and any deviation from the original workplan.

The Final Report will list and outline lessons learned and best practices emerging from the project, and offer recommendations for follow-on actions. The Final Report will be accompanied by a brief presentation (15-20 slides) summarizing the content of the report.  

The deliverable must be approved by the Project Steering Committee and GGGI Project Manager.

 

SUGGESTED METHODOLOGY AND COMPETENCY REQUIREMENTS

The consultant is expected to have daily interactions with the GGGI Regional Investment Lead and weekly interactions with GGGI Project Manager. During the meeting the consultant will be asked to report on progress against the contractual objectives, activities, and milestones. The consultant shall communicate any deviation from the Workplan to GGGI Project Manager.

The consultant will be expected to follow a highly consultative process, including organizing and leading biweekly validation calls with the Department of Finance, Department of Economic Development and Department of Sustainable Development. Additionally, the consultant will participate in weekly meetings of the Project Team, and monthly meetings of the Project Steering Committee.

 

PAYMENT SCHEDULE

Deliverable

To be delivered by

Value

(% of the total payable)

        1. Detailed Workplan

4 weeks from contract signing

5%

        2. Debt for Climate Swap Awareness Raising Material and Workshops

12 weeks from contract signing

10%

        3. Debt for Climate Swaps Baseline Report

16 weeks from contract signing

10%

        4. Saint Lucia´s Debt for Climate Swap Roadmap

28 weeks from contract signing

25%

        5. Debt for Climate Swaps Projects Pipeline and Documentation

34 weeks from contract signing

20%

        6. Engagement with Swap Counterparts 

38 weeks from contract signing

10%

        7. Conceptualization of a Governance, Monitoring and Reporting System

42 weeks from contract signing

10%

        8. Final Report

45 weeks from contract signing

10%

Prior to submitting each deliverable, the consultant will be expected to share and circulate a draft version of the document with the GGGI Project Manager and the Project Steering Committee, allowing at least 2 weeks to receive comments and feedback.  Submission of final deliverables must include a clean version as well as a tracked changes version (for MS Word documents) which includes responses to comments received.

The consultant must submit monthly progress reports in GGGI’s standard template.

 

EXPERTISE REQUIRED
    • Bachelor’s degree in economics, Finance, Business Administration or other related fields
    • An advanced degree in Finance, Economics or a relevant field is desired
    • At least 8 years of sustainable finance experience, preferably in client facing roles in financial institutions or development agencies
    • Thorough understanding of Debt for Nature/Climate Swaps is required
    • Prior experience implementing Debt for Climate/Nature Swaps is a strong plus
    • Familiarity with Saint Lucia’s public finance ecosystem and policies is a plus
    • Experience working in the Caribbean region is a plus
    • Previous work experience in multilateral development banks is desirable
    • Strong interpersonal and communication skills and a proven ability to develop, maintain and enhance relationships with a variety of internal and external contacts
    • Skill and knowledge:
      • Native English proficiency
      • Knowledge of Spanish is a plus

 

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

 The Consultant reports to the GGGI Caribbean Program Representative and the Regional Investment Lead. This is a home-based position.

Date to close is listed in Korean Standard Time (KST). Applications submitted after the deadline will not be considered.  Application, Cover Letter, Writing Sample and CV must be sent in English.

A consortium, or a firm may not be engaged for the individual consultant assignment.  

            

SOCIAL AND SUSTAINABILITY SAFEGUARDS

GGGI as an institution abides by its project-level Sustainability and Safeguards Rules (SSR) for all projects aligned with international standards for Environmental and Social Safeguards. The SSR is aligned with commonly recognized international standards for Environmental and Social Safeguards (ESS), i.e. the WB Performance Standard, that ensure project level safeguarding of communities and people impacted by GGGI activities. GGGI has integrated project level Environmental and Social Safeguards into its Project Cycle Management (PCM) with mandatory Preliminary Gender and Social Assessments and ESS Screening of all projects to identify and manage risks.

In addition, GGGI’s Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Strategy 2021-2025 provides a framework toward achieving the principle of “Leaving No One Behind” in the transformation towards green growth, guiding GGGI's approaches to the mainstreaming of gender equality and poverty reduction in GGGI Colombia´s Program. This also includes the implementation of the GGGI Gender Equality and Poverty Reduction Policy Markers on all projects. GGGI’s Corporate Results Framework requires gender disaggregated indicators for participation in GGGI Capacity Building events.

GGGI’s Child Protection Rules and GGGI Rules on Sexual Exploitation ensure safeguarding of children impacted by GGGI activities or in contact with GGGI contracted personnel, with GGGI taking a zero-tolerance approach to child exploitation. GGGI is committed to child protection, irrespective of whether any specific area of work involves direct contact with children. GGGI’s Child Protection Policy is written in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child. All procedures mentioned above are accompanied by guidelines and capacity building efforts. GGGI also provides a work environment that reflects the values of gender equality, teamwork, embracing diversity in all its forms, integrity and a healthy balance of work and life. We are committed to maintaining our balanced gender distribution and therefore encourage women to apply. GGGI promotes equal opportunities for all including persons with disabilities.

All GGGI´s policies are available for open consultation under the following link: https://gggi.org/policy-documents/  

 

ANTI-FRAUD AND SAFEGUARD

GGGI is committed to apply transparency and accountability in its decisions and actions, and to practice integrity in all aspects of its operations. GGGI's anti-corruption policy establishes zero tolerance for corruption and fraudulent, coercive, and collusive practices in GGGI's operations. The whistleblowing policy is available at the following link https://gggi.org/site/assets/uploads/ 2017/11/Whistleblower-Policy_02072015.pdf

In addition, all GGGI's policies are available for open consultation under the following link: https://gggi.org/policy-documents/

 

Values Logo

Child protection – GGGI is committed to child protection, irrespective of whether any specific area of work involves direct contact with children. GGGI’s Child Protection Policy is written in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

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