Colombia Carbon Development - Bogota, Colombia - ECODIT

Descripción

Position Type:

Consultant

ECODIT is an international development firm working with governments, businesses, and local communities to advance environmentally and socially responsible development around the world.

We provide technical assistance services ranging from quick-turnaround assessments and evaluations to the design and implementation of long-term multi-million-dollar projects.

Since its founding in 1993, ECODIT has provided professional services through more than 250 projects/contracts to diverse clients in more than 60 countries.

Building on our track record of success, we have continuously expanded the depth and breadth of our expertise in the water, energy, environment, and urban and local governance sectors.

As a subcontractor to NORC under the USAID Building Evidence for Decision-Making (BE4D) IDIQ, ECODIT is seeking professional services of a qualified
Colombia
Carbon Development / Mitigation Expert to assist the team in implementing the USAID Natural Climate Solutions Ex-Post Evaluations for Climate Strategy Reporting.

A.1 Background

Under the BE4D mechanism, USAID's Natural Climate Solutions (NCS) Division under the Bureau for Resilience, Environment and Food Security (REFS) has requested NORC and ECODIT to conduct a set of ex-post evaluations to inform _USAID's Climate Strategy Reporting_.

The purpose of this work is to: 1) obtain quantified measurements of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions as a result of USAID support in three priority countries: Colombia, India, and Mexico; 2) assess the extent to which GHG emissions reductions and development impacts from past USAID Sustainable Landscapes support were still occurring in FY22-23 and reasons why or why not; and 3) develop a methodology to document and assess the contribution of USAID's policy and governance work to GHG emissions reductions and related climate and development impacts that can be applied across country contexts.

Two significant assumptions for the USAID Climate Strategy target of reducing, avoiding, or sequestering six billion tCO2e by 2030, are that past USAID Sustainable Landscapes activities are still contributing to emissions reductions, and that USAID can quantify these emissions.

These assumptions are based on several aspects of Sustainable Landscapes activities, which are that: 1)

USAID often works on enabling environment conditions, such as policy support or national planning which can have far-reaching downstream development impacts; and 2) USAID support tends to be long-term (10+ years), and in many cases it can also take many years for significant results to be achieved, and these results may be ongoing for many additional years.

USAID's typical program cycle, which is dependent on 5-year contracts with specific indicator reporting requirements and limitations, is insufficient to meet: 1) the results reporting needs inherent in USAID's _ Climate Strategy_ target assumptions; and 2) the complexities of Sustainable Landscapes activities.

• Evaluation Questions (EQs) are as follows:_

EQ 1:
What is the estimated quantity of emission reductions (in tCO2e) to have been achieved (reductions and removals) resulting from previous and current USAID sustainable landscapes activities in Mexico, Colombia and India in FY ?

EQ 2:
To what extent have past Sustainable Landscapes activities in Mexico, Colombia and India resulted in sustained climate and development impacts and why?

EQ 3:
What methodology should USAID use to assess and quantify the long-term GHG impact of NCS activities, especially related to policy and enabling environment activities?


A.2 Description of Services
Under the overall direction of the Deputy Senior Technical Advisor and in coordination with the Senior Technical Advisor and the GHG Accountant, the _Colombia Carbon Development / Mitigation Expert_ will:

• Lead desk review and information gathering on Colombia activities for EQ1, and report back on findings;
• Conduct data collection, compilation in GHG excel spreadsheet, and analysis on Colombia activities for EQ1 in collaboration with GHG Accountant;
• Provide targeted technical critique and analysis on the Evaluation Design Report, a first deliverable under the Activity due early June 2024;
• Provide lead write-up for select sections of the EQ1 Report for Colombia;
• Attend weekly internal calls with ECODIT team, and bi-weekly calls with NORC and USAID (as needed);
• Provide limited inputs into EQ2 Report, as needed;
• Provide limited inputs to EQ3 Report, as needed; and
• Revise deliverables based on ECODIT, NORC and USAID comments

There is an assumption that the evaluations and GHG calculations will rely primarily on a document/desk review and field data collection including through focus groups and interviews with Country Mission staff; local stakeholders; implementing partners and relevant government officials.

**Brief Summary of Target Mission and