Please note that the deadline is based on Korean Standard Time Zone (KST, UTC+9)

INTRODUCTION TO GGGI

The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) is a treaty-based international, inter-governmental organization dedicated to supporting and promoting strong, inclusive and sustainable economic growth in developing countries and emerging economies. To learn more please visit about GGGI web page.

Background:

Uganda seeks to strengthen the financing and delivery of locally led climate climate action in line with national priorities. A programmatic support program on Financing locally led Climate Action (FLLOCA) anchored in public finance management and designed by Government could serve as the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development’s (MoFPED) vehicle to coordinate, finance, and scale community-driven climate action and resilience across local governments. This approach would be more aligned with the Fourth National Development Plan (NDP IV), the Parish Development Model (PDM), the Government’s 10-Point Program, Uganda’s Nationally Determined Contribution, and the Climate Change Act 2021, thus ensuring coherence between national ambitions and on-the-ground implementation. Furthermore, this can go a long way in supporting the implementation of district climate change action plans, both in districts where the plans are already completed and in those where they are still under development.

Within national climate financing architecture, the climate finance unit provides the institutional arrangement and mandate to mobilize and deploy climate finance and to coordinate local climate action financing streams (including LoCAL, LIFE-AR and related initiatives). Therefore, FLLOCA would leverage the CFU’s role to standardize processes, reduce fragmentation, and systematize partner coordination at local level, thereby improving efficiency, accountability, and impact. The program’s standards and approach will reference LoCAL, LIFE-AR modalities and align with ISO 14093 to underpin performance based climate resilience grants with clear metrics, independent verification, and robust monitoring and evaluation. MoFPED intends to draw on lessons from Kenya’s FLOCCA model, which uses a hybrid Program-for-Results plus investment project financing structure to channel conditional intergovernmental grants, with disbursements linked to annual performance assessments. Uganda’s own USMID program also offers valuable insights, particularly on the importance of independent assessments, disbursement-linked indicators, strong quality assurance, and alignment with the national budget cycle. Moreover, MoFPED has recently launched a suite of climate financing strategies and published the country climate and development report, further reinforcing the enabling environment for FLOCCA Uganda.

Against this backdrop, the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), in partnership with MoFPED’s Climate Finance Unit, is initiating work to enhance access to climate finance for locally led climate action and to scale its impact across local governments and communities. To advance this effort, GGGI is seeking the services of a highly qualified and experienced consultant to lead the development of a World Bank concept note on financing locally led climate action (FLOCCA) in Uganda.

Objective/Purpose:

The primary objective of this assignment is to support the Ministry of Finance, planning and Economic Development in developing a World bank concept on Financing locally led climate-action. Developing a World Bank concept on financing locally led climate action will enable MoFPED to clearly articulate the national vision, financing needs, and pathways for strengthening community resilience. It will also provide a structured entry point for dialogue with the World Bank, positioning the country to access new financing instruments, pilot innovative funding mechanisms, and leverage additional co-financing from other partners while advancing a programmatic approach to financing locally led climate action.

Ultimately, this assignment will help operationalize the government’s commitment to democratize climate finance and ensure that financial resources reach the local level where they can have the greatest impact in improving livelihoods, reducing vulnerabilities, and supporting sustainable development.

Scope of Assignment:

The consultant will be responsible for providing technical expertise and facilitation support to the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (MoFPED) in developing a World Bank concept on financing locally led climate action. The scope of work will include, but not be limited to, the following:

• The consultant will begin by undertaking a thorough desk review of national and sectoral policies, strategies, and regulatory frameworks that relate to climate finance and locally led climate action. This will include reviewing the Climate financing strategies, Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), the National Climate Change Act and its regulations, national development plans, and other relevant policy instruments, as well as World Bank operational guidelines for project concept development.
• The consultant will also review existing locally led adaptation financing arrangements at the national level for example LoCAL, LIFE-AR and bench-mark from other countries to identify gaps in design and implementation. The consultant will draw attention to CFU/LoCAL docs, intergovernmental fiscal transfer reforms (IFTR), performance based climate resilience grant (PBCRG) guidelines and show how other related programme variants mainstream into government fiscal transfers and how annual performance assessments and disbursement linked indicators can be staged.
• Following the desk review, the consultant will carry out structured consultations with a wide range of stakeholders. These will include relevant government ministries, departments and agencies, local governments, civil society organizations, private sector actors, and community-based organizations. The aim of the consultations will be to validate existing literature and data on existing locally led climate initiatives, financing gaps, institutional challenges, and opportunities for scaling up community-level climate action.
• Based on the findings from the desk review and stakeholder consultations, the consultant will develop a clear problem statement and rationale for the proposed World Bank intervention. This will include identifying barriers to effective financing of locally led climate action and highlighting innovative financing modalities that could be adopted.
• The consultant will then translate this analysis into a design options paper for Uganda and draft concept note, outlining objectives, proposed interventions, financing mechanisms, implementation arrangements, and measurable results.
• The design options paper and draft concept note will also reflect lessons learned from existing projects and best practices from comparable countries. The paper in particular will seek to define eligibility, allocation modalities and guide on climate-budget-tagging integration with IFMIS.
• The consultant will be expected to facilitate validation sessions with MoFPED and other stakeholders to present and refine the draft concept note. Feedback received will be systematically incorporated into the document.
• The consultant will develop a final concept note with clear program boundaries, components and a comprehensive theory of change. The concept should addresses issues of sustainability, gender equality, social inclusion, and safeguards, and demonstrates alignment with both government priorities, World Bank operational requirements and general approaches to locally led climate action.
• The consultant will also distill the contents of the concept note into a slide deck to support MoFPED in World Bank upstream engagement.

The deliverables shall be submitted as indicated below.

• The Consultant shall submit the Final Report which should reflect the outcome of all activities prepared by the consultant. The report should also give recommendations for further activities to be carried out in order to ensure long-term sustainable development of the measure.
• All relevant technical papers, reports, and other documents prepared from the start to the end of the assignment shall be attached to the Final Report.
• The Consultant shall submit the report in both hard copies and electronic versions readable by a Microsoft Office application.
• All outputs must be in English. In addition, the Consultant may be required to submit the outputs in other languages.
• Final report must be approved by the MoFPED-CFU with the agreement of the GGGI. The Consultant shall consider the comments and necessary revisions proposed. Within 14 days from the receipt of the comments or modification proposal from the MoFPED-CFU and GGGI, the Consultant shall prepare and submit the final versions of the concept note and report.

Education:

Advanced university degree (PhD preferable) in Climate Change, environment management, public finance,climate finance, economic policy, international development, or a related discipline is required. A combination of relevant academic qualifications and additional experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced degree.

Experience:

1. At least 8 years of professional experience in the field of climate change, climate change planning, project management and/or, with a bias on financing dimensions of climate change.
2. At least 3 years of professional experience in climate finance particularly design and/or implementation of performance based climate resilience grants, finance facilities on adaptation and mitigation and their integration into fiscal transfers.
3. Good understanding of Uganda’s climate financing landscape, policy and institutional arrangements, and Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).
4. Demonstrated technical and intellectual skills in area of specialty (climate change response and how it relates to public financial management and governance, in particular at local level) is required
5. Working knowledge on design, analysis and implementation of programs on financing locally led climate action in Uganda or Eastern Africa.
6. Strong analytical skills and the ability to synthesize complex information.
7. Experience in engagement with ministries of finance and environment, agencies, in developing countries
8. Working knowledge on World Bank operations is desirable.
9. An excellent command of spoken and written English required.
10. Demonstrable use of PowerPoint or similar tools to engage and educate others in complex topics will be needed