Result of Service
The overarching objective of the consultancy- delivered under the joint supervision of the African Union Commission and the ECA – is to develop and deliver a training programme to support the integration of climate resilience in the selection and implementation of PIDA PAP II by strengthening the capacity and awareness of PIDA stakeholders on the impacts of climate change on Africa’s infrastructure development and the opportunities that could be harnessed by harnessing the challenges of climate change to build resilience.
Specific objectives of the proposed training programme include ensuring that PIDA stakeholders (based on list provided by the African Union Commission) (i) are well informed of climate risks to Africa’s infrastructure, (ii) understand climate resilience and its attributes and guidelines, (iii) are trained on the use of the resilience attributes and climate resilient guidelines for hydropower sector already developed through the World Bank under the AFRI-RES programme, (iv) are able to prioritise PIDA PAP II projects on the basis of the need for resilience.
Work Location
Ethiopia
Expected duration
The consultancy is for a full time equivalent of two months delivered over a period of five months.
Duties and Responsibilities
Background:
This consultancy seeks to develop and deliver a comprehensive training and awareness raising programme on integration of climate resilience in the second phase of the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) under Component 2 of the Africa Climate Resilient Investment Facility (AFRI-RES). AFRI-RES is a joint initiative of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the African Union Commission (AUC), the World Bank and the African Development, with initial funding from the Nordic Development Fund (NDF). It aims at strengthening the capacity of member States and stakeholders in building resilience, including through better early warning systems and climate-proofing of long-lived investments in climate sensitive sectors to ensure that investments made today can perform and yield returns under future climate.
AFRI-RES is structured under four components as follows:
Component 1: Project-level technical assistance (WB led). This includes expert input to project developers to draft terms of reference that include specifications for carrying out climate resilience assessments in pre-feasibility or feasibility studies, quality assurance consultant reports, or including climate risk management actions in the structuring of public-private partnership agreements or contracts. The facility may also provide additional incremental financing to top up project preparation resources to cover the additional costs of including climate change considerations in project design.
Projects benefitting from AFRI-RES support in this area will provide a summary of the approach followed and of lessons learned, so that a library of real-life experience in climate-resilient investment planning (Component 3) can gradually emerge and can be shared through the Facility climate knowledge portal (component 4). Furthermore, under this component, a set of resilience attributes and climate resilient guidelines for hydropower (in collaboration with the IHA) have been developed and need to be applied.
Component 2: Outreach, dissemination and training (ECA led). AFRI-RES will undertake a range of activities to encourage behavioural change on climate-resilient investment planning. These will range from upstream work of awareness-raising (e.g. workshops, seminars), intended to enhance understanding of public and private sector decision-makers as to the risks of climate variability and change on the performance of local infrastructure, to more in-depth technical trainings and workshops (targeted at practitioners) to support robust decision-making, access to finance, technology transfer and capacity-building, reflecting the real-life experiences accumulated through the activities carried out under component 1. Furthermore, this component will rollout trainings on the use and application of some of the products developed in Component 1, including the resilience attributes and the climate resilience guidelines for hydropower.
As part of this continuous and iterative learning model, AFRI-RES will develop and deliver a comprehensive training programme on integration of climate resilience in key sectors. The training materials will be delivered in-person and online through the ECA’s dedicated capacity development entity – the African Institute for Economic Development and Planning (IDEP).
Component 3: Guidelines, standards, and good practice notes for climate-resilient infrastructure investment (WB led). The facility will identify good practices and develop guidelines to inform decision-making on incorporating climate risk into infrastructure planning and design, across different sectors and stages of decision-making (e.g., from the policy level to sector level planning to individual project design).
Component 4: Climate knowledge and data portal (UNECA led). The facility will develop and maintain an online repository of knowledge of relevance for climate-resilient investment planning and design in Africa. This will include a library of project level experiences, including distilled knowledge from work carried out under component 1 other sources; sample terms of reference for work at different stages of the project cycle; access to key data, including vetted climate change projections for Africa; tools, models, and analytics to support climate-resilient infrastructure investment; and multi-media learning and knowledge products.
Importance of climate resilient infrastructure for Africa’s development
Africa’s development aspirations are framed by the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development aimed at leaving no one behind and the continent’s wider development blueprint – Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want – a peaceful, prosperous and integrated Africa. Transforming African economies to attain these development objectives requires widespread access to modern and sustainable infrastructure and infrastructure services in ecosystems, energy, transport, water, sanitation, urban and information and communications technology. Indeed, Agenda 2063 emphasises “world-class integrative infrastructure that criss-crosses the continent” as a key requirement for attaining the new African renaissance.
Closing the Africa’s huge infrastructure deficit is essential if Africa is to meet its development objectives, transform its economies, increase productivity, attain regional integration and become competitive in the global economy. This requires annual investments in the order of The Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA), endorsed in 2012 by the continent’s Heads of State and Government, lays out an ambitious long-term plan for closing Africa’s infrastructure gap, including through major transport infrastructure and increases in hydroelectric power generation and water storage capacity. These sectors are very sensitive to climate change impacts and – which are sensitive.
A 2015 study by the World Bank and the Economic Commission for Africa on Enhancing the Climate Resilience of Africa’s Infrastructure (ECRAI) found that failure to integrate climate change in the planning and design of power and water infrastructure could entail – in the driest climate scenarios – losses of hydropower revenues of between 5 and 60 percent (depending on the basin) and increases of up to 3 times the corresponding baseline values in consumer expenditure on energy. In the wettest climate scenarios, business-as-usual infrastructure development could lead to foregone revenues in the range of 15 to 130 percent of the baseline value. Similarly, for irrigation the largest loss in revenue is in the 10 to 20 percent range for most river basins.
In the transport sector, the ECRAI study found that climate change is likely to lead to a shortening in the life-cycle of roads rehabilitation, which may entail steep increases in maintenance and periodic rehabilitation costs. In the worst climate scenarios, the stress imposed on roads by precipitation could lead to rehabilitation costs that are 10 times higher when compared to historical climate conditions, while the stress imposed by flooding could lead to a 17-fold increase in rehabilitation costs.
The infrastructure projects identified in PIDA – PIDA Priority Action Plan (PIDA-PAP) projects – require investments in the order of USD 360 billion by 2040. Most of the investments will support the construction of long-lived infrastructure (e.g., dams, power stations, irrigation canals and transport corridors) which may be vulnerable to changes in climatic patterns. For example, the water needed for hydropower generation or irrigation may not be available in the amounts needed or at the right time; roads may get washed away more frequently as a result of more frequent high rainfall events. Climate-proofing substantial investments needed to realise PIDA projects is essential to ensure that the investments will perform and yield returns under changing climate. This is especially important as Africa stands to be impacted the most from the adverse effects of climate change even though the continent contributes to less than 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
The selection for of projects for the second phase of PIDA – PIDA PAP II – is based on a strategy framed on an Integrated Corridor approach with the following implementation principles:
Infrastructure Corridors: Creating synergies and enhance impact by integrating related
tourism, agriculture, services and trade as well as industrialisation strategies, within RECs and
Member States.
Job Creation: Implementing PIDA projects that incorporate deliberate measures to maximise
job creation for each project/corridor.
Rural-Urban Connectivity: Developing PIDA projects with rural connectivity strategies
to stimulate entrepreneurship, access to finance and investment in social infrastructure
(education and health) in rural communities being traversed by PIDA infrastructure/corridors.
Climate Resilience: Ensuring that PIDA project development promotes the provision of
climate-resilient infrastructure.
Gender-Responsive Infrastructure: Mainstreaming gender in infrastructure planning,
procurement, construction and operation.
Innovation: Promoting innovation in the design and financial structuring of PIDA Projects.
Financial Viability: Preparing projects that fulfil the most important bankability aspects in
order to secure finance and comply with the requirements of major Development Finance
Institutions (DFIs).
Hence, climate resilience has this become critical for the second phase of PIDA starting in 2021. Recognising the huge risks that climate change pose to closing Africa’s infrastructure gap, the PIDA programme can turn climate change challenges into opportunities to build quality infrastructure in Africa in ways that ensure: resource efficiency; resilience to natural disasters (including those arising from climate change and uncertainty); safety; environmental and social sustainability; and economic and social contributions.
Deliverables
The selected Consultant will work under the immediate general guidance and direct supervision of the Senior Environmental Affairs Officer in charge of energy, infrastructure and climate change in the African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC)
The Senior Consultant will development a comprehensive training programme to deliver on the specific objectives above. The training programme should be suitable for online delivery given current constraints posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The training programme will include modules on:
• The AFRI-RES programme
• Understanding climate resilience
• Understanding and use of the AFRI-RES climate resilience attributes
• Understanding and use of the AFRI-RES resilience booster tool
• Understanding and application of the climate resilience guidelines for the hydropower sector
• Climate resilience case studies of selected PIDA PAP II projects
Qualifications/special skills
Academic Qualifications: Advanced university degree (PhD degree desirable) in engineering, climate change and environment, infrastructure is required or any other related area.
Experience: A minimum of 7 years of progressively responsible experience at the national and/or international level in research and teaching in energy, infrastructure and climate change in Africa is required.
Language: English and French are the working language of the United Nations Secretariat. Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of French is a desirable
skills: Good computer skills for course presentation are required.
No Fee
THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.
