Consultancy service to conduct Evaluation of the Commonwealth Secretariat's Climate Finance Access Hub

Contract Reference No.: 516-2020

Description: Contract for the provision of Consultancy Services for the Evaluation of the Commonwealth Climate Finance Hub (CCFAH)

I. Programme Context and Rationale

The programme under review, the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub (CCFAH), aims to improve and strengthen the climate resilience of small and other vulnerable Commonwealth countries through improving their access to climate finance. The mandate of the CCFAH emanates from the Commonwealth Heads of Government’s endorsement of November 2015 in Malta.

The Programme seeks to: strengthen the institutional capacity of key ministries and agencies mandated to attract and manage climate finance in small and other vulnerable states; support the development of a pipeline of climate change projects in these countries; increase the evidence base on climate finance, with particular focus on small and other vulnerable states; and advance the Secretariat’s climate change advocacy. Overall, the project aims to contribute to enabling member states to realise the targets set out in the Paris Climate Change Agreement and catalyse the attainment of the 2030 sustainable development goals (SDGs).

The programme is operationalised primarily through direct long-term technical assistance, and secondly, via research on climate finance, which informs knowledge generation and evidence-based advocacy towards reforming the international climate finance architecture globally.

Under the oversight of the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Climate Section, the central CCFAH in Mauritius receives and manages the response to member states’ requests for technical assistance to secure climate finance. It executes these through a network of long-term national advisers. Linked to these advisers is access to: (i) a Knowledge Network and (ii) a Technical Support Mechanism to enable peer-to-peer exchanges and consultancies. In addition to the 10 advisers already deployed, the project has resources to extend to another five countries in the 2020/21 financial year. As of March 2020, the programme had mobilised USD31.92 million for the beneficiary countries with a further 74 adaptation and mitigation projects, totalling USD 574 million also in pipeline. The project has been funded through the Secretariat’s core funds - Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation (CFTC) and Commonwealth Secretariat Fund (COMSEC) - as well as UK-DFID and Australian DFAT budgetary resourcing received from financial year 2017- 2018.

II. Internal Management and Governance of the CCFAH

The project was initiated to action a mandate from the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Malta, November 2015. Commonwealth Heads directed the Secretariat to launch the Climate Finance Access Hub, in alignment with the Strategic Plan period 2016/17-2020/21, and appreciative of its hosting by Mauritius.

The CCFAH Steering Committee is its governance organ and is responsible for providing strategic and policy guidance to its operations. Through its liaison and interaction with the Hub General Manager, the Steering Committee supports and supervises the operations of the Hub and ensures that principles of transparency and accountability are upheld, and its controls and risk management system is robust. Membership of the Steering Committee comprise:

a) Four Members of Commonwealth countries representing the regions (Africa and Indian Ocean, Asia, Caribbean, and Pacific) on rotational basis every two years;
b) At least one member of the Donor Community with the possibility for other countries to participate;
c) At least One member representing the regional organisations on rotational basis;
d) At least One member representing international climate finance Institutions (GCF, AF, CIFs);
e) One member from the Republic of Mauritius by virtue of hosting the Hub;
f) One member from the Commonwealth Secretariat.

III. Evaluation Objectives:

Review of the 3 ½ years of operation of the CCFAH, 2016-2020, its achievement and challenges in terms of;
Integration into the respective ministries

Secured finances for the country

Pipeline of finance secured

Capacity building and institutional structuring support offered

Collaboration with regional entities for higher visibility and better access to climate finance.

Gender mainstreaming into climate change initiatives

Information and knowledge management

Adviser exit/handover procedures

Outcomes sustainability strategy

Assessment of the performance of the ‘Hub and Spokes’ model utilised to deliver technical assistance to beneficiary countries through national and regional advisers. In this regard, the evaluation will assess whether the model is a fit for purpose approach to meet the ever evolving and dynamic climate finance needs of countries to enhance climate action. The evaluation should identify the strengths and weaknesses of the model and assess how the programme has been adjusting to address these.

Assessment of the sustainability of the Climate Finance Access Hub in terms of its governance, management, financial and operational aspects.

Review of the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning systems and procedures in place for learning, reporting and seeking improvements. This will also inform the identification of areas requiring further research and options for improving understanding of ‘what works’ and results-based management.

Contract Duration: 45 days