Taxonomy Tender

Request for Proposals

Technical, capacity and governance support services for the development of Rwanda’s sustainable finance taxonomy

• Background
• Purpose and Objectives
• Scope of Services and Deliverables
• Timeframe and Milestones for expected Deliverables/outputs
• Selection Criteria
• Proposal Submission

The Climate Bonds Initiative (Climate Bonds) has involved in the development of more than 20 taxonomies and has been at the forefront of sustainable finance for over a decade. The organisation’s expertise and skills offer a longstanding track record of taxonomy development work, technical expertise and reputation in standard-setting as well as deep sector-specific technical knowledge and assessment abilities.

Climate Bonds has been recruited to develop a project that seeks to support Rwandan partners with the development of the country’s national taxonomy. According to Rwanda’s Sustainable Finance Roadmap launched in 2022, the country wishes to establish a sustainable finance taxonomy by COP28 in November 2023 as a way to enhance the flow capital for the country’s sustainable transformation. As such, Climate Bonds is now recruiting two national experts located in Rwanda that can support the project at the local level.

The purpose of the project is t0 provide specialised professional services to support the development of Rwanda’s national taxonomy including capacity-building, governance structure and technical criteria support. Creating national taxonomies helps the financial and non-financial sector identify green sectors and activities which can mobilise public and private capital with speed and scale to finance the transition to 1.5 degree and resilient economies.

The ultimate long-term goals of the project and of the taxonomy are:

• To develop standardised definitions for sustainable economic activities and sustainable investments to attain priority environmental and sustainability goals;
• To increase the country’s attractiveness to responsible investors, including those pursuing impact-investing strategies in the domestic and international arena;
• To support the growth of domestic sustainable finance markets; and
• To enable tracking and reporting of public expenditures and private investments addressing specific sustainability issues, based on categories that are technically sound and aligned with international best practice.

Climate Bonds is seeking two local consultants from Rwanda that will support the activities of the project in the field and lead specific activities directly. The consultants will be the project’s in-country focal points to manage and liaise with national stakeholders and government officials. They should leverage the consultant’s and the partner’s existing networks and platforms in Rwanda.

The two consultants will work with Climate Bonds and the consortium’s partner to undertake the following outputs:

The consultants will be required to lead in the following outputs:

Organise the logisitics of two trainings in Rwanda, and gather feedback and produce findings report.

In conjunction with public sector partners, contact and convene potential members of expert groups and steering committee

With the support of the existing taxonomy taskforce and partners, build a pool of relevant private and public experts with diverse knowledge in relevant fields including climate change, sustainable finance, industry sectors and policy

In line with a communications plan, regularly update Climate Bonds and partner on progress and provide update reports as and when agreed/required.

The consultants will be required to support Climate Bonds and the partner in the following outputs:

Put together a ToR for the expert groups and steering committee composition as well as their governance structure

Circulate White Paper and integrate feedback

Gather feedback amongst public sector partners

Integrate feedback into second draft of the taxonomy

Prepare materials for public consultations (narrative overview, Q&As, feedback form)

Incorporate feedback from public consultations

Set up introductory interviews with public sector partners to scope out their views on the taxonomy and needs for capacity buildings

These outputs and deliverables will be further defined once the consultants have been recruited.

The two consultants will be required to deliver this work within a 12-month timeframe from the commencement date. The anticipated commencement date is a the end of June/early July 2023.

The Strategic partner should be able to demonstrate alignment with the following criteria:

• Have clear understanding of the climate finance landscape of Rwanda and be able to navigate policy-making mechanisms.
• Demonstrate experience as lead or technical consultants that have assisted project with stakeholder management in Rwanda especially government institutions.
• Familiarity with green and other thematic financing instruments etc.
• Knowledge of international climate finance, green taxonomies and green technical screening criteria
• Extensive and comprehensive network across multiple stakeholder groups that including industrial associations, finance working groups, investor platforms, chambers of commerce, and technical/professional associations and any such platforms that represent the relevant stakeholders and economic players for this engagement.
• Fluent in verbal and written French and English.

Consultants should prepare and submit a technical proposal that addresses the selection criteria, outlining:

• Your technical approach and resources that will be applied to the deliverables, with a high level timeline, CVs of technical experience, and your communication plan with Climate Bonds and the partner.
• Two samples of past relevant workincluding research reports.
• Consultants should provide a daily rate inclusive of all costs for the outputs/deliverables proposed. Please note the maximum number days for this assignment per consultant is 54 days.

Please submit your technical and financial proposals, by 23-06-2023 at: [email removed - click apply for more details].

Shortlisting and identification of the consultants will take place shortly after and the Consultant will be in place by the end of June 2023.