Terms of Reference: Provision of Services Related to Clean Cooking Economic Co-Benefits Toolkit
Background and Context
Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) is an International Non-Governmental Organization operating a world-wide multi-stakeholder platform focused on the delivery of Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7). Launched as a UN initiative in 2011 by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon, SEforALL is widely acknowledged for its achievement in raising global awareness of the world’s sustainable energy challenges, ensuring they were included in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Now an independent international organization, SEforALL is directed by its CEO as it works toward the achievement of SDG7. The organization also supports the work of the CEO in her additional roles of Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General (SRSG) for Sustainable Energy for All and as co-chair of UN-Energy. These roles include advising the UN Secretary-General and his staff on issues relating to sustainable energy and the implementation of SDG7 and supporting the coordination of sustainable energy issues in the United Nations system.
One of the primary goals of SEforALL’s Clean Cooking Programme focuses on filling missing links within the sector, including the need to raise ambition and help governments recognize the co-benefits of clean cooking access, and providing data to drive planning and investment in scalable solutions. With less than 10 years left to achieve SDG7 and with increasing urgency on the Paris Agreement, targeted and rapid support is urgently needed by countries to develop and implement the policy, regulatory and institutional frameworks based on effective approaches in order to unlock investment and accelerate progress.
The ambitions of SDG7 on ensuring universal access to affordable, reliable, and modern energy services by 2030 are extraordinary. Aiming to achieve them in the context of the Paris Agreements involves transformation at a scale never undertaken by humanity before. Swift action needs to be taken by leaders in governments, companies, institutions, financiers, development banks, unions and communities, entrepreneurs, and civil society. As a global team, SEforALL crafts interventions that support these leaders in accelerating the delivery of actions. All interventions comprise one or more of SEforALL’s competencies: (i) to marshal the evidence, (ii) to benchmark progress towards SEforALL objectives, (iii) to amplify the voices of the energy poor; (iv) to share stories of success, and (v) to connect stakeholders to each other and to solutions. All interventions systematically draw on strategic insights, build on compelling communications, and are delivered through action-oriented partnerships.
Clean Cooking Programme
Around 2.3 billion people do not have access to clean cooking solutions. Instead, they must rely on burning traditional biomass or polluting fuels, which has severe consequences. Indoor air pollution from the use of traditional fuels for cooking causes millions of deaths annually. The estimated cost worldwide from the use of traditional fuels for cooking is approximately USD 2.4 trillion each year, which accounts for the adverse impacts on health, the climate, lost productivity and the environment, including deforestation. Meanwhile, there is a chronic lack of finance flowing to the clean cooking sector.
By developing a thriving global market for improved and clean cooking solutions, we can transform the way the world is cooking, saving lives, improving livelihoods, empowering women, and protecting the environment while accelerating economic growth, simultaneously.
Our Clean Cooking access programme focuses on filling missing links within the sector, including the need to raise ambition and help governments recognize the co-benefits of clean cooking access, and providing data to drive planning and investment in scalable solutions.
Objectives
SEforALL is seeking the services of a consultant to develop a clean cooking policy toolkit “The Clean Cooking Economic Co-benefits Toolkit” (Hereafter referred to as the CCEC Toolkit) that can offer a decision-making framework by running a cost-benefit analysis based on statistical and economic parameters for SEforALL partners and stakeholders, including but not limited to government officials, policymakers, energy access researchers and more.
To develop such a toolkit, SEforALL is seeking a consultant(s)/firm who is adept in quantitative analysis, statistics, econometric analysis, and political economy; with knowledge of the clean cooking sector, and can develop this decision-making framework. The consultant is expected to take charge of data collection and processing, while SEforALL will assist by facilitating connections between the consultant and various key players and stakeholders in the country, including ministries, government agencies, industry experts, community leaders, and other relevant entities.
Scope of Work
The CCEC Toolkit will offer policymakers and development and investment community a data-driven decision-making framework for considering potential socio-economic trade-offs and benefits—in terms of pace and level of access for a mix of clean cooking technologies and solutions. By articulating the co-benefits of clean(er) cooking transition pathways, the tool will enable prioritization in planning, design and deployment of clean cooking solutions.
Building on previous work in this field by partners, including experiences with the BAR-HAP[2] tool, the aim for the CCEC Toolkit is to illustrate and exemplify the co-benefits via a few impactful primary indicators – determined through stakeholder consultations carried out by the consultant(s)/firm. Unlike BAR-HAP tool that prioritises solutions that lead to health improvement, CCEC toolkit will focus on economic benefits, recognising that countries have different goals for pursing clean cooking transition such as averting local deforestation or job creation.
The consultant(s)/firm is expected to perform a cost-benefit analysis, that exhibits the wide range and scale of the social (health, gender, etc.), environmental (CO2 and black carbon equivalents; reduced pressure on wood fuel resources) and macroeconomic (job creation, infrastructure development, value added to GDP) gains from prioritizing increased access to clean cooking solutions, relative to the costs of implementation and finance of various policies and programs. The toolkit will be accompanied by a report that also takes into consideration the political economy as relates to the traditional cooking fuels, such as the charcoal industry, and provide clear pathway to a just transition to cleaner fuels.
The primary beneficiaries of this toolkit will be national policymakers, funders, donors, and international organizations or think-tanks consulting with national governments on the design and development of policies. The secondary beneficiaries of this toolkit would be clean cooking solution providers and consumers.
A target country will be selected by SEforALL in which to pilot the approach (framework) and the toolkit (tentatively Malawi) and refine it. The country selection could be evaluated by considering metrics including the availability of energy plans, data availability, readiness of a country’s policy and regulatory environment. These metrics will utilize various existing methods and indicators, including SEforALL’s Policy and Regulatory Framework Team’s draft diagnostic toolkit, World Bank/ESMAP’s Regulatory Indicators for Sustainable Energy (RISE) scores, health of business ecosystem assessed by World Economic Forum’s Competitiveness Index, International Trade Centre’s SME Competitiveness Index or other similar indicators, as well as political will and availability of funding. The selected consultant(s)/firm will be leading the data acquisition with support from SEforALL.
While the toolkit would need to be applicable across various countries, the consultant(s)/firm would be expected to demonstrate the effectiveness of the toolkit in the context of the selected pilot country.
To learn more and apply, click here.