ToR: Consultant, Results-Based Financing Accelerator (CCA)
Terms of Reference
Title: Consultant, Results-based Financing Accelerator (RBFA)
Summary
The United Nations Foundation (UNF) Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA) works with a global network of partners to build an inclusive industry that makes clean cooking accessible to the three billion people who live each day without it. Established in 2010, CCA is driving consumer demand, mobilizing investment to build a pipeline of scalable businesses, and fostering an enabling environment to allow the sector to thrive. Clean cooking transforms lives by improving health, protecting the climate and the environment, empowering women, and helping families save time and money.
CCA has been leading the development of a systems strategy for the clean cooking ecosystem, with the goal to drive greater collaboration, transparency, and ambition toward universal access to clean cooking by 2030.
Results-based financing (RBF) has been identified as a priority area for CCA as an innovative financing mechanism to increase the level and types of capital available to close the vast financing gap. RBF, including climate finance, carbon credits and conditional cash transfers, represent the forefront of funding innovation and an untapped source of catalytic capital for clean cooking.
The vision of the RBFA is an effective global industry platform to galvanize support for results-based finance in clean cooking. It is expected to deliver this vision through 4 horizontal work-streams to solve problems that constrain the application of RBFs in the clean cooking space:
- RBF Policy platform to enable coordination of common policies, standards, and measurement methodologies to reduce uncertainty and transactions costs.
- RBF expertise deployment network to support outcome buyers, implementers, and sellers with certified capacity to design, deploy and participate in RBF programs
- RBF Innovation Lab to enable rapid learning in data-poor environments through testing market assumptions, supporting application of RBF in challenging market segments
- Responsive knowledge curation facility to support current and potential RBF actors with rapidly curated information
The horizontal RBFA workstreams will intersect with four focused verticals that have the greatest prospect for innovation and additional funding for clean cooking. Key initial verticals include:
- Voluntary carbon markets
- Conditional cash transfers
- Impact investments and financial markets
- Digital technology and economy
The impact logic of RBFA is that demand and supply side subsidies will adjust unit economics of clean cooking in identified markets sufficiently to enable existing providers to reach operational viability and commercial sustainability quicker, encouraging entry of new suppliers. This improves the overall attractiveness of clean cooking markets for commercial investors and financial markets, enabling commercial capital to flow into clean cooking markets, while also incentivizing companies operating in others markets to also enter the clean cooking market with ancillary services (e.g., data analytics, sensors etc.). These collectively will hasten the evolution of clean cooking markets where markets will increasingly tend towards structures with a critical mass of providers offering high quality cooking solutions at a fair price which increasing numbers of people and businesses are willing and able to use.
CCA had undertaken significant preparatory work for the RBFA throughout 2021, including scoping and industry consultation, to identify key gaps and stakeholder priorities within the RBF space. These identified gaps are captured in the draft Innovation and Learning Agenda (I&LA) document[1] accompanying this ToR for reference. The I&LA forms the initial substantive agenda to organize the work-streams of the RBFA. CCA is now seeking a consultant or two consultants (on a job-share basis) to support the Senior Director, Innovative Finance and the RBFA team to design and detail the RBFA in the form of a strategic program work and conduct necessary analyses to generate evidence needed to justify interventions.
Scope of Work
Under the direction and supervision of the Senior Director, Innovative Finance, the consultant will collaborate with internal CCA teams and identified groups of external stakeholders in formulating the program document (ProDoc). The ProDoc should be aligned with SDG, SE4All and COP 26 goals in respect of clean cooking. The program should also be seen as a complement to the efforts of others, connecting initiatives, creating synergies, and transforming existing capabilities. Potential risks and challenges of interventions need to be addressed along with ensuring ownership from key stakeholders in the industry globally. CCA has already conducted initial scoping, which needs to be incorporated into the ProDoc.
The consultant will be expected to produce 4 outputs:
1. A short concept-note of the program document of no more than 10 pages
2. A detailed program document of no more than 40 pages (excluding annexes). The program document will cover the following [2]:
a. Executive summary
b. Situation analysis
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- Global context of clean cooking commitments and progress
- Global context of finance for clean cooking
- RBF, current landscape, opportunities, and challenges
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c. Intervention landscape and value added
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- Landscape and interventions of others
- Global lessons (including those from within CCA)
- CCA’s existing programs and capabilities
- CCA’s mandate and value added
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d. Proposed interventions
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- Theory of change
- Mission
- Geographic focus
- Outputs and related activities
- Sustainability of results
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e. Results framework (with significant input from CCA’s RBF team)
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- Log-frame
- Work-plan
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f. Management arrangements
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- Governance and oversight
- Program teams, roles, and responsibilities
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g. Monitoring, evaluation, and reporting framework
h. Visibility and communication
i. Budget
3. Standalone concept notes for each intervention area of no more than 10 pages per intervention area with dedicated results chains
4. A standalone synthesis document of the Innovation and Learning Agenda with issues organized around the RBFA work-streams/themes and implementing/interested cooperating partners identified.
The outputs will take the form of narrative documents in word and power-point presentations.
Timeframe and Deliverables
The assignment will start in July 2022, with the final deliverable to be ready by the end of September 2022, at the latest. The total duration of the assignment is for a total of up to 40 input days.
Required Skills and Experience
Academic Qualification:
- A Master’s degree (or equivalent qualifications) in economics, public/business administration, social sciences, microfinance, or a related discipline.
Experience:
- Minimum ten (10) years of relevant experience in the clean cooking/energy sectors
- Minimum five (5) years knowledge and experience of innovative finance, results-based finance, including carbon markets and climate related investments
- Record of accomplishment in preparing program and strategy documents
- Demonstrated experience of fundraising and proposal development with an established networks in and knowledge of funders in clean cooking sector
Language:
Fluent command of written and spoken English language is required.
Location:
Work can be completed remotely with the possibility of a single international trip to workshop the ProDoc.
To Apply
Please email a resume, cover letter outlining a proposed methodology (max 1 side of A4 paper), and proposed budget to investment@cleancooking.org with the subject line “Consultant, Results-based Financing Accelerator.” Selected Consultant must comply with United Nations Foundation and funder compliance requirements. Closing date: 22nd June 2022 at 09:00 EST.
Annex
Draft Innovation and Learning Agenda (click to download)
[1] The draft I&LA document offers a comprehensive list of questions and issues identified by stakeholders. These are in the process of being prioritized through follow-up discussion with the stakeholders, including identifying division of interest and effort among stakeholders where possible.
[2] The outline of the programme document is for illustration purposes; the structure may be refined and finalized during the kick-off meeting for the assignment.
