Request for Proposal: Blue Carbon Sectoral Roadmap to Support the Implementation of Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN) 2020-2024 and LCDI in Indonesia

SUMMARY OF PROCUREMENT

WRI intends to award a WRI intends to award a cost-reimbursable type contract on the study of Industry Sectoral Roadmap to Support the Implementation of Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN) 2020-2024 and LCDI in Indonesia. The project has an expected end date of 30th of October 2020. More extensive details will follow below.] The chosen vendor will submit deliverables for approval to and work closely with the WRI Indonesia team. The contract will be signed by WRI Global and will be paid from WRI Global accounts, following Indonesia regulations.

About WRI Indonesia

WRI Indonesia is an independent research organization dedicated to contributing to the socioeconomic development of Indonesia in an inclusive and sustainable way. Our work is focused on six main areas: forests, climate, energy, cities and transportation, governance, as well as ocean. We turn big ideas into action at the nexus of environment, economic opportunity, and human well-being.

Established in January 2014 with its headquarter in Jakarta, WRI Indonesia is a non-profit research organization affiliated with the World Resources Institute, a global environmental think tank based in Washington D.C. WRI has a research network of over 450 experts and staff in more than 50 countries with offices in China, India, Indonesia, Europe and the United States. In Indonesia, we have run projects with partners for over 20 years, and WRI Indonesia was formally launched to build a robust in-country presence, to formalize existing partnerships, as well as strengthen our research on the ground.

About the Project or Program Name

For the first time in the history of the country, Indonesia’s medium-term development plan (RPJMN) 2020-2024 became a low carbon based one, built around considerations about Greenhouse Gas (GHG) and environmental impacts associated to alternative development paths. RPJMN 2020-2024 includes policies and targets on energy efficiency, a transition towards renewable sources of energy, avoided deforestation, reforestation, agriculture productivity, and others, that would enable Indonesia to move into a process that also delivers better socio-economic results than alternative high carbon, environmentally unsustainable strategies.

Since the last trimester of 2017, Government of Indonesia, through its Ministry of National Development Planning (BAPPENAS) kickstarted the Low Carbon Development Initiative (LCDI), with a goal to bring low carbon and environmentally sustainable policies as guiding element in development planning through the so-called Technocratic Process in which RPJMN 2020-2024 was founded. The LCDI has been supported by a number of domestic and international partners, including development financial institutions. Ever since its start, the United Kingdom Climate Change Unit in Indonesia (UKCCU) has supported the LCDI, with help of the New Climate Economy and World Resources Institute (WRI) Indonesia as implementing partners. UKCCU and its implementing partners have helped BAPPENAS to develop analytical inputs and contribute with communication and engagement activities. In the research front, they have provided analytical inputs by identifying low carbon, sustainable development policies, interventions and investments, based on the understanding of the feedback relationships between climate systems, the environment and the socio-economy.

Ever since the beginning of 2020, the LCDI has entered into a new phase. Under extended support by UKCCU it is referred to as the LCDI Initial Implementation Phase (IIP), spanning the period December 2019 to May 2021. One of the main objectives of the LCDI during this IIP and under UKCCU funding is that of providing further analytical support and strategy in specified sectors. These activities will include formulation of a set of sector level roadmap, that could provide insights and technical know-how regarding actions that need to be taken at the national and sub-national level to achieve the desired target of the RPJMN 2020-2024.

Six policy documents covering benchmark analyses and successful case studies will provide roadmaps or blueprints that could be useful for defining, strategies, policy instruments, identifying financing gaps, innovative financing schemes, and implementation arrangements. The focus of the study will be identifying scalable, economically appealing, technically and institutionally feasible opportunities to attain targets in GHG emission reduction and other development goals referred to in RPJMN 2020-2024. The studies will be conducted on the following six sectors: (i) Energy sector, including transportation; (ii) Domestic and Industrial Waste; (iii) Industry emissions (from sectors such as Cement and Pulp and Paper); (iv) Blue Carbon; (v) Forests, and Peat Lands, including on Sustainable forests, avoided deforestation and restoration / reforestation; (vi) Agriculture, Food and Land Use.

These requests for proposal are related to the fourth aspect mentioned above, aiming to define ways to achieve the policy target related to blue carbon. The policy target is to restore 50,000 hectares of mangrove ecosystems by 2024. The sectoral study will also seek to identify innovative financing schemes to support low-carbon and climate-resilient projects in the country, in particular for mangrove restoration projects and blue carbon ecosystem conservation in general.

The objective of the assignment described in these RFQs is to carry out a study to determine the framework and options to achieve RPJMN policy target related to blue carbon, restoring 50,000 hectares of mangrove ecosystems by 2024. Framework in the context of these Terms of Reference including to inform policy dialogue, examine management alternatives, and investment options that could lead to better practice of long-term mangrove restoration.

The sectoral study will also provide the improvement strategy for each problem diagnosed, including but not limited to (i) biophysical feasibility, (ii) governance and policy linkage, and (iii) financial and investment opportunities for mangrove restoration.

SCOPE OF WORK AND OUTPUTS/DELIVERABLES

The study will be conducted at national level and should be able to justify the rationale for possible interventions in provincial levels and multiple areas across Indonesia. The proposed activities and tasks are described below.

1.1 Activities

Activities will include, but not limited to the following:

Task 1. Biophysical

The role of blue carbon in mitigating and adapting to climate change has now achieved international excellence. Understanding how climate change affects carbon accumulation in blue carbon ecosystems and during their restoration is a high priority. This task aims to provide comprehensive information related to biophysical feasibility and greenhouse gas reduction from mangrove forest as the most efficient ecosystem in the world at sequestering carbon in living biomass and underlying sediments. The criteria of mangrove condition (tree cover percentage) is classified into three classes refer to Decree Of The Minister of Environment of Indonesia Number: 201/2004 Regarding Range of Standard and Guidelines for Determining Mangrove Damage (Table 1).

Table 1. Criteria for Mangrove ecosystem condition (source: Ministry of Environment Decree 201/2004)

Furthermore, this task should answer questions related to biophysical aspects in order to achieve the restoration target, including but not limited to:

1. What are the challenges and impacts of disturbance that affects carbon sequestration in mangrove restoration? How mangrove restoration supports greenhouse gas reduction? In answering this question, the consultant/firm should identify the relationship between extent (per hectarage) and the time needed for carbon to be sequestrated.

2. Referring to Table 1, how does carbon sequestration and stocks (above-ground and below-ground) vary in different mangrove ecosystem condition within four different areas, namely protected forest area, conservation forest area, production forest area, and non-forest area (Areal Penggunaan Lahan – APL).

3. Relate to the biophysical aspects, how to ensure the sustainability of mangrove restoration? What aspects must be considered to prepare and maintain mangrove restoration area? Ultimately increasing the survival rates in mangrove restoration efforts. The consultant/firm should also describe any other decision support tools, related to the biophysical, to achieve the restoration target.

Task 2. Policy and governance landscape

This task aims to define ways to overcome policy and governance barriers of long-term mangrove restoration, including but not limited to (i) land tenure and status in the field level, and (ii) the existing institutional arrangement. The overall institutional and policy context will also be described and synthesized in a way that understandable and serves as a purpose to overcome aforementioned barriers. Furthermore, the firm/consultant should analyze the designation and harmonization of mangrove area within RTRW and RZWP3K (not limited to spatial analysis and literature review). This should include assessment in national, provincial, and local level, with emphasis on the national level.

For example, what should be done if the ownership of land is not clear or belong to an individual. If it does belong to government, for example, under forestry area, what steps should be taken to optimize restoration efforts? If the land is not productive (e.g. idle shrimp ponds), what steps could be taken? Prior to describing the steps, it is required to explain the institutional and policy context, which may include review of the policy and institutional arrangement in the national level (e.g. National Land Agency [BPN], Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Environment and Forestry etc.) and also within the local level and provincial level. Existing management scheme should also be explored, for example, social forestry arrangement within Ministry of Environment and Forestry, coastal customary communities within Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, etc.

Task 3. Financing and investment opportunities

This task aims to identify the financing and investment opportunities, including activities in which mangrove restoration can have an impact not only due to cost and benefit exercise but also the one that will allow political economy to move forward. The opportunities that should be explored including but not limited to carbon incentives, trust fund, payment for ecosystem services, private sector financing, government funding [ecological fiscal transfer], and blended finance. The opportunities described should be clearly outlined and prioritized with description of condition in which the scheme would be most impactful. Case studies will also be especially useful to give concrete ideas on the challenges, existing frameworks, gaps, and opportunities for impact.

3.2 Approach

The sectoral studies will be carried out through, but not limited to:

1. Literature review, these should be conducted at various levels, including academic and gray literature. A systematic analysis of the published scholarly literature as a starting point is suggested. The consultant/firm should recommend a way of developing the literature review.

2. Spatial analysis, the study should be identified the function and role of each designation areas using spatial data with the corresponding informative boundaries particularly within RTRW and RZWP3K. The consultant/firm should analyze the gaps and recommend a way to harmonize the governance landscape.

3. Interviews with government and other relevant stakeholders should be conducted. Some ways to do it is through distribute a questionnaire to experts on the related task mentioned above. Stakeholders to be engaged including but not limited to: Ministry of National Development Planning/BAPPENAS

• Dep. Maritime Affairs and Natural Resources

• Dir. Environment

• Dir. Marine Affairs and Fisheries

Ministry of Environment and Forestry

• DG Climate Change (Pengendalian Perubahan Iklim - PPI)

• DG. Pengendalian Daerah Aliran Sungai dan Hutan Lindung PDASHL – Konservasi Tanah dan Air KTA

• Research and Development MoEF (Balitbang KLHK)

Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries

• DG Marine Spatial Planning (Pengelolaan Ruang Laut - PRL)

• DG Marine and Fisheries Resources Surveillance (Pengawsan Sumber Daya Kelautan dan Perikanan - PSDKP)

• Institute of Marine Research and Observation MMAF (BROL KKP)

• Research and Development MMAF (Balitbang KKP)

Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investments

• Dep. Environment Management and Forestry

The Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI)

• Oceanography Research Center (PPO)

Private Sectors

• PT. Bintuni Utama Murni Wood Industries

• PT. Rimba Makmur Utama

4. Focus group discussion with stakeholders within blue carbon network could be conducted when necessary. However, the consultant/ firm should take advantage of meetings and workshop scheduled, instead of creating new ones. For example, meetings held by SEKRAN-GRK.

5. Presentation of drafts and findings at variety of stages of drafts to integrate input both from BAPPENAS and WRI Indonesia, as well as the working group organized by SEKRAN-GRK.

6. Functionality and recording, all archive should be collected and made available online through some restriction limitation.

2. Expected Outputs

1. Inception report

2. Short report on biophysical feasibility

3. Short report on governance and policy linkage to mangrove restoration

4. Short report on financial and investment opportunities

5. Synthesis report

6. Summary presentation

TIMING

Duration of the work will be 4 months (August 2020 – November 2020).

BUDGET

Budgets up to 60,000 GBP will be considered and must break down expected team members, respective day rates, and anticipated days on the project. Please note this information will also be required on invoices, as this award will be paid on a cost-reimbursement basis.

Please note that WRI is an IRS-registered 501(c)3, tax-exempt organization. WRI is not VAT exempt. All prices or quotes should include VAT and tax, as applicable.

GUIDELINES FOR PROPOSAL SUBMISSION

Requirements

The selected vendor will be able to demonstrate capacity in similar work, particularly:

• Expertise on Biophysical aspect of blue carbon

• Expertise on policy and governance of the landscape

• Expertise on innovative and sustainable financing

Proposal content

Prospective vendors should submit:

• Company Profile (including sustainability efforts);

• A statement of interest describing the proposed team and how it meets the above requirements;

• CVs of team members;

• Examples of and references for similar previous work;

• An outline of the proposed methodology and workplan;

• A proposed budget with a breakdown of costs sufficient to assess reasonableness and compliance with our funder requirements - OR if proposing for a Fixed Price contract, a competitive payment schedule associating amounts with work milestones.

• If a reimbursable type of contract is envisioned, a summary of accounting system which will support claims.

• Statement of corporate legal compliance, please download the statement here.

Expression of Interest, Deadline for Questions, and Proposal

All expressions of interest and questions about this RFP must be received via email to the contact below by 15th of August , 2020 (23:59 Jakarta time). Answers to the questions will be shared will all parties who have asked questions or otherwise expressed interest.

WRI Contact Name: Ari Wijanarko Adipratomo

Title: Technical Officer for LCDI

Email addresses: Ari.adipratomo@wri.org

And please cc to : Egi.Suarga@wri.org, Kylie.Teller@wri.org

All proposals must be sent by 21st of August 2020 (23:59 Jakarta time) in electronic format to the same contact listed above.

EVALUATION AND SELECTION

valuation Criteria

The following elements will be the primary considerations in evaluating all proposals submitted in response to this RFP :

• Completion of all required elements (proposal quality);

• The extent to which the vendor’s proposal fulfills WRI Indonesia stated requirements as set out in the RFP and demonstrates an understanding of the issues at hand;

• Experience with similar projects (project portfolio);

• Sustainability – WRI Indonesia values sustainability and all other factors being equal, will favor a proposal to more sustainably perform the work.

• Overall cost of the vendor’s proposal (value for money).

The bidder offering the best overall value will be selected. For this procurement, price and non-price aspects are considered to be of approximately equal importance. Selection Process

No proposal development costs shall be charged to WRI Indonesia and all expenses are to be borne by the bidders. WRI Indonesia may award to the bidder offering best value without discussions. However, WRI Indonesia reserves the right to seek bidder clarifications and to negotiate with those bidders deemed to be within a competitive range.

WRI Indonesia may, at its discretion and without explanation to the prospective vendors etc., choose to discontinue this RFP without obligation to such prospective vendors.