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Introduction

Country:   Philippines

 

Description of the Assignment:  

1.         Project Title

Green and Resilient Cities

 

2.         Project Description

The Philippines is one of the fastest urbanizing countries and has the second highest average urban density in the East Asia and Pacific region. Its cities serve as engines of economic growth, accounting for 80% of the country’s GDP. Unplanned urbanization in the country resulted in expansion of informal settlements, decimated green spaces, vital ecosystems and threatened biodiversity rich areas. Urban areas emit almost half of the country’s total GHG emissions, owing to infrastructure oriented and car centric development. Philippine cities are also highly vulnerable. About 60% of its land areas and 74% of its population are exposed to hazards such as cyclones and flooding. Some coastal cities face above average sea level rise. By 2050, its population is expected to grow to 145 million where 65% are living in urban areas.

These challenges threaten the country’s ambition to become an upper middle-income country. Urbanization patterns, environment and climate challenges, and its ranking as the most at risk country at the global level by the World Risk Index 2022, make the Philippines’ participation critical in global efforts in urban transformation. Without addressing these problems immediately, the quality of life in the cities will worsen amidst environmental degradation.

In response to these challenges, the country’s Philippine Development Plan (2023-2028), its roadmap for achieving sustainable development, envisions improved quality of the natural environment. This will be achieved by increasing the area and access to urban green spaces, integration of biodiversity conservation in new and updated local plans (i.e., CLUP, CDP, AIP), environmentally sound management of transport system and efficient handling of hazardous wastes. Best practices will be translated into local policies, with budget and clear implementation mechanisms, that will ensure government ownership and results to sustained partnership with the private sector and other key stakeholders in the target cities.

The Government also has its Philippine Urban Agenda which promotes “climate resilience as base for spatial development, and sustainable urban environment as core development condition to ensure protection of ecosystems and urban biodiversity; efficient, affordable, and clean energy; sustainable use of air, water, land, and resources in urban development; and sustainable production and consumption.  It will support the implementation of the Philippine Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (PBSAP) 2015 to 2028 that identifies urban biodiversity as one of the priority programs for mainstreaming biodiversity in infrastructure, cities and urban development. All these actions support the country’s commitment to the Paris Agreement, Basel and Stockholm Conventions, and the Post 2030 Global Biodiversity Framework.

Towards this end, the project is envisioned to contribute to global efforts to enhance the resiliency of countries most affected by climate change. This will be achieved through the following: (1) Strengthening integrated planning approaches and governance mechanisms; (2) Development and implementation of portfolio of solutions – project pipeline, demonstration projects, enabling policies, innovative approaches; (3) Mobilization of finance; and (4) Strengthening knowledge management and sharing.

The project will be implemented in six (6) cities that represent different conditions of urban areas in the Philippines, namely: Quezon City, Caloocan City, Baguio City, Cebu City, Davao City, and Cotabato City. For the cities of Baguio, Davao and Quezon, the project will address urban sprawl to protect biodiversity.

 

3.         Scope of Work 

The National Urban Finance and Private Sector Engagement Specialist should possess extensive experience in mobilizing private sector support and active participation in urban development initiatives. S/he will focus on identifying innovative finance solutions to finance green and resilient investments in local government/city contexts in the Philippines and sustainable financing options that can attract private sector investment in the six cities towards attaining the objectives of Green and Resilient Cities (GRC).

Specific Functions:

a.         Preparatory Technical Studies and Reviews (Component A)

Prepare inputs and support the required analyses/studies, as agreed with the GEF PPG Team Leader, including:

·         Conduct a comprehensive profiling and assessment of the private sector in the six cities;

·         Identify and analyse opportunities for private sector collaboration in establishing GRC initiatives;

·         Identify and analyse opportunities for financing by international finance institutions (ADB, WB, JICA, among others) for green and resilient investments in the partner cities of the Project and recommend ways to leverage the GEF Project to avail of these financing opportunities;

·         Identify opportunities for cities to raise domestic revenues from green and resilient investments;

·         Organize and facilitate public-private dialogues on sustainable urban development to identify opportunities for collaboration and areas of mutual cooperation;

·         Identify relevant national and local policies supporting public-private partnerships, impact investments and blended finance to achieve GRC targets;

·         Review international best practices in GRC financing, extract lessons learned from the development and implementation of private sector-related GRC financing projects, and recommend applicable strategies and interventions for enhancing sustainable city financing in the Philippines;

·         Provide recommendations on initiating or improving private sector engagement in GRC financing within the Philippine context, specifying: (i) different private sector participation modalities, e.g., Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), ESG, PPP, impact investments and blended financing, among others, and taking into account different resource use types; (ii) types of private sector entities where there is high potential of participation in GRC financing; and (iii) appropriate GRC financing instruments that can be developed and/or promoted, if already existing, by commercial and development financial institutions;

·         Develop a GRC private sector strategy including a portfolio of sustainable financing options for private sector engagement in GRC, priority interventions, and conduct initial due diligence on potential private sector partners; and

·         Support the completion of any additional studies required for the preparation of the Project Document and other final outputs as guided by the PPG team Leader.

b.         Formulation of the Project Document, CEO Endorsement Request and Mandatory and Project Specific Annexes (Component B)

·         Participate in consultations, workshops, meetings etc. and provide inputs to management arrangements; and

·         Work with the GEF PPG Team Leader to ensure integration of relevant findings on green and resilient financing opportunities, private sector assessments into the project strategy, theory of change and results framework, ensuring effective monitoring of implementation.

c.         Validation Workshop and Finalization of the GEF CEO Endorsement and Project Document (Component C)

·         Contribute to the validation workshop; and

·         Support all necessary revisions that arise during the workshop,  reviews and comments from Bangkok regional Hub and headquarters, and GEF, as appropriate.

 

Period of assignment/services: estimated level of effort of 30 days spread over 14 months 

 

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Documents :

Negotiation Document(s) (Before Accessing other negotiations Document(s), please click on this link)