INTRODUCTION
Introduction to the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA)
The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) is an international organization that works as a solutions broker to catalyze action and support for adaptation solutions, from the international to the local, in partnership with the public and private sector, to ensure we learn from each other and work together for a climate resilient future. Adapting to impacts of climate change provides a “win-win” for livelihoods, food security, water supply, health, security, and economic growth. The work of the GCA elevates the visibility and political importance of climate adaptation and facilitates solutions, such as smarter investments, new technologies and better planning to become more resilient to climate related threats. GCA is a rapidly growing organization with offices in Abidjan, Beijing, Dhaka, Groningen, and Rotterdam.

The GCA’s ambitious 2020-2025 business plan and strategy have three pillars:

• Programs: Food Security; Using Nature for more resilient infrastructure; Water for Urban Growth and Resilience; Climate Finance; Youth Leadership.
• Knowledge: Building adaptation knowledge globally through cutting edge products such as the State and Trends in Adaptation Report and the Adaptation Knowledge Portal.
• Advocacy and Awareness: Formulating policy messages to move the global, regional, and local adaptation agendas forward.

Program Background Information
The Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP) is GCA’s strategic initiative in Africa, co-designed with the African Development Bank (AfDB) and endorsed by the African Union (AU). The program aims to climate-proof $25 billion of investments to accelerate climate change adaptation across Africa by 2025 and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. GCA manages the AAAP Upstream Financing Facility, supporting African institutions to integrate climate adaptation into projects funded by international financial institutions (IFIs) and other development finance bodies. The AAAP focuses on four key areas: enhancing food security by influencing $10 billion in climate-smart agriculture investments; mainstreaming nature-based and climate-resilient solutions into $12 billion of infrastructure investments; supporting youth entrepreneurship and creating five million adaptation jobs through $2 billion in investments; and unlocking $1 billion in adaptation finance by developing innovative financial instruments. Additionally, GCA has partnered with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to engage the private sector in financing adaptation, focusing on integrating climate risk disclosure into financial decision-making and pioneering resilience bonds. As part of this collaboration, GCA and EBRD are planning to develop a Masterclass on Climate Adaptation Finance for Financial Institutions to enhance the capacity of financial intermediaries in addressing climate change impacts and opportunities.

Objective of the Assignment  
The flow of adaptation finance is stagnating, with the majority coming from the public sector. Critical barriers that discourage private sector investment in adaptation, particularly in Africa, includes a lack of technical capacity for financial institution employees to accessing and interpreting results from climate models. Investors lack access to information on climate impacts, future hazards, and expected adaptation outcomes, as social and environmental benefits are not fully measured or valued. This renders it difficult to effectively estimate returns on investments and, make informed investment decisions. Adaptation projects are also perceived as high risk, due to the uncertainty of climate impacts. Finally, many adaptation projects have long durations and high initial costs with long recovery periods, which further weakens the business rationale for adaptation finance.  
 
The Masterclass will aim to address these challenges by providing publicly available knowledge modules, complemented with face-to-face climate adaptation training for EBRD and GCA’s partner financial institutions (PFI), particularly but not limited to PFIs in Egypt, Morocco, Kenya and Tanzania.  
 
The Masterclass will contribute to building an understanding of physical climate risks, and how they can be appropriately managed, while also providing insight and guidance on investment opportunities. Specific objectives of this Masterclass will enhance participants’ capacity to:  

• Assess the potential value and insights that climate models can provide at different levels of granularity and uncertainty.  
• Determine how these changes could impact their investments, in regard to both risk and opportunity. 
• Develop a business case for increasing adaptation investments in bank portfolios, where relevant. 
• Identify untapped investment streams and potential opportunities through adaptation (i.e. food value chains, resilient infrastructure, etc.). 
• Identify possibilities for financing adaptation, through the delivery of an overview of specific climate finance instruments for adaptation. 

GCA is searching for a qualified firm/organization (hereby referred to as Service Provider) to develop and deliver a comprehensive Masterclass on Adaptation Finance. This opportunity involves creating an engaging, informative, and rigorous program that combines expert instruction with practical, real-world applications, tailored specifically to professionals in the financial sector. The ideal Service Provider will deeply understand climate-related finance and innovative teaching methods. 

Scope of the Services to be Performed 
The scope of services to develop the Masterclass on Climate Adaptation Finance will have three components of work:  

• Knowledge and content development (the “Body of Knowledge”).  
• Masterclass training tools, content, and plans.  
• Deliver up to 3 masterclasses  

Submission of the Proposal
If you are interested in participating in this Request for Proposal, you are requested to submit your proposal in PDF format to the link: GCA-PR-24-560 – Development of Masterclass on Climate Adaptation Finance no later than 13 September 2024, 16:00:00 hours (04:00:00 p.m. o’clock), Central European Time (CET) (hereinafter referred to as “the closing date and time”).

Bidders are cautioned that the timing of submission is based on when the proposal is received by the GCA, not when a proposal is submitted by a bidder. As transmission can be delayed due to file transfer size, transmission speed or other technical factors, bidders should plan to submit proposals well in advance of the Submission Deadline to avoid submitting late due to technical issues. Bidders submitting near the Submission Deadline do so at their own risk.

Proposals received after the closing date and time will be rejected. GCA will confirm receipt of proposals within 24 hours from the closing date and time. Bidders that do not receive this confirmation must contact GCA within 48 hours from the closing date and time. After 48 hours from the closing date and time, GCA shall not respond to any queries related to whether a bidder’s proposal was received.

Please download the full RFP on this page for more information.