72051422RFI00002 RFI_Nature-based Solutions.pdf

Subject: Request for Information (RFI) Issue Date: December 9, 2021 Deadline to submit feedback: January 14, 2022 Anticipated Activity Title: Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) Anticipated mechanism type: Contract Anticipated timeframe: 5 five years, 2022 - 2027 Anticipated total budget: $40 million USAID investment.

To All Interested Parties:

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is seeking feedback through this Request for Information (RFI) from entities interested in the attached Concept Paper for the USAID/Colombia Nature-based Solutions (NbS) Activity. The purpose of this activity is to improve human well-being and biodiversity conservation by engaging key stakeholders, particularly the private sector, in the implementation of nature-based solutions that preserve ecosystems and ecosystem services.

This is NOT a Request for Proposals/Applications and is NOT to be construed as a commitment by the U.S. Government to issue any solicitation/notice of funding opportunity or to pay for any cost incurred in the preparation and submission of comments/answers on this RFI.

Responding to this RFI will not give any advantage to any firm or organization in any subsequent procurement and will not lead to an organizational conflict of interest. Responses will strictly be held confidential. Potential offerors must not expect a direct response from the U.S. Government to any of the comments/suggestions.

Please strictly limit the response to the questions included in this RFI and to comments/suggestions to the document. To expedite our review and be considerate of your time, please keep the response to no more than five (5) pages in length. Please note not all questions must be answered. Responses to the notice must be written in English and use 11 pt. font.

Responses to this RFI must be sent by the closing date and time to: Andrea Naranjo, Acquisition & Assistance Specialist at anaranjo@usaid.gov

Respectfully, R. Clark Pearson Supervisory Contracting Officer mailto:anggarcia@usaid.gov

List of Attachments:

● Attachment A: USAID/Colombia Nature Based Solutions (NBS) Activity - Concept

Paper

● Attachment B: Request for Information

○ Response Format and Guiding Questions for RFI

Attachment A USAID/Colombia Nature Based Solutions (NBS) Activity

Concept Paper

JUSTIFICATION: Nature-based solutions (NbS) are actions that protect, sustainably manage, and restore ecosystems, while simultaneously improving biodiversity and human well-being.1 Without healthy ecosystems and the services that they provide, humans do not have access to clean air and water, secure and adequate livelihoods, or security from natural and human-made disasters. USAID/Colombia’s experience has demonstrated that private sector actors are willing and able to support NbS for biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services preservation, improved human well-being, and for the sustainability of their own business models.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this activity is to improve human well-being and biodiversity conservation by engaging key stakeholders, particularly the private sector, in the implementation of nature-based solutions that preserve ecosystems and ecosystem services.

DEVELOPMENT HYPOTHESIS: IF private sector actors are incentivized to invest in NbS, stakeholders have the capacity to implement NbS, and NbS are cost-effective and market-driven, THEN more actors in Colombia will use NbS to protect key ecosystems and their services, and human wellbeing and environmental protection will improve.

RESULTS FRAMEWORK:

Objective 1: The private sector is enabled and incentivized to invest in nature-based solutions. Objective 1 will increase the private sector’s understanding and engagement in conservation and natural resource management through improved implementation of regulation, financial mechanisms, and other incentives. Actions under this Objective will enable the private sector to support biodiversity conservation and ecosystem resilience through NbS, and as part of their legal commitments to protect the environment.

IR 1.1 Regulations are developed and/or improved to foster private sector adoption of nature-based solutions. This IR will review current and proposed environment regulations, and will define actions to trigger fast and efficient use of private sector funds in NbS. Improved understanding and implementation of environmental laws would encourage private sector actors to fulfill their environmental obligations through NbS projects.

IR 1.2 Mechanisms are developed to facilitate the private sector’s implementation of nature-based solutions. This IR will create financial, technical, and partnership incentives and mechanisms that enable private sector investment in environmentally beneficial projects, like NbS. For example, the activity could develop Development Finance Corporation (DFC) guarantees for private sector actors interested in investing in NbS.

1 https://www.iucn.org/theme/nature-based-solutions

Target 1a: More than USD $8 million is leveraged from the private sector for implementation of NbS with local communities.

Target 1b: 10 public-private partnerships established.

Objective 2: Public, private, and community actors implement nature-based solutions.

Objective 2 will improve local stakeholders’, including communities, government actors and the private sector, understanding of the social, economic, and environmental benefits of NbS. This will include efforts to strengthen communities’ agricultural and conservation practices so that they are able to implement NbS, and it will align community, government and private sector investment priorities.

IR 2.1 Stakeholders have the tools and knowledge needed to develop sustainable nature-based solutions. This IR will work with stakeholders, including community members, civil society and government actors, to identify and implement NbS in their communities. NbS selected will respond to regional needs, opportunities, and private sector interests. Interventions under this IR will build stakeholders’ capacity to develop, negotiate, finance, and manage NbS.

IR 2.2 Nature-based solution agreements are established between communities and the private sector. This IR will promote collaboration between stakeholders to ensure that NbS interventions are sustainable and demand-driven.Once NbS are embedded in the private sector’s core business, the activity will create opportunities for public, private, and community actors to establish NbS agreements through different platforms, networks, and in-person events.

Target 2: At least 20 NbS agreements between communities and medium to large-sized companies are established to protect at-risk ecosystems.

Objective 3: Nature-based solutions are cost-effective and market-driven. Objective 3 will encourage private sector actors to invest in NbS to strengthen their businesses and channel social investments. Companies will recognize the benefit of investing in NbS that reduce business costs, support sustainable supply chain development, and produce premium goods and services that result in added value and higher profits. This Objective will also increase consumer awareness of socially and environmentally sustainable NbS goods and services.

IR 3.1 Private Sector actors demand the inclusion of nature-based solutions in existing business models. This IR will perform and support building cost structures, business models, and cost benefit analysis of NbS to the private sector. This will allow private sector actors to better understand how they can leverage NbS in existing business models and value chains, like sustainable sourcing, supply chain management, and environmental sustainability plans.

IR 3.2 Nature-based solutions are made profitable through cost reduction and market differentiation strategies. This IR will minimize the number of intermediaries along the value chain, and help NbS stakeholders increase ecosystem resilience, thereby sustaining NbS’ productivity. The IR will also help increase consumer awareness of NbS benefits by supporting marketing strategies and initiatives for NbS products as socially and environmentally sustainable.

This will enable NbS goods to be sold on premium markets and for higher prices.

Target 3: NbS are a determinant in the development of at least 10 value chains.

GEOGRAPHIC AND POPULATION TARGETING: This activity will prioritize municipalities with key terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems, and will develop conservation corridors by working in multiple municipalities in the same region. The criteria used to define the activity's target geography will be based on the Humboldt Institute’s work and will include:

1) municipalities with areas prioritized for biodiversity conservation; and 2) municipalities with medium to very high ecosystem service vulnerability. Other criteria used to define the target geography will include departments with high rates of, and potential for, private sector investment, and municipalities prioritized under USAID/Colombia’s 2020-2025 Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS). Based on this criteria, the activity will likely work in municipalities in the Orinoquia, Caribbean, and/or Andean regions. The activity may also work in municipalities outside the 2020-2025 CDCS to generate more impactful biodiversity conservation results.

This activity will prioritize the engagement of marginalized groups, like youth, women, indigenous and Afro-Colombian populations. The activity will also engage GOC entities, financial institutions, environmental defenders, private sector actors, and civil society organizations. All of these actors will be engaged throughout the life of the activity.

ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT: Successful implementation of the Nature-Based Solutions Activity will require the activity to work in areas that have significant presence and diversity of private sector companies. Considering that private sector engagement requires time, the activity will focus on those geographic areas where the private sector has previously been engaged in environmental matters. For example, the activity could work in Colombia’s Caribbean region where Natural Wealth has had success engaging companies like Colanta, Nestle, and Nutresa.

The activity will also rely on advice and support from USAID/Colombia’s Private Sector Engagement team to identify and engage private sector companies in activity interventions.

The activity will adapt its management and implementation strategy to the changing political, economic, and security context described in the risks and assumptions section. To do this, the activity will coordinate with local stakeholders, including regional authorities, community leaders, and private sector companies, to monitor local conditions and prevent security risks. The activity will prioritize constant communication with stakeholders, and will perform early analyses needed to monitor local context and inform Do No Harm approaches. As part of this work, the activity will employ a Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA) approach to adapt interventions and to create positive feedback loops. The activity will also develop a robust set of contextual indicators that will flag political, environmental, and security concerns. Lastly, the activity will include contingency plans in its work plans and grant and sub-contract solicitations as a way to promote programmatic flexibility, and to respond to unforeseen events, like

COVID-19.

Attachment B USAID/Colombia

Request for Information - Nature-based Solutions (NbS)

Format for RFI Responses

● The subject of the email should read as the following sample: “[Name of Organization], RFI #72051422RFI00002- NbS”.

● Include a cover page (not counted in the page limit) containing the following information:

○ Name of the organization submitting the answers/comments.

○ Size and type of ownership of the organization: e.g. American, local, or multinational businesses, business associations, cooperatives, Civil Society Organizations, educational institutions, Government Institutions.

○ Primary point of contact information (name, title, and email address)

● Please strictly limit any response to the questions included in this RFI and to comments/suggestions about the document. Note that not all questions need to be answered.

● To expedite USAID’s review and be considerate of respondents’ time, responses should be kept to no more than five (5) pages in length. Responses to the notice must be written in 11-point font and may be submitted in English or Spanish.

● All proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED. To aid the Government, please clearly identify proprietary information as “proprietary,” if any. Information obtained through this RFI will be held in confidence and will not be disclosed to the public unless specifically requested by responding sources.

Guiding Questions

1. Do you have comments or suggestions regarding the geographies tentatively proposed?

Please support your suggestions.

2. Are there elements outside the current design structure, related to this Activity’s purpose that could directly and positively impact economic recovery efforts post-COVID? Please give concrete examples.

3. Do you consider that the risks and assumptions stated in the concept paper cover the main issues considered for implementing the Activity? If you see gaps, please provide suggestions.

4. Do you have any considerations regarding how the Activity can more effectively engage the private sector?

5. Does your organization currently invest in nature-based solutions (NbS)? What kind of activities are you supporting and why?

6. Suppose your organization is not currently engaged in NbS to offset its environmental footprint, or strengthen its Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) impact investments and sustainability reports that respond to core business requirements. Would you be open to exploring such opportunities? Please briefly describe what kind of partnership or engagement most interests you.

7. In reference to the information presented in the concept paper for the NbS program, do you consider it to include all the necessary components for your organization to have the interest and incentives to participate in this Activity?

8. What additional elements are crucial to address, so that private companies participate and NbS are a viable option for companies?

9. If the target geographies proposed for this program do not coincide with your company's areas of operation or where it generally has its providers, would your company be willing to work in new geographies and expand its presence to add value to the company’s performance through its support to the implementation of NbS? Please support your suggestions and recommendations, and mention the geographies your organization would consider from the list presented in this document.

10. Considering that the program is designed to work with different companies, would there be any barriers or conflicts of interest for your company to participate if there are other companies from the sector your organization belongs to? Is competition an issue?

11. USAID envisions a market-driven investment of a 1:1 leverage ratio (for every $1 dollar invested by USAID we expect a $1 dollar investment from the private sector), how realistic is a leverage ratio of 1:1 to develop joint activities between USAID and the private sector for NbS in the geographies prioritized by the program? Should leverage be in cash, in-kind, or both? Should USAID consider a larger leverage ratio, 1:2? Please explain.

12. Has your company participated in successful advertising campaigns for behavior change related to NbS? If yes, please briefly describe.

13. Has your organization any experience with improving profits while addressing environmental issues?

14. Are there any challenges and lessons learned in nature-based solutions/environmental investments done by your organization that need to be considered in this concept?