Consultancy - Pathways For Including Blue Carbon Ecosystems In Indonesia’s Ndc

Terms of Reference - Consultancy

Pathways for including blue carbon ecosystems in Indonesia’s NDC

Background

Coastal blue carbon ecosystems, including mangroves, seagrasses and tidal marshes, are critically important for coastal biodiversity and provide critical natural infrastructure and essential services to communities globally including coastal protection, food, livelihoods and climate adaptation and mitigation. Over 200 million people worldwide live within 10 kilometers of mangrove forests and depend on mangroves to protect their communities from the impacts of climate change including storm surges, flooding and erosion. Over the last decade, an essential foundation of science, policy, finance and conservation tools needed to ensure blue carbon ecosystems can be maintained into the future for their climate mitigation and adaptation value have been developed.

Despite their critical importance, blue carbon ecosystems are some of the most threatened on Earth. As these coastal ecosystems are degraded, their carbon stores are released in globally significant quantities. Degradation and loss of these coastal ecosystems has drastic ripple effects and scaling blue carbon ecosystem conservation and restoration to reverse these losses has never been more critical.

Blue carbon in international commitments

Under the Paris Agreement, countries with coastal blue carbon ecosystems can recognize the values provided by these ecosystems as a significant contribution to both the mitigation and adaptation goals of their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Countries are increasingly recognizing the value and importance of blue carbon ecosystems in their NDCs, with more than 50 countries now including blue carbon for adaptation or mitigation – approximately three times more than previous years.

In advance of the 2025 NDC update cycle, countries have the opportunity to evaluate their current blue carbon commitments and implementation progress and strengthen or include blue carbon for the first time.Beyond NDCs, countries can also include blue carbon related commitments in other international policy processes, including the Convention on Biological Diversity (and National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans, or NBSAPs), national plans to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and in commitments under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.Through the alignment of commitments

across relevant policy processes, countries can enhance ambition, accelerate national-level implementation, and streamline reporting efforts for their blue carbon actions.

Blue carbon in Indonesia

Indonesia is home to one-fifth of the world’s mangroves, and has the largest potential restoration area, with over 2,000 km2 available for restoration. Indonesia’s mangroves provide critical habitat to anestimated 893,000 small-scale fishers in the country, and Indonesia has the highest potential fisheries gain from mangrove restoration. Additionally, Indonesia is estimated to have 30,000 Km2 of seagrasses. However, geographic mapping is far from complete, with large portions of the archipelago still unmapped.

The Government of Indonesia has expressed interest in strengthening its blue carbon commitments in its next NDC. The Presidential Regulation Number 98 of 2021 on Implementation of Carbon Pricing for the Purpose of Achieving Indonesia's Nationally Determined Contribution and the Control of

Greenhouse Gas Emissions in National Development serves as regulatory basis to include blue carbon in Indonesia’s NDC. Further, the regulation provisions mandate the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries to implement both mitigation and adaptation actions on blue carbon as means to achieve the NDC.Currently, Indonesia’s NDC only includes goals for increasing coastal resilience through the implementation of ecosystem-based adaptation in coastal zone development and integrated management of mangrove ecosystems, restoration of degraded coastal zones as essential ecosystems and the improvement of coastal livelihoods. Indonesia’s NDC does not yet include mitigation actions from blue carbon ecosystems.

Objectives of Consultancy

• Provide recommendations for potential pathways for addressing those gaps and challenges by outlining required steps, identifying technical needs, relevant actors to be involved, consultation processes, and timelines.
• Identify remaining gaps and challenges for including blue carbon ecosystems, with a focus on seagrasses, in Indonesia’s NDC and other relevant international commitments.

Location of Task/Applicable Trips

The consultancy will take place remotely, with potential travel for events and meetings related to project deliverables. Consultant travel will be based on project needs and availability of funds. Costs associated with potential travel will be covered by Conservation International.

Required Skills and Experience:

• Exceptional research skills and access to academic and other literature
• Competence in the use of standard Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.)
• Demonstrated knowledge of Indonesia’s coastal and climate policies and governance systems, and of mangrove and seagrass ecosystems and their role in climate change adaptation and mitigation
• Demonstrated knowledge of NDCs and NBSAPs, and processes relevant to ocean and coastal ecosystems under the UNFCCC and CBD
• Knowledge of financial mechanisms, including market mechanisms, for driving investment in mitigation actions, including coastal nature-based solutions
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills in English (with preference for Bahasa Indonesia, as well)
• Demonstrated knowledge of other international policy processes relating to the ocean, coasts, and climate change, including SDGs and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

Submission (Application) Details:

• Clarification: Questions may be submitted [email protected]. CI will respond in writing to submitted clarifications within two business days of receipt. Responses to questions that may be of common interest to all bidders will be communicated via email to all potential bidders.
• Deadline. Applications must be received no later than30 June 2023 (5 pm ET).Late submissions will not be accepted. Applications must be submitted via email [email protected]. All proposals are to be submitted following the guidelines below.
• Validity of bid. 120 days from the submission deadline.

Full listing and PDF Terms of Reference available here: International Development - Consultancy - Pathways for including blue carbon ecosystems in Indonesia’s NDC, Conservation International (CI), Regional / Global - DevNetJobs.org