• 16.06.2021

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

Research support on IMF policy advice and climate – two separate country focussed studies on the impact of capacity development and advisory services

Terms of Reference

About Recourse

Recourse targets development finance as a means of influencing the wider investment community, financial flows and governments, to ensure inclusive, environmentally sustainable, socially just and pro-poor development.

Project Overview & research support.

Re-course is seeking a consultant(s) to provide research support to expand the scope and focus of its work on the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) climate-related policy advice.

This project builds on Recourse’ 2020 work Build Back Better? IMF’s policy advice hampers green Covid-19 Recovery. The objective of the overall project is to develop policy recommendations to shape the IMF’s policy advice to be consistent with a low greenhouse gas economic future. The research will contribute to these efforts by examining how the IMF’s policy advice can contradicts its commitments to the climate and a green recovery.

  • The project consists of two, separate research tasks.
  • Proposals are invited for both, or either of the research tasks separately, on:
    i) Bilateral Surveillance and ii) Technical Assistance.
  • The research will be conducted in close collaboration with the Recourse IMF Project Manager.

 Scope of Work

In January of this year, the IMF Managing Director committed to scaling up climate in Fund policy advice; through its Surveillance function and by offering Capacity Development (also referred to as Technical Assistance)

IMF policy advice through these mechanisms, rather than lending conditionalities, will be the primary conduit through which the IMF will seek to support countries to meet climate commitments and enable a green recovery from the pandemic. Recourse is seeking to document and challenge how the Fund will shape climate policy in this way.

Through examination of the IMF’s  bilateral surveillance (the annual review of country’s macroeconomic prospects called Article IV reports) and Technical Assistance the research described below will consider whether the IMF lives up to its commitments to supporting a green transition and recovery from the pandemic in the countries examined, such as by undermining countries’ Paris Agreement-related climate goals as expressed in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) or national climate strategies.

  1. Bilateral Surveillance case studies and summary

The consultant will be asked to provide 4 country case studies, and a short comparative summary of the studies’ findings. These will principally analyse the most recent Article IV reports and related surveillance documents by the IMF for the countries to be selected in discussion with the Recourse IMF manager.

Key activities

The activities will comprise desk-based research.

The case studies will contribute to a co-authored report on IMF surveillance by Recourse that is targeted to be launched by the time of the 2021 IMF and World Bank annual meetings.

The consultant will agree with the Recourse IMF manager on the four countries to be featured. The research will also require outreach to national civil society and meetings with Recourse partners in those countries to inform the findings.

Approach

Each case study and the summary should be a maximum of 4 pages each.

The analysis should seek to contrast how IMF policy advice in key macroeconomic policy areas impacts upon countries’ commitments, including via Nationally Determined Contributions to fulfil the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

Analysis should incorporate IMF policy advice in relation to:

  • Presence or absence of explicit advice relating to current or future risks related to climate, including physical damage, risks to investments and the financial sector, and costs or investment needs related to prior climate change-related commitments
  • Structural and other macro-economic targets and reforms related to national energy sectors (including reforms to State-owned enterprises), and fossil fuel usage, in particular coal sector
  • Fiscal policy including tax and subsidy regimes, infrastructure and public investment as it affects or relates to climate adaptation, mitigation or transition risks.
  • Policy explicitly related to renewable energy promotion or other explicit ‘green recovery’ or climate transition advice

Audience & Use of Report

The primary audience of this report will be policy makers at the IMF, and in related national and international institutions with responsibility for macroeconomic policy making.

2. Technical Assistance research study

This study will be led by the successful consultant, and they will be the lead author.

Capacity Development (CD) is a core activity of the IMF, often taking up to 30 per cent of the IMF’s overall operating budget and often being provided to over one hundred of the IMF’s member countries at any one time. It is overwhelmingly provided to low- and lower-middle- income countries and frequently in partnership with other multilateral institutions and donors. In the form of Technical Assistance programs, IMF CD has been focused upon monetary and financial policy and related legislation, fiscal policy including taxation and expenditure management and statistical data.  However, despite its ubiquity, scale and scope it is not examined nor scrutinised to the same extent as the other two pillars of IMF activity: country lending and economic surveillance.

Key activities

The activities will comprise of desk-based research and interviews of the IMF and country officials involved in the provision of Capacity Building with the aim to produce a 8-10 page report detailing the findings.

This task will consider how the IMF’s policy advice affects countries’ efforts to meet climate change objectives as set out in their respective Nationally Determined Contributions and Paris Agreement objectives, with a particular focus on energy sector policy, fiscal policy – including subsidies to fossil fuel industries, and reform of state-owned enterprises operating in those sectors.

Approach

The study will incorporate:

  1. Analysis of Capacity Building country reports for up to four countries, to be selected from South and South-East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa regions in consultation with the Recourse IMF Programme Manager
  2. Interviews and desk-based research to examine the conduct of CD and its support to countries’ climate objectives
  3. Analysis of general approaches and policies advocated as part of Technical Assistance provision and its coherence with climate objectives

Audience & Use of Report

The principal audience of this study will be civil society involved in the IMF- and climate- focused advocacy community. The secondary audience will be policy officials in the IMF and related national ministries and international financial institutions with whom the IMF collaborates.

Overall Budget

Recourse can offer up to 10,000 euros for each task to be delivered according to the timeline below.

Timeline

  1. 27 June – Submission of interest/application deadline
  2. Follow-up Interviews to be conducted week of 5th July
  3. Contract signed by 10th July
  4. Research plan including agreement on countries selected for the case studies to be agreed by 16 July.
  5. Draft reports submission 24 September
  6. Final reports submission 7 October

Please submit a short resume indicating your interest in one, or both, of the research activities to info@re-course.org by 27 June.

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Asia Fossil Gas Red-Flag Map