Appointment of a Service Provider to support the National climate Change Informa

1.          Purpose

To improve the existing version of the South Africa’s National Climate Change Information System and develop the Gauteng Provincial Climate Change Information sub-system for 7 months.

2.          Introduction and background

2.1.     In line with Decision 1/CP.21 of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Paris Agreement was adopted with the objective of enhancing the implementation of the convention including strengthening the global response to the threats of climate change. South Africa ratified the Paris Agreement in October 2016. The Paris agreement officially came into force in November 2016 and its implementation started in 2020 Among the decisions that give effect to the Paris Agreement, is to report in line with the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) as outlined in article 13 of the Paris Agreement on policies and measures that parties are undertaking to implement their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) as well as information on support provided, needed, and received. NDCs have countries’ self-determined targets on mitigation, adaptation, and the necessary means of implementation to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

2.2.     South Africa has since published the National Climate Change Response White Paper in 2011 to guide the country’s transition into a lower carbon and climate resilient society. Section 12 of the policy charged for the development of an effective Monitoring and Evaluation System which will track and measure the effectiveness of the climate response actions being undertaken by various stakeholders. The Monitoring and Evaluation Framework therefore details the overall design of the system which comprise of the Monitoring component and an evaluation component which is inclusive of data and information network, the web-based system as well as the component where the output and impact indicators are assessed.

2.3.     South Africa has developed a range of policy instruments to transition towards a climate resilient society and a lower carbon economy. In 2020 government approved the country’s National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy (NCCAS) in August 2020. The NCCAS calls for a multi-sectoral response to climate change that brings together government (national and provincial level), the private sector, civil society organisations and communities. The country has committed to a low carbon trajectory that encompasses both its contribution to the international effort to reduce global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; and its ambitions toward development and poverty eradication (DEA, 2011a). The “peak, plateau and decline (PPD) trajectory” is used as a benchmark against which South Africa mitigation efforts are measured.

2.4.     Furthermore, South Africa has developed the National Climate Change Information System (NCCIS) that is aimed at tracking progress in implementation of adaptation responses and assessing the effectiveness of adaptation and mitigation responses in terms of reducing climate change impacts, enhancing resilience and reducing the emissions. The NCCIS is considered as the monitoring and evaluation system and has been developed by Department of Environment, Fisheries and Forestry (DEFF). The platform collates climate related data and information from a range of sources for the purposes of providing insights into the country’s progress in responding to climate change and achieving national and international goals, commitments and targets including the National Determined Contributions (NDC).

2.5.     Transparency and reporting of progress on climate change response, enabled by the National Climate Change Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) System/framework, are key to the effective implementation of the National Development Plan (NDP), 2030, National Climate Change Response Policy (NCCRP), National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy (NCCAS), Climate Change Bill, National Emissions Trajectory, Low Emissions Development Strategy (LEDS) and other guiding policies. In the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Climate change transparency is at the heart of the Paris Agreement and as such South Africa, along with other countries will need to enhance reporting on climate adaptation and mitigation actions and their effects amongst other things.

2.6.     The overarching objective of this project is to support the South African government in tracking, analysis and enhancement of South Africa’s progress towards the country’s transition to a low-carbon economy and climate-resilient society with an aim of illustrating the effectiveness, impact and gaps of the implemented national mitigation and adaptation measures; and facilitating the enhancement of the National Climate Change Information System and development of the Provincial sub-system.

3.          Objectives of the assignment

The overall objective is to improve the National Climate Change Information System (NCCIS) of South Africa and develop the Gauteng province sub-system which will be linked to the NCCIS for a period of 7 months.

4.          Scope and Extent of Assignment

·       Collation and mapping of projects that contribute to both climate change adaptation and mitigation in the Gauteng Province in various sectors such as: water, agriculture, biodiversity and disaster risk reduction. This will include the determination of impact and effectiveness of such projects. 

·       Modelling of outputs of climate risks in Gauteng Province. The geospatial profiling of climate risks and return periods of extreme weather events will be factored in.

·       Updating of the NCCIS. This module will load the information obtained from the two activities above in the NCCIS. The aesthetics (“look and feel”) of the NCCIS will also be improved.

5.          Expected Deliverables and Timelines

The service provider will be responsible for the provision of the following deliverables within the outlined timelines:

Table 1. Deliverables and Outcomes