Considering the growing effects of climate change in the Western Balkans (e.g. more frequent heat waves, increasing levels of precipitation and subsequent flooding, etc.), road transport infrastructure is at an unprecedented risk of disruption with major repercussion on economic activities, mobility, trading patterns and strain on national budgets in terms of higher cost of maintenance, emergency interventions and operational costs. In order to increase climate resilience in the EBRD’s countries of operations, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the “EBRD” or “Bank”) is systematically integrating climate risk assessments and adaptation measures in its investment operations. The Bank aims to reduce long-term risks and increase resilience through improved practices and investments in measures and technologies that are better suited to a changing and more variable climate. In response to the aforementioned concerns in road transportation, EBRD is seeking technical assistance support in assessing climate change risks and vulnerabilities in the road sector in the Western Balkans and in developing a high-level framework identifying appropriate investment measure to strengthen climate resilience of the road networks in the countries of the region.
Transport infrastructures in Western Balkans are particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events and the identification and implementation of effective solutions can help reduce the impact of climate change on economic activities. Considering the growing effects of climate change in the Western Balkans (more frequent heat waves, increasing levels of precipitation and subsequent episodes of flooding, etc..), transport infrastructure is at an unprecedented risk of disruption with major repercussion on economic activities, mobility, trading patterns and strain on national budgets in terms of higher cost of maintenance, emergency interventions and operational costs. The awareness about policy, planning and operational tools to identify and address these risks is very limited and local institutions lack the information and capacities to design appropriate interventions and prioritise the required investments.
The EBRD intends to engage a consultancy firm (the “Consultant”) to analyse the existing evidence of changing weather patterns and assess their impact on road transport infrastructure (the "Assignment"). The Consultant will also identify critical areas of focus for transport planners and transport operators and define appropriate interventions indicating investment requirements and potential institutional and organisational arrangements needed to reduce climate risks, mitigate the effects of climate change and maximise the economic return for local communities and businesses.
The main focus of the Assignment would be to:
1) Assess climate risks to the road network and map out specific vulnerabilities; this includes describing the climatic risks, identifying vulnerable regions, reviewing design standards and assessing the current investment pipeline.
2) Develop a high-level investment framework for adapting road infrastructure to climate change; the framework shall include maps, identifying vulnerable road sections and potential for climate resilience investments and recommendations for design standards.
Status of Selection Process: Interested firms or groups of firms are hereby invited to submit expressions of interest.
Assignment Start Date and Duration: The Assignment is expected to start in February 2016 and have an estimated overall duration of 3 months.
Cost Estimate for the Assignment: EUR 74,500 (exclusive of VAT). Subject to availability of funding.
The Consultant must determine whether any VAT would be chargeable on the services and the basis for that determination, without taking into consideration the special status of the Bank as an IFI and state this to the Bank in their response to the Invitation for Expressions of Interest. To the extent that a Consultant incurs input VAT on goods and services purchased in connection with the provision of services (e.g. VAT on airline ticket) which is not otherwise recoverable by the consultant from the local tax authority, the gross cost to the consultant of such expenses shall be treated as a reimbursable expense.
Funding Source: Central European Initiative (CEI) fund
Eligibility: Participation of consultants is restricted to individual experts of Italian nationality and consultancy firms or entities registered in Italy (using their employees of any nationality and/or non-employees of Italian nationality). Eligible consulting firms, however, can subcontract, associate with or join forces with external experts or consulting firms from other CEI Member Countries (Albania, Austria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Ukraine) up to a maximum of 30% of the budget for the Assignment.
Consultant Profile: Corporate services are required. The Consultant will be an international firm or a group of firms with access to existing studies/databases on climate models at country/regional levels and previous project experience relating to
· technical and economic analysis of investments in the road sector;
· climate resilience in the transport sector;
· analysis of the impact of climate change on infrastructure assets;
· experience of working in the countries of the Western Balkans.
The Consultant’s Project Team shall include the following key experts:
1) Project Manager preferably with 10 years of experience of managing similar assignments;
2) Senior Road Engineer preferably with 5 years of relevant experience in the road sector;
3) Climate Change Adaptation Expert preferably with 5 years of relevant experience in assessing climate change impact on infrastructure;
4) Local Experts preferably with 5 years of relevant experience in the road sector of various countries.
Submission Requirements
2) Details of previous project experience or similar assignments undertaken in the previous five years, including information on contract value, contracting entity/client, project location/country, duration (mm/yy to mm/yy), expert months provided (if different from duration), main activities, objectives;
3) CVs of key experts who could be available to work on the Assignment detailing qualifications, experience in similar assignments, particularly preferably undertaken in the previous ten years, including information on contracting entity/client, project location/country, duration (mm/yy to mm/yy), experts months provided, assignment budget, main activities, objectives;
4) Completed Consultant Declaration Form and Contact Sheet, the template for which is available from the following web-link:
http://www.ebrd.com/pages/workingwithus/procurement/notices/csu/contact_sheet.doc.
The above information should not exceed 20 pages excluding CVs and the contact sheet.
The complete expression of interest (including CVs and Contact Sheet) shall be one file (pdf or Word), not exceeding 4MB, to be uploaded to eSelection. The EBRD reserves the right to reject applications of firms submitting more than one file. Only if the permissible file size is exceeded, the Consultant may split the expression of interest into further files. Expressions of Interest shall be submitted, in English, electronically through e-Selection, to reach the Bank not later than the closing date.
Bank Contact Persons:
Olesya Kerridge
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
One Exchange Square
London EC2A 2JN
Tel: + 44 20 7338 6895
e-mail: kerridgo@ebrd.com
(submissions should be sent through eSelection and NOT to this email address)
Notes:
1. The selection will normally be made from responses to this notification only. Consultants will not be asked to submit a proposal. The highest-ranked Consultant will be selected from a shortlist and invited to negotiate the contract, subject to availability of funding.
2. The evaluation criteria are as follows:
1) Firm’s experience and capabilities specific to
- technical and economic analysis of investments in the road sector,
- climate resilience in the transport sector,
- analysis of the impact of climate change on infrastructure assets (35%);
2) Firm’s experience of working in the countries of the Western Balkans (20%);
3) Experience and qualifications of the proposed key experts (45%).
