Careers at Trócaire

Policy and advocacy consultant on climate: COP 26

Climate change is destroying the lives and livelihoods of the most marginalised people in countries where Trocaire works. They are paying the price for a problem they have not created, and for which they have least resources to cope. In addition, climate change amplifies existing political, social and economic inequalities. Current levels of both commitment and action on climate change are highly inadequate to meet the scale of the challenge. The most recent IPCC report is yet another reminder of the need for urgent and ambitious climate action. Global warming of 1.5°C and 2°C will be exceeded during the 21st century unless deep reductions in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions occur in the coming decades.

We are approaching COP 26, a critical moment for climate action at the global level. In advance of COP 26 we will engage in advocacy focused on Irish decision-makers as part of an overall effort for faster and fairer climate action.

This is an opportunity to:

• Increase emission reduction targets at EU and Irish levels;
• Implement emission reductions and other key climate commitments effectively;
• Ensure human rights based climate action;
• Tackle the climate emergency and biodiversity crisis together;
• Scale up public finance for climate change adaptation and mitigation in developing countries;
• Establish human rights principles and safeguards to guide the development; and implementation of Irish and EU climate change policies, including in particular obligations around participation and accountability.

Trócaire is hiring a climate consultant to work on policy and advocacy in advance of COP 26. The consultant will complete the following tasks in conjunction with members of the policy team.

Tasks:

• Engage with key climate justice networks, nationally and internationally, in advance of COP, in order to identify common advocacy asks, especially those directed at EU governments;
• Engage with a selection of Trócaire partners to document their analysis of the impacts of climate change in the Global South;
• Develop briefing documents, based on desk review/policy analysis and opportunities for influencing, on key areas of climate justice relevant to Trócaire in the context of COP 26, with clear asks for Irish and EU duty-bearers in the following areas:
• Climate ambition to reduce emissions by 2030 to stay within the 1.5 temperature;
• Climate finance;
• Linking climate action and sustainable food systems;
• Regulation of corporation power, including human rights and environmental due diligence;
• Map and identify political advocacy opportunities in advance of COP directed at Irish and EU policy makers;
• Identify influencing opportunities within the COP negotiations, with respect to Irish government and the EU. (remote). 

Outputs:

The outputs will be utilised for political influencing at COP 26, specifically the Irish government and the EU, but will also inform our engagement with media during COP 26. 

• Political briefing/mapping of opportunities to influence the Irish government and the EU in advance of COP 26;
• Public policy briefing on Ireland’s role at COP 26, directed at policy makers (Approx 5 pages);
• Development of post-COP advocacy materials, in response to the outcome of COP, which we can use with policy makers.

Skill and expertise:

• Climate expertise;
• Experience in policy and advocacy;
• Experience writing policy briefs;
• Understanding or experience of Irish/EU/UN policy making processes.

Starting early October 2021 – November 2021 (20 days).

Application Process:

• Cover letter including outline of how to approach work and proposed costings including VAT (Max 2 pages);
• Include links to samples of past work that is similar in content or style to the above outputs;

Application date: 28 September 2021

Your application marked “Policy and advocacy consultant on climate: COP 26” should be submitted to [email protected]

Confidentiality

Trócaire will treat the content of all tenders as being confidential and information provided in the tenders will be used solely for the purpose of deciding on the award of a contract as described in this document.

General Terms and Conditions

• Trócaire does not bind itself to accept the lowest priced tender;
• Trócaire reserves the right to engage other companies / consultants if required during the term of the contract;
• Trócaire shall be free to:
  • To accept the whole, or part only, of any tender;
  • To accept none of the proposals tendered;
  • To republish this Request for Tenders.
• In the event of not accepting any of the proposals received on foot of this Request for Tenders, Trócaire shall be free to make such arrangements as it considers necessary in relation to the provision of the services;
• Trócaire will not be liable for any costs or expenses incurred in the preparation of a tender;
• The tenderers shall maintain strict confidentiality in relation to the services being sought and the tendering process;
• The Contract shall be considered as a contract made in Ireland;
• The Standard Terms and Conditions to which Trócaire expects all of its supplier to respect are attached in Appendix 1;
• The Suppliers Code of Conduct to which Trócaire expects all of its suppliers and service providers to respect is attached in Appendix 2.

Conflicts of interest

• Any conflicts interest involving an applicant must be fully disclosed to Trócaire. Failure to disclose a conflict may disqualify an applicant or invalidate an award of the contract. Applicants are required to declare any current or past work which might reasonably be considered to represent a conflict of interest. It will be for Trócaire to decide if a material conflict of interest exists and applicants in doubt in this regard should seek the advice of Trócaire.
• Advice provided to Trócaire must be accompanied by a statement that there is no conflict of interest involving the applicant. In the event where there is a conflict, Trócaire reserves the right to retain another firm of solicitors to provide the advice, for that issue alone.

Contract Period

The contract shall be for a period of 4months from the date of the award.

Intellectual Property

• Any concept, guidelines or other material developed during the contract will be considered the property of Trócaire and may be used by Trócaire at any time. 

Termination of Contract

• Trócaire reserves the right to terminate the contract at any stage on payment of reasonable and agreed costs accrued to the date of termination. The contract may be terminated by either party on giving one month’s written notice or a shorter notice period if both parties agree.

• If at any stage during the contract, the work being undertaken by the tenderer is found to be unsatisfactory, the contract may be terminated by Trócaire. In the event of such a termination, the tenderer will only be entitled to receive payment in relation to the acceptable work done. The computation of such payment shall be based on the extent of approved work carried out to the date of termination valued, by use of the costs used in the tender submission.

Evaluation of Tenders

• All tenderers should at least meet following minimum criteria: Cover letter including outline of how to approach work and proposed costings including VAT and CV.
• During the evaluation period clarification may be sought in writing from tenderers. Responses to requests for clarification may not materially change any elements of the tenders submitted.
• No unsolicited communications from tenderers will be entertained during the evaluation period.
• A short list of those who have tendered may be drawn up and a certain number of those who have tendered may be invited to make a final presentation.

Appendices

Appendix 1 – Trócaire Standard Terms and Conditions for Procurement https://www.trocaire.org/sites/default/files/trocaire_general_tcs_for_procurement.pdf

Appendix 2 – Suppliers Code of Conduct https://www.trocaire.org/sites/default/files/trocaires_supplier_code_of_conduct_v2_07.2019.pdf