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Call for proposals for Colombia’s Technical Assistance Programme

The International Climate Fund (ICF) in the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), has allocated up to £2 million for technical assistance activities in Colombia through an open and competitive call for proposals.

This was published under the 2016 to 2019 May Conservative government
Call for proposals for Colombia’s Technical Assistance Programme

The BEIS ICF Technical Assistance Programme aims to:

  1. Contribute to the reduction of Colombia’s emissions and poverty reduction by improving the capacity and capability of key institutions (national, subnational, non-state).

  2. Support demand-led technical assistance that prioritises implementation and helps raise climate ambition, by addressing barriers, constraints and areas of opportunity at different levels of government based on the country’s political and economic context and sectoral priorities.

The programme has the following themes:

a. Diffusion of non-conventional renewable energy sources to ensure an affordable, resilient, and low emissions energy system

b. Addressing key policy, finance and technical barriers to scale up the energy efficiency market

c. Financial and non-financial incentives (existing and new) and better access to innovative finance instruments, combined with a more comprehensive and coherent policy and regulatory framework, to accelerate the deployment of low emission vehicles

d. Improving energy access through decentralised renewable energy generation models in areas that complement other UK forests and land use programmes

e. Sustainable tourism and scientific research as a strategy to protect forests, ensure sustainable rural development and consolidation of peace in areas that have been affected by conflict

Crosscutting themes are:

a. Implementation of Colombia’s Green Growth Policy to consolidate long-term GHG emission reduction and sustainable economic development

b. Improved understanding of investment opportunities and risks in green growth and support implementation of Colombia’s roadmap to establish a green bond market

c. Operationalisation of Colombia’s MRV system for mitigation action, including a transparent registry, to track progress and ensure NDC implementation

Call for proposals (C4P)

BEIS ICF has allocated up to £2 million for technical assistance activities in Colombia through an open, competitive call for proposals. Funds are available for projects of up to one year in length.

This C4P request implementation partners to submit concept bids for the following project types:

  1. Year 1 projects should require funding from the ICF of between £250,000 - £500,000 (indicative), for up to one year of activity from the point of signing the grant agreement. The total project budget may exceed the amount requested from the ICF with co-funding and exceed the timescale of one year, if the activity applied for is an initial phase or component within a larger multi-year project.

  2. Skill share projects should require funding from the ICF of between £25,000 - £100,000 (indicative), for up to one year of activity from the point of signing the grant agreement.

  3. Early transition activity projects should require funding from the ICF of between £25,000 - £100,000 (indicative), for up to six months of activity from the point of signing the grant agreement. Projects funded through this bidding round must:

  • relate to one or more of the themes of the call for proposals
  • require funding of between £25,000 - £500,000 (indicative), for up to one year length of activity from the point of contracting, based on the project types described in the ICF Colombia Call for Proposals Strategy and Guidelines.
  • be compatible with Official Development Assistance (ODA) criteria
  • facilitate the exchange of policy and commercial expertise. Good proposals will demonstrate substantial collaboration and involvement on implementation between Colombian and UK and/or international partner
  • explain how the project has sufficient buy-in from Colombian stakeholders to deliver the expected outcomes. Further information on our programme work can be found in the attached publication (links below)

Bidding round stages

The ICF Technical Assistance Programme in Colombia is coordinated by the British Embassy in Colombia. The bidding process is split between a concept stage and a full proposal stage.

Stage 1: Concept bid development. Implementing organisations develop concept bids in consultation with the Embassy, and submit by the deadline (using the Project Concept Bid form provided).

Stage 2: Approval of concept bids. Concept bids are assessed on five criteria: strategic fit, potential for transformational impact, value for money, additionality, and deliverability. Implementers successful at this concept stage will be invited to develop full bids.

Stage 3: Development and approval of full bids. Successful implementing organisations are invited to submit full bids, which are assessed by a Programme Board. Successful projects will then begin from Autumn 2018.

Proposed timetable

Submissions should be sent to both ICF.Colombia@fco.gov.uk and ICF.Colombia@beis.gov.uk, based on the following deadlines:

Early Transition Activity Skill Sharing 1 Year Projects
Deadline of concept bids for early transition activity projects is August 8, 2018 - 23:59 (GMT) Deadline of concept bids for skill share projects is August 22, 2018 - 23:59 (GMT) Deadline of concept bids for 1 Year projects is August 22, 2018 - 23:59 (GMT)

The timetable is subject to change, at the discretion of the Colombia TAP Team.

Attachments to download

If proposals are accepted at the concept stage, implementers will be required to submit a more detailed bid form and more detailed activity-based budget (ABB). The Colombia TAP Team will provide the template documents for full proposals to successful implementing organisations in due course.

Colombia TAP Team contact details

For further details on the call for proposals, please contact the Colombia TAP Team by email at ICF.Colombia@fco.gov.uk and ICF.Colombia@beis.gov.uk

Implementers briefing workshops

The Programme team will host two workshops for potential implementers in Colombia and London (to be delivered in English).

The workshops will:

  • brief on ICF Technical Assistance Program, including Colombia strategy
  • explain the requirements for the bid form
  • provide opportunities for potential implementers to make questions on the C4P process

Colombia Workshop will take place Wednesday 18 July, 2018 from 15:00 to 16:30 (GMT) / 9:00 to 10:30 (COL time).

Registration deadline: by 13:00 on Monday 16 July 2018 (GMT)

Venue: WebEx virtual room to be confirmed

Register form: Colombia TAP Registration Form (MS Word Document, 15.5 KB)

If you are interested in attending the workshop, please send an email, fill in the relevant form above and send to ICF.Colombia@fco.gov.uk before deadline, with “Colombia workshop” in the subject field. The programme team will send to all registered organisations a confirmation with details for connection.

London Workshop will take place on Thursday 02 August.

Registration Deadline: by 9:30 on Friday 27 July 2018 (GMT)

Venue: 1VS Conference Centre, 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET

Register form: London TAP Registration Form (MS Word Document, 15.4 KB)

If you are interested in attending the workshop, please send an email, fill in the relevant form above and send to ICF.Colombia@beis.gov.uk before deadline, with “London workshop” in the subject field. The programme team will send to all registered organisations a confirmation including date, time and venue.

Updates to this page

Published 11 July 2018
Last updated 23 July 2018 + show all updates
  1. The London Workshop venue has been confirmed.

  2. We added a new attachment and modified the date of the London Workshop.

  3. First published.