Climate and inequality paper Consultancy

Terms of reference for external consultancy

Paper:

working title: Climate and Inequality in MENA: two sides of the same coin

Justification

The briefing paper is part of Oxfam in MENA’s advocacy and influencing to fight inequality and climate injustice in the region. It is an essential part of the regional efforts and planning around the IMF/WB annual meetings expected to take place in October 2024. It aims at exploring the critical intersection of inequality and climate change in the MENA region. The briefing paper will highlight the stark disparity in emissions between the richest and the poorest, elucidating how austerity policies and fossil fuel investments exacerbate climate injustice. It will examine the unequal distribution of climate impacts, showcasing how marginalized groups, particularly women and refugees, bear the brunt of environmental degradation despite minimal contribution to it. The briefing paper/report will include policy recommendations formulated around t the imperative for regional cooperation and transformational policies including adequate taxation system, and gender-responsive approaches to achieve climate justice.

Objectives

• Illustrate the connection between inequality and climate change in the MENA region by highlighting disparities in emissions and climate impacts on marginalized groups.
• Examine how austerity policies impede climate investments for adaptation and mitigation, resulting in underfunded public services and the lack of climate-resilient infrastructure
• Generate killer-facts and statistics on inequalities of emissions, fiscal resources, and public expenditure to showcase the losses resulting from the absence of adequate policies.
• Show the gendered impact of climate injustice, especially those from marginalized communities
• Formulate policy recommendations on the imperative of taxing the wealthy to strengthen climate financing and combat inequality.

Contextual background and draft content

MENA is one of the regions that will be affected the most by climate change, extreme weather events, exacerbating the chronic water scarcity that it suffers from and current dependency on fossil fuels. Climate change impacts are already witnessed in many countries, especially those experiencing conflicts. At the same time the decades-long austerity policies in the region are not only fueling inequalities but also make it virtually impossible for the countries in the region to spend on climate adaptation. The climate threats driven by the richest people, corporations, and rentier economies are existential to the region. Meanwhile, people living in poverty, marginalized communities vulnerable to climate change and those living in conflict-settings are the ones impacted the hardest. Women and girls, refugees and other groups experiencing discrimination, are particularly at disadvantage to current austerity policies and the consequences of climate change. The consequences are felt in all parts of the region and by most people, yet only the richest people have the wealth,  power and influence to adapt from the consequences of climate breakdown. Austerity policies are exacerbating the climate crisis, and the only way to address the climate breakdown is through breaking away from austerity and by adopting alternative and just financing mechanisms.

  Suggested content (based on the signed off TORs for this research)

• Executive summary

Introduction

• The twin crises of inequality and climate and why we must fight them together, and how we can do that. How historical emitters are causing the climate crisis that our region is living in today.
• The climate crisis is having devasting impact on the MENA region, especially on the poorest, exasperating poverty and inequality. Decades of austerity policies have made issues tougher, leaving people without a safety net. It's imperative today to address both inequality and climate crisis, recognizing the role of historical emitters in exacerbating the crisis.

Section 1: Inequality of emissions

• This section will show the inequality of emissions between the wealthiest and the poorest in society based on the available data by SEI. It will focus on billionaires and the wealthiest in the region for their outsized emissions on both consumption and investments. Additionally rich people capture political decision at their interest.
• Consequently, emphasis will be on the necessity to tax the rich polluters and implement wealth taxation as one of the most important steps toward climate justice.
• This section will also highlight how investments linked to fossil fuels further exacerbate the region's predicament.

Section 2: Inequality of impacts

• This section will focus on how the poorest, the marginalized, women, refugees and other groups who are the least responsible for climate change suffer the most from its impacts. It will highlight key extreme weather events that occurred in the region highlighting the impact on agriculture, farmers as well as the impacts on refugees and people living in context settings. On the other hand, it will show how the wealthiest are shielding themselves from the impacts of the climate crisis.
• This section will build on Oxfam’s experience at national level, and the literature to show how the inequality of impacts is deeply intersectional.  In short that poor women from racialized groups, and other marginalised groups, particularly are the most impacted, whilst wealthy men, are often the most responsible. There will be a dedicated section on this in the chapter.

Section 3: The impact of austerity

• Decades-long austerity policies make climate investments infeasible for many countries, leading to underfunded public services and infrastructure. Austerity measures disproportionately affects communities, hindering their ability to cope with and adapt to the climate crisis. Economic policies that prioritize the wealthy have widened the gap, leaving the majority without critical services. With temperatures already rising and devastating impacts observed at 1.1°C of global warming, stopping austerity becomes imperative. Increased investment is needed to strengthen community resilience and enable the region to adapt.

Section 4: Regional cooperation, international responsibility and the need for transformational policies.

• This will be the concluding section of the report stressing on the need for regional cooperation for climate policies and financing, while in the same time stressing on the principle of differentiated responsibility focusing on the need for international financing for climate and for Global North countries for reparations. It will also propose policies on the national level to fight inequality and the climate crisis.

A gender analysis must be integrated across the sections and must highlight the disproportional impacts of climate change on women and girls.

Deliverables

Core full document including:

• Executive summary
• Briefing Paper (Word count: around 10,000 words in total)
• Data set on which the report is written.
• Annexes, supporting documents and data collection tools.

Time Frame

This consultancy commencement and end dates are:

Upon contract signature (expected end of April) – 30^th of July 2024

Suggested methodology

Methodology could include:

1. Comprehensive desk review of existing literature on inequalities, climate change, and relevant policies in the MENA Region (and in the countries that we agree to focus on with the consultant) – utilizing local/national context research and expertise as much as possible.
2. Analysis of available fiscal, economic, and climate indicators for the countries that we are covering.
3. The consultant(s) should propose a more detailed methodology.
4. The consultant(s) are advised to familiarize themselves with Oxfam's methodology note for our global report on climate equality.

Suggested countries

The briefing paper will cover the MENA region and will specifically target countries that have already experienced severe climate change impacts, with a particular emphasis on those that have faced extreme climate catastrophes in recent years.

Several countries are likely to be involved in this report, and will be agreed with the consultant(s) after their appointment. The countries that would potentially be covered  include: Morocco, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, and GCC.

Support

The consultant(s) will work in close coordination with Oxfam in MENA team who will review and comment on the different outputs and drafts throughout the process.

Audience

Primary audience: Media, policymakers at national and regional level, the IMF and the World Bank.

Secondary audience: civil society organisations 

Translation

The document will be developed in English

Required profile

• Strong knowledge  of climate change and financing issues and their linkages  with poverty, gender and inequality in  the MENA Region
• Expertise and understanding of fiscal justice issues in the MENA Region.
• Experience with datasets and statistics.
• Strong experience in conducting research in the MENA Region and formulating evidence-based policies for different audiences
• Knowledge of IMF programs, interventions, and on-going discussions in the MENA region is a plus

Call for proposals

Interested candidates / organizations should submit:

• Technical proposal that includes background, focus of countries to be targeted, proposed methodology and time frame for submission.
• Proposed budget (broken down by days)
• CV and Cover letter summary showcasing relevant previous experience and explaining why you would be granted this consultancy. 

Please submit the full application documents (as mentioned above) to [email protected]   by midnight of April 21^st , 2024, mentioning “Climate and inequality paper Consultancy” in the Subject line.

Indicative calendar

• Final Draft Submission: 22^nd of July 2024