Consultancy to Provide Support on Development of Sustainable Biomass Guidelines

A.     About ISC

The Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC) is an international non-governmental agency working to unleash the power of people to transform their communities in the face of climate change. ISC’s mission is to help communities, cities, and industries worldwide address environmental, economic, and social challenges to build a better future shaped and shared by all.

B.      Background

Aiming to improve the health, livelihoods, and well-being of vulnerable populations, foster sustainable economic growth, and achieve greater development in the Mekong region, the Mekong Sustainable Manufacturing Alliance (The Alliance), a 3-year USAID-funded project led by ISC, drives private-sector adoption of improved environmental and social safeguards by factories in the food processing, and textiles sectors. To this end, the project focuses primarily on country-specific and region-wide activities to unlock private enterprise-led growth and improve the management of natural resources in Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam.

ISC plans to co-develop industry-level sustainable biomass guidelines and a risk evaluation template with 3 leading global apparel brands and their strategic suppliers. For this mission, ISC wishes to engage an organization or individual consultant to provide support on the topic from October 2022 to May 2023.

C.      Scope of Work

The Sustainable Biomass Guidelines and Risk Evaluation template will cover two key components:

Item 1: The Sustainable Biomass Guidelines – for brand

• Outline the definition of sustainable biomass, the list of sustainable biomass, and the list of banned/unsustainable biomass.
• Are intended to be applicable globally, with the focus on key garment production countries, e.g., Vietnam, and countries with land use/deforestation risks, e.g., Cambodia.
• Are expected to cover only fuel burned on-site in the factory (no waste to energy, fabric waste, or natural gas included)

Item 2: The Risk Assessment Template – For factory

• Will be based on the Guidelines
• Provides sustainability risk assessment and scoring to categorize the risk level of each factory/supplier into 3 levels – green (low risk), yellow (medium risk), and red (high risk)
• Identifies hot spot areas for improvement for the factory to address the risks

As part of the service, the organization or individual consultant will specifically:

• Review existing guidelines and relevant documents, including but not limited to sustainable biomass guidelines of participating brands and 3^rd party sustainability certification
• Draft the Sustainable Biomass Guidelines and Risk Assessment Template for participating brands’ feedback
• Assist ISC in conducting at least 3 rounds of multi-stakeholder consultation for feedback with industry platforms, NGOs, donors, factories, and global brands in the apparel industry with a focus on Vietnam and Cambodia
• Facilitate pilots of the Guidelines and Assessment Template with at least 3 suppliers/factories recommended by the participating brands
• Incorporate feedback from the pilot and consultation rounds to finalize the Guidelines and Assessment Template

D.     Deliverables

E.      Qualifications

The organization or individual consultant must have:

• Demonstrated at least five years of experience in the relevant field
• Excellent verbal and written communications in English
• Experience working with global brands, factories INGOs or NGOs will be an added advantage.

F.      Submission Requirements

Interested organizations or consultants must provide information indicating that they are qualified to perform the services, relevant experiences, along with cost information, by submitting a proposal via email to [email protected], with RFP – Sustainable Biomass Guidelines in the subject line by October 11, 2022.

Submissions should include the following information (5 pages max).

• Name and contact details
• CV of the consultant or team members
• List of prior relevant experiences with detail
• Cost information (USD) with preferred payment schedule