This consultancy will deliver a comprehensive legal and institutional gap analysis that serves as the foundational layer for all ecosystem services market development activities across the six participating countries. The outputs will define the regulatory boundaries within which conservation finance business models must operate.
The GEF-8 Congo Basin Integrated Program is designed to safeguard the world's second largest tropical rainforest. The Regional Coordination Project (RCP), executed by UNEP in partnership with FSC, serves as the central hub for knowledge sharing, capacity development, and policy coordination across six countries: Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Equatorial Guinea, and São Tomé and Príncipe.
Despite the existence of regional frameworks such as the COMIFAC Convergence Plan (2015–2025), significant governance barriers impede effective forest conservation, including:
• Inadequate policies and incentives that favour unsustainable land use
• Weak inter-sectoral collaboration resulting in fragmented governance
• Insufficient regulatory frameworks for carbon rights, land tenure, and benefit-sharing
• Limited institutional capacity to implement gender-responsive and IPLC-sensitive approaches
Scope of work
The Consultant shall assess regional and national-level policy, institutional and regulatory contexts for the development of ecosystem services market frameworks, focusing on:
• Carbon Rights: Analyzing legislation governing ownership of carbon (State, landowner, or community) and identifying ambiguities between statutory and customary law
• Land Tenure: Reviewing legal frameworks governing land use and forest management, including gendered dimensions of access and control
• Benefit-Sharing Mechanisms: Assessing regulations for distribution of revenues from natural resources, with a focus on inclusivity for IPLCs and women
• Market Readiness: Evaluating existing frameworks for carbon credit validation/verification and environmental offsets
• Regional Alignment: Analyzing legal instruments from COMIFAC, ECCAS, and OFAC
Work plan phases
Phase 1 — Inception & Methodology (Weeks 1–2): Develop a standardized data collection methodology; map national legal focal points and regional bodies.
Phase 2 — National & Regional Analysis (Weeks 3–8): Conduct carbon rights, land tenure, benefit-sharing and market readiness analysis for all 6 countries; assess regional alignment.
Phase 3 — Drafting & Validation (Weeks 9–12): Prepare draft national and regional briefs; facilitate feedback session with the Regional Advisory Group; document and incorporate revisions.
Phase 4 — Finalization & Specialized Analysis (Weeks 13–16): Produce final consolidated policy assessment report and stand-alone Validated Analysis on Carbon Rights and IPLC Benefit-Sharing.
Who should apply
- Minimum 12 years of experience in environmental law and policy analysis
- Deep expertise in carbon markets governance and carbon rights jurisprudence in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Proven experience conducting policy analysis for UNEP, UNDP, World Bank, USAID, EU, or AFD
- Specific familiarity with the legal instruments of COMIFAC and ECCAS
- Regional presence: registered office in at least one target country, OR formal partnerships with local legal firms, OR documented work in at least 4 of 6 target countries within the last 5 years
- Mandatory language fluency: French and English (written and spoken); Spanish or Portuguese advantageous.
What to submit
- Capability Statement: Max 5 pages. Project mapping table with donor, country, type of analysis, and outcome for each referenced project.
- Detailed Methodology: Data collection strategy across 6 countries; plan for structuring the Validated Carbon Rights Analysis as input for the Business Models consultant.
- Team Composition: CVs of Lead Legal Analyst and Regional Policy Specialist; proof of language capacity and regional presence.
- Financial Proposal: Detailed budget by deliverable and personnel, including daily/monthly rates for key team members.
Submit your proposal
Send all components as a single PDF or ZIP archive before the deadline of 19 May to fscafrica@fsc.org