Engagement of a consulting firm to undertake validation of ASCENT countries Carbon Project

ASSIGNMENT TITLE: CONSULTING SERVICES FOR THE VALIDATION AND VERIFICATION OF CARBON PROJECTS UNDER COMESA ASCENT PROGRAM -ZM-COMESA-553255-CS-QCBS. 1.0 INTRODUCTION The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) received a grant from the World Bank towards the implementation of the Accelerating Sustainable and Clean Energy Access Transformation (ASCENT) program and intends to apply part of the proceeds towards the provision of consultancy services for the validation and verification of caron projects under the ASCENT program. As a key element of the ASCENT Program, the Regional Energy Access Acceleration Platform aims to create an enabling environment for increasing access to sustainable and clean energy. COMESA has the responsibility of managing the ASCENT Regional Energy Access Acceleration Platform. This COMESA-managed Platform contributes to implementation and monitoring of the overall ASCENT program, and progress towards the overall program objectives. Particularly relevant for the aim to mobilize financing through carbon markets is the digital MRV (d-MRV) for energy access that the COMESA-managed platform is establishing at the regional level. The Regional Energy Access Acceleration Platform is also an important vehicle to facilitate capacity-building efforts, including carbon markets among the ASCENT countries, as well as to exchange knowledge and experiences. This includes support for the validation of ASCENT countries’ carbon programs. 2.0 OBJECTIVE OF THE ASSIGNMENT COMESA, as manager of the ASCENT Regional Energy Access Acceleration Platform, is seeking to hire Validation and Verification Bodies (VVBs) operating in Africa to provide services for the validation of ASCENT countries’ carbon programs according to the Energy Access Program (EAP) Standard developed by the Global Carbon Council (GCC). Scope of Work COMESA is seeking to identify VVBs that are operating in Eastern and Southern Africa and can offer carbon project validation services for