Procurement

The purpose of these publicly available procedures is to ensure that grants awarded in the context of GCF-funded projects are compliant with applicable laws and GCF requirements and are awarded pursuant to an open competitive selection process when required.

Exclusions

These procurement procedures do not govern grants, contracts, or expenditures made with funds from sources other than the GCF unless the circumstances described in A hereinabove apply.

If the Company is required to comply with these specific procedures and another Funder’s procedures or requirements, the Company will apply the more stringent procedure and requirements. However, any decision that requires Grant Evaluation Committee review, as described herein, shall be subject to such review.

Applicability and Integration of Procurement of Services and Selecting Sub-Awardees (Project Partners):

Section 3 (Procurement of Goods) and Section 4 (Procurement of Services) of this Procurement Policy, and Section 3 of the Project Management Manual (Selecting Sub-Awardees (Project Partners)), are applicable, mutatis mutandi, to any grant and sub-award governed by procurement procedures.

These procedures do not exclude the applicability of other procurement agreements/purchasing contracts, policies, and guidelines that are required by the Company and that are not inconsistent with these procedures or any other GCF-specific procedures.

General Principles:

No pre-award recognition or retroactivity. The GCF does not permit the payment or recognition of pre-award costs or expenditures.

No double funding. A specific project activity may be awarded to one grantee only.

All agreements in writing. Any grant or sub-award, independent from the value or risk factor, shall be in writing.

Requirements for Competitive Selection Process:

The Company and the GCF require competition to the maximum extent practical and reasonable for the value of the grant/sub-award. For this purpose, when selecting and granting grants or awards to grantees or sub-awardees in a GCF-funded project, the Company follows the Requirements for Procurement of Goods and Contract Services, outlined in Section 3.1 of this procurement policy, and, based on the values listed, conduct competitive processes, if required.

When structuring a Competitive Selection Process, the Project Manager should follow the recommendations listed in Sections 4.2 (Competitive Process for Service Contracts) and 6.4 (Managing Poor Performance of Service Providers) of this procurement policy during the procurement phase. Any exceptions to competition requirements can be incorporated in Section 3 (Procurement of Goods) of this procurement policy and would not be applicable to procurement procedures.

Grant Evaluation Committee Composition

All GCF-funded projects require an Evaluation Committee led by the Project Manager and Engagement Manager (See Section 3.2 Evaluation Committee Requirements of this procurement policy). GCF-funded projects entail a Grant Evaluation Committee, of which its members are composed of the following:

1. Engagement Manager
2. Project Manager
3. GCF Purchasing Delegate (see Notes)
4. Technical Specialist assigned to the GCF-funded project
5. Grantee/Investee Fiscal Manager or any person with a managerial role within the business unit that is not part of the core project team.

GCF Grant Evaluation Committee - Special Conditions:

1. Persons listed above can be members of various Grant Evaluation Committees, provided that the GCF Funded Projects do not overlap, have interconnected activities, or the same key (existing or potential) grantees.
2. Person d) will be appointed by the Project Manager, with approval from the CEO.
3. Time and expenditures related to the functions of the Grant Evaluation Committee should be budgeted into project proposals and project budgets.
4. Members of the Grant Evaluation Committee act in their individual capacity and are neutral and objective in their review, notwithstanding their roles in their respective business teams or the project. There shall be no retaliation or harassment derived from member decisions or comments made in the context of the Grant Evaluation Committee.

Grant Evaluation Committee Review:

In the context of a GCF-funded project and pursuant to Section 3 (Procurement of Goods) of this procurement policy, the Company is required to conduct a quote documentation Competitive Proposals, or a Sole Source Justification is applicable, the Grant Evaluation Committee is responsible for performing the evaluation and assessment of the proposals, the applicability and viability of the sole source justification, or the due fulfillment of the quote documentation procedure. The Project Manager is responsible for leading and conducting the competitive process, when required, pursuant to Section 3 (Procurement of Goods) of this procurement policy.

For GCF-funded projects, prior Grant Evaluation Committee review and approval are also required for:

1. The granting of any sub-award that, pursuant to contract or donor policies, specifically requires a request for proposal, bidding, or competitive process;
2. Any sub-award granted for activities categorized as “High Risk” by the CEO, Project Manager, or Grant Evaluation Committee;
3. Any sub-award or activity for which the applicable Environmental and Social Management System explicitly recommends Grant Evaluation Committee review;
4. The granting of a sub-award involving substantial risk of “Relocation,” as defined under Section 6 (Monitoring Performance of Technical Service Agreements) of this procurement policy;
5. Any sub-award granted to an entity that, after due diligence and review, does not fulfill adequate performance or financial risk requirements, being the sub-award necessary and compelling for the achievement of project purposes;
6. Any sub-award that entails a Conflict of Interest, even if the conflict has been reviewed by the Grant Evaluation Committee.  

Meetings and Decisions

The Grants Evaluation Committee shall meet in person or virtually at the request of the Project Manager and/or CEO. Meeting minutes are taken, which include the time, date, manner of the meeting, a brief description of discussion and considerations, and final determinations. The Committee may reach decisions by email exchange. The Grants Evaluation Committee shall assist the Project Manager in the preparation of the competitive process, request for proposal documents, and bid review. Decisions require an affirmative vote and are recorded in the meeting minutes and maintained for a minimum period of five (5) years.

The CFO/COO (Finance), external counsel (Legal), or other Company Staff members, as deemed necessary and approved by the CEO, may be invited to Grant Evaluation Committee meetings. The Committee may allow the participation and voting of other Company Staff that, based on knowledge, expertise, or procurement requirements, should have an input in decision-making (e.g., IT, marketing, HR)

Information and Notification to Participants

In addition to Section 4.5 (Marketing and Communications) of this procurement policy (in the context of competitive proposal or quote documentation processes), the Project Manager is responsible for notifying, in writing, the decision to participants/proponents as soon as practicable. To the extent that it does not affect confidentiality or data privacy obligations, that it does not affect the project, sub-award, the Company’s negotiating position, and to the extent it does not unnecessarily affect the reputation of a proponent, the Company will communicate to all proponents the total scores and, if appropriate, the per-category scoring.

The Company makes reasonable efforts to respond to follow-up inquiries and provide feedback to proponents. In case a proposal has been rejected for not meeting basic/minimal or other general criteria, the Company will (a) make reasonable efforts to permit cure of any defect, provided it does not affect the fairness and efficiency of the process, and (b) communicate to the proponent the reasons for disqualification or rejection.

Ex-Post Communication and Publication of Beneficiaries: For any GCF grant or funding exceeding USD$50,000, the Company shall publish on its website a general description of the award, including (a) Beneficiary identifiers (e.g., name, address, nationality), (b) Award amount (including any match or co-financing), (c) General purpose of the award, (d) Term. The RFP and results for GCF funding will be made publicly available. This publication shall be made, at the latest, within ten (10) business days following the execution of the agreement.

Project/Grants Management, Legal, and Finance and Operations roles:

In addition to any requirements under the Terra Global Project Management Manual and Sections 3 (Procurement of Goods) and 4 (Procurement of Services) of this procurement policy, the Procurement Team, Grantee/Investee Fiscal Manager, external counsel (Legal), and CFO/COO (Finance), as needed, shall verify prior to any disbursement (for Finance and Grants) and prior to the execution of any agreement or amendment (for Legal and Grants) that there was a proper Grant Evaluation Committee review (when applicable). The Investee Fiscal Manager is responsible for preparing a quarterly report of all procurements, which is reviewed by the CFO/COO and approved by the CEO. Section 2.4 (Procurement and Contract Monitoring Responsibilities) of this procurement policy describes the roles of each business line involved in procurement.

Non-Exclusion

An approval by the Grant Evaluation Committee does not imply approval of the sub-award. Other Company Staff members or departments may deny the granting of the sub-award as pursuant to their own roles and responsibilities, including the Procurement Team (Grants), external counsel (Legal), CFO/COO (Finance), and Project Manager, a person whose authority or delegation of authority is required to execute the sub-award, or any person having such authority and powers pursuant to the GCF Performance Standards or the Environmental and Social Management System.

Notes

The CEO will appoint the GCF Purchasing Delegate, who is responsible for maintaining uniform templates and formats across the organization and ensuring the requirements under Annex B are complied with for GCF-funded projects.