Background

Liberia faces profound and widespread impacts of climate change, manifesting in extreme weather events, disrupted agriculture, eroding coastlines, and socioeconomic challenges that hinder the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With a struggling economy coupled with increasingly more frequent climate impacts, the country’s major economic sectors - agriculture, fisheries, and forestry - are increasingly at heightened risk under climate change. Moreover, the variation in the country’s seasonal pattern has affected crop production, making the population more vulnerable to losses, social factors, and other climate change-related hazards.

Adaptation targets and finance are crucial to safeguarding Liberia’s future given the high vulnerability to climate change. Without decisive action, climate change could impact the nation's economy by 15% and push an estimated 1.3 million people into poverty by 2050. However, implementing targeted adaptation measures could significantly boost agricultural productivity and enhance the climate resilience of nearly 800,000 people (World Bank CCDR-2024). With limited available public resources to address these challenges, the urgency for comprehensive climate action has never been greater.

Objectives

The overall objective is to support the development of a Climate Change legal framework for Liberia that considers long-and-intermediate terms and sectoral emission reduction targets.

Specific objectives

The objectives specifically seek to,

1. benchmarking related laws, policies, regulations in Liberia and elsewhere to identify gaps, lessons and best practices;
2. develop a national climate change law consistent with Liberia’s circumstances and Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

Scope of work

The consultancy will entail the following under the supervision of the Government of Liberia through the Environmental Protection Agency:

• Development of a holistic and inclusive climate change framework law for Liberia that covers the following:

1. Long and medium term sectorial GHG emission reduction targets as well as defining mitigation measure;
2. provisions that require climate risk and vulnerability assessments with requirement for periodic updates and publication in line with new scientific evidence;
3. provision that mandates climate change strategies and plans are prepared and integrated into national development and sectoral plans and budget processes;