Request for proposal for services as the research provider for social transformation and just transition work
The World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) aims to drive private sector engagement on the sustainable development goals through its benchmarks, envisioning a future where companies, investors, governments, civil society and individuals can quickly and easily compare businesses and motivate a ‘race to the top’. WBA is a global non-profit organisation with most colleagues based in Amsterdam and a second office in London. WBA procurement rules require a public tender for contracts above a certain size. This Request for Proposal (RFP) is split into two parts and sets out a draft scope of work for research provider support required to deliver:
- Part 1 – Draft core social indicator assessments for 731 keystone companies in the financial system, urban and climate and energy (automotive manufacturing and transport) benchmarks from December 2023 to July 2024. Please note that 200 companies in the Urban benchmark are included to indicate the maximum possible number of companies assessed; however, these companies are still to be confirmed for 2024 and could be removed making the total number of companies 531.
- Part 2 – Draft just transition (JT) assessments for 131 keystone companies in the climate and energy (automotive manufacturing and transport) benchmarks from May to July 2024. These are the same companies that are being assessed on CSI in the climate and energy benchmarks in Part 1.
The research provider is not expected to create or revise a methodology but to assess companies using the core social indicators from the Social Transformation Framework and the just transition indicators from the Climate and Energy Benchmark’s Just Transition Methodology. If your organisation can only participate in part 1 or part 2, you are encouraged to provide additional details, however, there is a preference for a single provider.
Expectations of the proposal
We expect that your proposal will, first and foremost, estimate the personnel and financial resources required to deliver the core social indicator and/or just transition assessments in line with the expectations and draft deliverables listed herein. Furthermore, WBA anticipates that you will be able to demonstrate how you will deliver in three key areas:
- Research process and quality: interpreting large volumes of written data and assessing companies against our methodologies.
- Familiarity with social and/or just transition topics: depth of knowledge regarding social sustainability and/or just transition issues, including human and labour rights issues and how these intersect with the energy transition.
- Research intensity: being able to handle the research of several hundred companies within short and flexible timeframes.
Moreover, WBA would like to see a staffing plan including how staff changes will be handled throughout the project. We are interested in your approach to retaining people, supported by 2022 and 2023 (up to now) analyst retention rates. WBA expects that proposals will detail the tasks, time and costs involved, including day-rates for staff of various seniorities, breakdown for any sub-contracting, costs for using any proprietary software/databases and an eventual ‘cost-per-researched-company’.
Responses to this RFP should be sent to Sarah Bradbury at s.bradbury@worldbenchmarkingalliance.org by Friday 10th November 2023. The contract is anticipated to be awarded at the end of November 2023. Project kick-off is anticipated to take place in December 2023 for the core social indicator assessment and May 2024 for the just transition assessment, and both will run until July 2024. The tendering process will be conducted in line with WBA’s procurement policy.
Download full RFP