Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessment; CRVA Consultant

The UAE is one of the founding member countries of GGGI. Since 2012, GGGI has been supporting and collaborating with the UAE on its transition towards a green economy. Through the development of the National Green Growth Strategy, National Climate Change Plan, National Air Quality Strategy, and UAE’s Circular Economy Policy, among others, GGGI has had the opportunity to collaborate with the Government and other in-country stakeholders on numerous initiatives that aim to strengthen and accelerate the achievement of targets under SDGs, as well as various work streams to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance the climate resilience of the UAE’s people, economy, and environment.

Currently, GGGI is supporting UAE for the development of its National Adaptation Plan (NAP), which will serve as a broad-ranging and strategic document outlining adaptation priorities and projects, including both short‑ and long‑term measures, aligned with the country’s sustainable development needs as well as its national development planning frameworks and aspirations. Underpinned by the enhancement of climate science and its translation into accessible tools and measures that benefit all economic and social actors, the NAP process aims to balance scientific and evidence‑based decision‑making with broad participation from relevant stakeholders and beneficiaries.

As a key milestone in the NAP process, GGGI has delivered a National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Roadmap for the United Arab Emirates, which was successfully launched by the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment during the COP
28 under the UNFCCC. The roadmap sets out the vision, rationale, and delivery approach for the UAE’s NAP Development.

In 2026 GGGI will accelerate and complete the delivery of the NAP. This will be centered around a sector‑led CRVA that builds on the 2019 vulnerability assessments and will focus on the agreed NAP priority sectors (to be confirmed during the inception phase).

Under the guidance of the Government of the UAE, the overall objective of this consultancy is to support the delivery of a Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (CRVA) that will serve as an analytical foundation for the NAP by identifying climate risks, assessing vulnerabilties, and informing evidence‑based prioritization of adaptation actions across priority sectors and geographies. Specific objectives of this consultancy include:

• Methodology Implementation Support:
  Support the Government of the UAE and GGGI to operationalize and apply an agreed high‑level CRVA methodology for the NAP, ensuring it is feasible and fit‑for‑purpose for UAE decision‑making.
• Climate Data and Model Application:
  Apply available UAE datasets and relevant regional climate models (RCMs) to assess current and projected climate hazards, exposure and vulnerability across agreed priority sectors.
• High‑Level Sector Profiling:
  Produce high‑level climate risk and vulnerability profiles for the NAP priority sectors, using a consistent data approach and common terminology aligned with UAE institutions.
• Capacity and Usability:
  Document assumptions, limitations, and practical guidance so that UAE stakeholders can replicate and update the assessment over time using available national/regional data sources.
• Recommendations for NAP Prioritization:
  Provide evidence‑based recommendations and inputs to support prioritization of adaptation actions under the NAP process, based on the outputs of the high‑level CRVA.

The Consultant will report directly to Lilibeth Acosta and will be supported by GGGI’s UAE Country Office and its Headquarter staff.

The assignment will be implemented through a structured, stepwise approach, with deliverables defined for each step. The Consultant may recommend amendments to this scope in their proposal to ensure the most effective delivery of the assignment; however, any changes must remain fully aligned with the original scope and obligations that GGGI has committed to under its agreement with the Government of UAE.

The final deliverable of this consultancy is a CRVA report (50+ pages including annexes) for UAE validated by…