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Team of two local consultants (a measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) technical consultant/team leader and a legal consultant) on strengthening the national transparent MRV system (EU4Climate).

Vacancy Number: Pr19/01867

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	16 Aug 2019, 16:30 (GMT+2:00)
Starting date:	02 Sep 2019
Reference to the project:	EU4Climate Moldova
Expected Duration of Assignment:	September-December 2019
Supporting Documents: Procurement Notice Terms of reference OFFEROR’S LETTER TO UNDP CONFIRMING INTEREST AND AVAILABILITY FOR THE INDIVIDUAL CONTRACTOR (IC) ASSIGNMENT UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract

Ms. Ana-Maria Manole.

Mr. Marius Taranu.

Background

The goal of EU4Climate Project is to contribute to climate change mitigation & adaptation and the development towards a low-emissions and climate-resilient economy in line with the Paris Agreement[1] in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.

To realize this project goal, the following results should be achieved:

Result 1:  Finalized or up-dated nationally determined contributions communicated to the UNFCCC;

Result 2:  Improved inter-institutional awareness and coordination at political and technical level of the Paris Agreement and the corresponding national commitments;  

Result 3:  Established or strengthened MRV systems, with countries getting on track with Paris Agreement transparency requirements;

Result 4:  Advanced alignment with EU climate acquis as provided by bilateral agreements with EU and in the context of Energy Community Treaty on climate matters that are not covered by the EU4Energy programme;

Result 5:  Establishment of concrete sectoral guidelines for the implementation of the Paris Agreement in each of the Eastern Partners;

Result 6: Increased mobilization of climate finance;

Result 7: Enhanced adaptation planning. 

The project implementation methodology will follow the logic of the Paris Agreement framework and relevant EU climate acquis, as well as their subsequent developments. The respective climate change EU acquis and climate provisions under the Energy Community treaty will be the integral part of the project logic and implementation methodology, the EU best practices will be shared. Relevant technical guidance on various elements of climate policy development will be used through the capacity building and training activities.

The Paris Agreement on Climate Change was adopted at the UNFCCC Conference of Parties in December 2015 and officially entered into force on 4 November 2016. The Paris Agreement was the first ever universal, legally binding climate deal that set out a plan to put the world on track to avoid dangerous climate change by limiting global warming to “well below 2°C”. Together with Agenda 2030 and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Paris Agreement provides an unprecedented opportunity to create an integrated development approach towards inclusive resilient economies with a zero-carbon footprint by 2100.

The Paris Agreement establishes a new transparency regime, under which countries will have to report progress on reducing GHG emissions and building climate resilience. This transparency regime is currently being established within the UNFCCC framework and its final details are still to be defined.  At the same time, the three regional members of the Energy Community (Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) are encouraged to align their legislation with the EU Monitoring Mechanism Regulation as well as to prepare for the development and adoption of integrated national energy and climate plans and may soon have to align their legislation with the new EU Energy Union Governance Regulation while the agreement with Armenia equally foresees legal approximation to EU MRV rules. In the past years, significant technical assistance has been provided by the regional ClimaEast project, but countries’ capacities for MRV still need further strengthening.

Scope of work

The main objective of the assignment is to provide technical support to the Government for strengthening the domestic monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) system, established through the Governmental Decision No. 1277 as of 26.12.2018 on the Establishment and Functioning of the National System for Monitoring and Reporting Greenhouse Gas Emissions and other Information Relevant to Climate Change, as per the requirements of the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) of the Paris Agreement (PA), specifically focusing on following the Modalities, Procedures and Guidelines (MPG) of the Article 13 of the PA[1].

The assignment will review the existing MRV system in the Republic of Moldova as well as the legal and technical gaps for getting on track with Paris Agreement transparency requirements.

The technical and legal gap assessment will evaluate the existing national laws and regulations on relevant data collection, and their ability to serve the preparation of the national GHG inventories, national communication, biennial update reports / biennial transparency reports, etc.

The assignment will also map the key institutions and organizations involved in data and information gathering for preparing on biannual basis the GHG inventories as per IPCC 2006 guidelines.

Finally, the assignment will support the organization of consultations to discuss and refine the findings of the assignment with relevant stakeholders.

Under the guidance of the EU4Climate National Coordinator, and in close cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environmental, the MRV technical consultant/team leader and the legal consultant will provide assistance in:

1. Reviewing existing MRV system in the Republic of Moldova, established through the Governmental Decision No. 1277 as of 26.12.2018 on the Establishment and Functioning of the National System for Monitoring and Reporting Greenhouse Gas Emissions and other Information Relevant to Climate Change, and assessing the necessary coverage expansion to meet the requirements of the enhanced transparency framework of Paris Agreement specified in the Decision 18/CMP.1 ‘Modalities, procedures and guidelines for the transparency framework for action and support referred to in Article 13 of the Paris Agreement’;
2. Mapping institutional arrangements for strengthening the domestic MRV system, including the reports submitted / to be submitted by the Republic of Moldova (national communications, biennial update reports / biennial transparency reports, GHG inventories, etc.), as per requirements stated under the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement;
3. Revising the list of key institutions responsible for relevant data collection and record keeping; identify public and private sector stakeholders and their mandates, roles and responsibilities under the national MRV system and assess the efficiency of the data sharing and reporting arrangements framework;
4. Identifying data collection & calculations tools and methodologies for all nationally-relevant IPCC categories and sectors; the national level QA/QC procedures for GHG inventory data collection and reporting defined;
5. Evaluating the existing legal and technical framework for GHG inventory data measurement, reporting and verification, established through the Governmental Decision No. 1277 as of 26.12.2018 on the Establishment and Functioning of the National System for Monitoring and Reporting Greenhouse Gas Emissions and other Information Relevant to Climate Change; review the status and requirements for strengthening the national and sector level GHGs emission accounting activities in compliance with the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) requirements of the Paris Agreement, as per Decision 18/CMP.1 ‘Modalities, procedures and guidelines for the transparency framework for action and support referred to in Article 13 of the Paris Agreement’;
6. Participating in the stakeholder engagement consultations (EU4Climate Project Team will help in the organization of the consultations).

For detailed information, please refer to Annex 1 – Terms of Reference.

Requirements for experience

For the legal consultant

1.Education:

• Advanced degree (Master or Ph.D.) in Law

2.Experience:

• At least 5 years of proven professional experience in legal drafting and analysis of normative acts;
• At least 2 years of working experience in institutional consultancy, law-making on EU environmental laws and EU environmental and climate change acquis;
• Experience in similar positions in an UNDP, UNEP, WB and/or EU-funded project or other international organization would be an asset.

3. Competencies:

• Excellent knowledge of Moldovan legislative process demonstrated by previous assignments;
• Excellent knowledge of EU environmental laws, EU environmental and climate change acquis and EU Regulation 525/2013/EC (MMR Regulation) and establishing of MRV system under the Regulation demonstrated by previous assignments;
• Knowledge of principles, legal and normative framework regulating the MRV systems under the UNFCCC and other relevant international conventions and protocols demonstrated by previous assignments will be a strong advantage;
• Strong analytical and report writing skills demonstrated by previous assignments;
• Strong communication and teamwork/coordination skills demonstrated by previous assignments;
• Previous successful experience in development assistance or related work for a donor organization, governmental institutions, NGO/think-tank or consulting firm is a strong advantage;
• Knowledge of English, Romanian, Russian languages for the purposes of the assignment.

  For the MRV technical consultant/team leader

1.Education:

• Advanced degree (Master or Ph.D.) in a relevant field, such as Energy, Industry, Chemistry, Biology, Agriculture and/or Forestry Sciences, Environmental Policy, Engineering, Development Economics, Environmental economics, Environmental technology, or any related qualification.

2.Experience:

• At least 6 years of professional experience in technical activities related to climate change, GHGs emission accounting and analysis (energy, industrial processes and products use, agriculture, LULUCF and/or waste sectors), MRV system, GHGs mitigation activities (energy, industry, transport, buildings,industrial processes and products use, agriculture, forestry and/or waste sectors) and/or emission trading scheme;
• At least 3 years of demonstrated experience in projects with similar tasks (elaboration of national communications and biennial update reports; establishing domestic monitoring, reporting and verification systems; implementation of low emissions development programmes and elaboration of nationally appropriate mitigation actions);
• Experience in analysis and use of data sets using various tools and instruments (e.g., MS Excel, IPCC reporting software) demonstrated by previous assignments;
• Experience in similar positions in an UNDP, UNEP, WB and/or EU-funded project or other international organization would be an asset.

III. Competencies:

• Excellent knowledge and understanding of the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) requirements of the Paris Agreement of the UNFCCC;
• Excellent knowledge of GHG inventory, GHG baseline determination, MRV system, carbon budget, etc. demonstrated by previous assignments;
• Knowledge of principles, legal and normative framework regulating the MRV systems under the UNFCCC, other relevant international conventions and protocols demonstrated by previous assignments will be a strong advantage;
• Strong analytical and report writing skills demonstrated by previous assignments;
• Strong communication and teamwork/coordination skills demonstrated by previous assignments;
• Previous experience in governmental institutions is a strong advantage;
• Proven experience in establishing and maintain working relations with government officials. Demonstrate experience and success in the engagement of, and working with both the public and private sector, is an advantage;
• Knowledge of English, Romanian, Russian languages for the purposes of the assignment.

Note: National consultants shall clearly indicate the position they are applying for.

The UNDP Moldova is committed to workforce diversity. Women, persons with disabilities, Roma and other ethnic or religious minorities, persons living with HIV, as well as refugees and other non-citizens legally entitled to work in the Republic of Moldova, are particularly encouraged to apply.

Documents to be included

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

1. Proposal, explaining why they are the most suitable for the work, including past experience in similar assignments, providing a brief information on above qualifications and methodology on how they will approach and conduct the work (if applicable).
2. Financial proposal (in USD), specifying a fee per day and total requested amount including all related costs, e.g. fees, per diems, travel costs, phone calls, etc.;
3. CV and/or the duly filled in and signed Personal History Form (P11), and at least three names for a reference check.

Financial proposal

The financial proposal will specify the daily fee, travel expenses and per diems quoted in separate line items, and payments are made to the Individual Consultant based on the number of days worked.

Travel

All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel.  In general, UNDP should not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.

In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.