Background

The Low Emission Capacity Building (LECB) Programme was launched in January 2011, and since its inception, the LECB Programme has grown both in scope and breadth, now including more than 25 participating countries, and providing enhanced technical and institutional support through generous contributions from the European Commission and the governments of Germany and Australia. The LECB Programme’s Global Support Unit is part of the larger Green, Low-Emission Climate Resilient Development Strategy team of UNDP and gains insight from, and builds upon, global initiatives already developed by UNDP and other development partners. The LECB Programme aims to strengthen technical and institutional capacities at the country level, while at the same time facilitating collaboration between the public and private sectors in national/sub-national initiatives that address climate change mitigation.

Partner countries select from five Programme work areas:

• Design Low Emission Development Strategies (LEDS) in the context of national priorities;
• Develop greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory management systems;
• Identify opportunities for nationally appropriate mitigation actions (NAMAs);
• Design systems of measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) for proposed LEDS and NAMAs; and
• Support for preparation and implementation of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs). 

A Global Support Unit (GSU) was established to provide technical assistance to countries in the design and implementation of project activities at the national level. The GSU assists participating countries by:

• Providing appropriate tools and training to support the design of LEDS, NAMAs and the associated MRV systems in the context of national priorities;
• Making targeted technical support available to national teams for implementation of project activities on the basis of countries’ needs;
• Facilitating linkages with national development priorities and processes;
• Providing support to help identify innovative policy and financing options for low-emissions development;
• Facilitating partnerships between the Public Sector and Industry;
• Developing and disseminating informative products and lessons learned to raise awareness, engage stakeholders, and inform decision makers.

For more information on the Programme, go here: www.lowemissiondevelopment.org

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision and guidance of the Manager of the LECB Programme, the Consultant will provide technical assistance to developing countries on the implementation of national project activities; will act as the GSU operational focal point for at least three countries; and contribute to the management of additional support provided to countries through LECB’s network of international centres of excellence (“NAMA-Net”). The Consultant will contribute to the formulation and operationalization of LECB phase II; contribute to management and knowledge products; as well as to the LECB Programme’s finance tracking and private sector engagement workstreams.

Key tasks for the consultancy are listed below.

Programme implementation:

• Act as the GSU focal point for at least three LECB countries (Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam);
• Conduct regular calls with national teams to follow up and guide the progress;
• Provide regular technical backstopping on the delivery of project outputs and outcomes;
• Keep track of and review incoming quarterly progress reports;
• Support progress through field missions to each country, on the basis of country support requests and with the approval of the LECB Programme Manager;
• Coordinate with respective NAMA-Net agencies supporting the country teams, including review of technical outputs of the NAMA-Net agencies.

Provide technical backstopping on LECB public and private finance tracking work streams:

• Provide technical backstopping on LECB public and private finance tracking work streams;
• Review and consolidate updated versions of the LECB private climate finance tracking methodology;
• Review of training package for LECB countries, which will apply the methodology (Chile, Ecuador, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam) in the use of the methodology and assist countries in carrying out their technical studies;
• Review data collection templates and methods.

Foster knowledge exchange through a range of activities:

• Feature of good initiatives and lessons learned from the LECB Programme;
• Contribute to global and regional LECB workshops;
• Facilitate south-south-learning by LECB countries through sharing of good practice.

Contribute to the development of management and outreach material:

• Extract, analyze and synthesize information from the LECB Programme (quarterly reports, studies submitted by countries, progress reports, etc) to produce knowledge products on GHG inventories and NAMAs.

Coordination and Management of NAMA-Net:

• Contribute to NAMA-Net management;
• Review, analyze and provide quality assurance of NAMA-Net reports and deliveries;
• Participate in coordination calls with NAMA-Net agencies, as well as coordination calls with countries receiving NAMA-Net support;
• Prepare one information brief based on the results of the NAMA Net support.

Support the formulation of the LECB Programme phase II:

• Analyze and synthesize lessons learned from the LECB Programme phase;
• Contribute to the identification of country work areas and activities;
• Contribute to the design and formulation of the LECB Programme Document and country specific Project Documents.

Other Duties:

• Perform other related duties as requested by the LECB Programme Manager.

Key Deliverables:

• Quarterly reports from Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam reviewed and consolidated;
• Brief reports submitted on the technical backstopping provided to the three countries describing the nature of the support, the relevant outcomes and the follow-up activities;
• NAMA-Net reports and/or other relevant technical country reports reviewed to provide quality assurance of the final products;
• Reports submitted on the technical backstopping provided to LECB countries that are implementing UNDP’s finance tracking approach including a review of version 3.0 of the LECB finance tracking methodology;
• Project document completed for the LECB Programme phase II, including addressing comments and suggestions provided by the LECB Global Support Unit;
• Draft and consolidate one knowledge product on NAMAs based on findings and lessons learned from the LECB Programme;
• Draft and consolidate one knowledge product on GHG Inventories based on findings and lessons learned from the LECB Programme;
• Draft donor reports: Extract, analyze and synthesize information.

Reporting, working modality and institutional arrangements:

• The Consultant will be home based;
• The Consultant will work with, report directly to, and will seek approval of outputs from the LECB Programme Manager;
• The Consultant will work closely with the LECB Programme’s Global Support Unit, as well as national project teams. The Consultant will also liaise with governments and UNDP country office counterparts in partner countries;
• The Consultant will be given access to relevant information necessary for execution of the tasks under this assignment;
• The Consultant will be responsible for providing her/his own laptop;
• Payments will be made upon submission of a detailed time sheet and certification of payment form, and approval and confirmation by the LECB Programme Manager on days worked and outputs delivered.

Travel:

• Any necessary missions must be approved by the LECB Programme Manager. The Basic Security in the Field II and Advanced Security in the Field courses must be successfully completed prior to commencement of travel;
• Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director;
• Consultants are required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under https://dss.un.org/dssweb/;
• All mission-related travel expenses will be supported by the project travel fund and will be arranged for by UNDP in accordance with UNDP entitlements and travel policy.  Costs for mission travel should not be included in financial proposal.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Excellent communications and networking skills;
• Ability to work effectively as part of a team;
• Strong interpersonal and negotiating skills;
• Ability to work in a multicultural environment; and
• Sound judgment and discretion.

Functional Competencies:

• Understands technical and policy considerations as well as challenges in the national development of LEDS, NAMAs and MRV systems;
• Good understanding of all thematic areas of climate change, as well as of climate change groundwork in countries;
• Understands fundamental concepts of Programme-related issues (e.g., GHG inventories, national communications, INDCs, climate change finance assessment/tracking approaches etc.);
• Good understanding and experience with UNDP rules and regulations, particularly as they relate to Programme/project development and implementation. Good understanding of initiatives and projects of the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS), as well as on green Low Emission Climate Resilient Development (LECRD) strategies;
• Understanding of UNFCCC international climate negotiations and the Paris Agreement;
• Ability to work in diverse cultural working scenarios comprising different cultural and professional backgrounds;
• Keeps abreast of new developments in area of professional discipline and job knowledge and seeks to develop him/herself professionally; and
• Demonstrates comprehensive knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments.

Management and Leadership:

• Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
• Focuses on impact and results for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Leads teams effectively and shows conflict resolution skills;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Builds strong relationships with clients and external actors;
• Remains calm, in control, and composed even under pressure;
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
• Communicates effectively with staff at all levels of the organization;
• Acts with tact and diplomacy;
• Proves outgoing and comfortable in handling external relations at all levels;
• Demonstrates compelling communication skills and cross-cultural effectiveness;
• Demonstrates knowledge in bilateral and/or multilateral negotiations; and
• Possesses the ability to convey difficult issues and positions to senior officials, proven political judgment, sensitivity to local cultures.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree in environment-related areas, geography, economics, or international relations.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of relevant work experience on climate change mitigation;
• Proven track record for project management and implementation;
• Proven experience to plan and conduct technical interventions and solutions to address climate change;
• Experience in supporting national and sectoral policies for climate change mitigation in developing countries;
• Experience with methodologies for tracking climate finance;
• Experience with the partner organizations of the Programme, including the European Commission (EC) and the Government of Germany;
• Experience supporting developing countries, particularly in the environment, climate and/or international development fields, is a strong asset.

Languages:

• English is the working language for this assignment; therefore, excellent oral and written communications and presentation skills in English are required.

Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments:
The price offer should indicate a total lump sum amount, based on an all-inclusive daily professional fee in US dollars for 89 working days. The payments will be linked to the delivery. The contract price is fixed regardless of changes in the cost of components. The term ‘all inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, - i.e. if required by applicant, communications, utilities, consumables, insurance, etc.), excluding travel requested by the LECB Programme Manager, that could possibly be incurred by the Contractor are already factored into the daily fee.
Payment Schedule: Payments will be made on a monthly basis, on actual worked days and upon satisfactory completion of or acceptable progress on the deliverables.

Recommended Presentation of Offer:
The application is a two-step process. Failing to comply with the submission process may result in disqualifying the applications:

Step 1: CV
Interested individual consultants must include the following documents when submitting the applications in UNDP job shop (Please note that only 1 (one) file can be uploaded therefore please include all docs in one file):

• Personal History Form (P11)/CV, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references (the P11 template can be downloaded from this link: http://europeandcis.undp.org/files/hrforms/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc. A complete P11 Form will be required before a selected applicant signs an Individual Contract (IC) or his/her employer, if employed, signs a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA) for work associated with this assignment);
• Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment.

Step 2: Submission of Financial Proposal
Applicants are instructed to submit their financial proposals in US Dollars for this consultancy to bpps.procurement@undp.org, using the financial proposal template available here: http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=45780. The proposals should be sent via email with the following subject heading: “Job ID 63637: Financial Proposal for the LECB Consultant – Technical Specialist” by the deadline for this vacancy. Proposals to be received after the deadline may be rejected. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal should be all-inclusive and include a breakdown. The term ‘all-inclusive’ implies that all costs (professional fees, non-mission travel related expenses, communications, utilities, consumables, insurance, etc.) that could possibly be incurred by the Contractor are already factored into the financial proposal.

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer

Combined Scoring method – where the qualifications and methodology will be weighted a max of 70%, and combined with the price offer which will be weighted a max of 30%.

Method

Cumulative analysis method will be used to evaluate proposals.

When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical Criteria weight: 70%. Financial Criteria weight: 30%.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70%) on technical part will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Criteria for technical evaluation (70 points maximum):

• Number of years of relevant work experience on climate change mitigation and demonstrated experience on project management and project implementation (30 points);
• Experience with providing technical support on tracking and analyzing climate finance; and having and good understanding of relevant methodologies (10 points);
• Experience in formulating programme and project proposals (10 points);
• Demonstrated experience providing technical support to developing countries, particularly in related environment and/or international development fields (20 points).

Criteria for financial evaluation (30 points maximum):

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:

• p = y (µ/z), where:
• p=points for the financial proposal being evaluated;
• y=maximum number of points for the financial proposal;
• µ=price of the lowest priced proposal;
• z = price of the proposal being evaluated.

Award of Contract The award of contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as responsive, compliant, and acceptable; having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to this solicitation.

General Terms and Conditions under Individual Consultant (IC) type of assignments: http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/documents/procurement/documents/IC%20-%20General%20Conditions.pdf