UNDP Jobs - 72698- Provision of Individual Services of a Climate Chan

Provision of Individual Services of a Climate Change Adaptation Consultant

Location :

Amman, JORDAN

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

02-Jul-2017

Application Deadline :

10-Jun-17 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Two Months

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

Two Months

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

Note:

Proposals (Technical and Financail) should be submitted at the following email ic.jo@undp.org no later than June 10th, 2017.

Any request for clarification must be sent in writing to rana.saleh@undp.org , or by standard electronic communication to the address or e-mail indicated above. The procuring UNDP entity will respond in writing or by standard electronic mail and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all consultants.

To review full details of the assignment, please check the below link:

http://procurement-notices-admin.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=38101

Given the urgency and seriousness of climate change, the United Nations and Member States have established a new Green Climate Fund to make a significant contribution to the global efforts towards attaining the goals set by the international community to combat climate change. GCF is now the world’s largest multilateral fund for action on climate change, and will contribute to the achievement of the goals of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In the context of sustainable development, through a series of large scale country investments around the world, the Fund will promote a paradigm shift towards low-emission and climate-resilient development pathways, taking into account the needs of those developing countries particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.

Rather than a stand-alone endeavor, the GCF will support actions that bring co-benefits for other development priorities such as disaster risk reduction, food and water security, and supporting risk-informed development pathways. Climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction share the same objective: building resilience of communities and nations. It is necessary to tackle disaster risk reduction and climate change issues like drought and food/water insecurity together. GCF seeks to channel investments to vulnerable countries to manage risks and build resilience of development results. The nexus of climate change to disasters, drought and food/water security is critical in the context of the post-2015 development agenda. GCF seeks to forge the nexus between climate change, DRR and food/water security related targets, with several opportunities for high-impact investment in disaster risk reduction and more sustainable agriculture and water systems.

Jordan has been amongst the most active countries in the region with regard to involvement in international climate change efforts and response actions. Jordan was amongst the first group of developing countries to ratify the UNFCCC and make an accession to the Kyoto Protocol in 1994 and 2003 respectively. In response to its obligations towards the UNFCCC, Jordan prepared and submitted its Initial National Communication on Climate Change in 1997 and the Second National Communication in 2009. Moreover, Jordan has launched its Third National Communication Report to UNFCCC in December 2014. In line with that, Jordan has systematically continued its efforts in responding to climate change by developing and starting implementing national strategies and policies; of which Jordan, supported by UNDP, has developed a national climate change policy in 2013, the first comprehensive policy in the Arab Region and the Middle East as elaborated above.

With regard to adaptation to climate change and before developing of the National Climate Change Policy of Jordan 2013-2020, which advanced concrete strategic objectives, measures, and instruments to adapt the country to climate change impacts in each involved sector (water, coastal areas, agriculture/food security, health, tourism, biodiversity, and socioeconomic situation/poverty), Jordan conducted (2009-2013) a major joint program of water and health sectors’ adaptation namely “Adaptation to Climate Change to Sustain Jordan’s MDG Achievements”. The program’s outcomes were to develop sustained access to improved water supply sources, despite increasing water scarcity due to climate change and to strengthen the capacity for health protection and food security under conditions of water scarcity.

Climate change is expected to affect sustainable development, economic growth and society. Based on outcomes from the latest Third National Communication Report to UNFCCC (2014), serious vulnerability and impacts results are expected based on modeling and projections analyses. Predicted trends indicated that the annual precipitation tends to decrease significantly with time. Simultaneously, the mean, maximum and minimum air temperature tends to increase significantly by 0.02, 0.01, and 0.03 °C/year, respectively. On the other hand, the relative humidity tends to increase significantly by an average of 0.08%/year. In addition, the dynamic projections predicted more extremely likely heat waves and likely drought events, dry days, and potential evaporation among other potential impacts (TNC 2014). In response, Jordan is keen to implement adaptation priorities at the national and local levels.

Given the urgency and seriousness of climate change, the United Nations and Member States have established a new Green Climate Fund to make a significant contribution to the global efforts towards attaining the goals set by the international community to combat climate change. GCF is now the world’s largest multilateral fund for taking action on climate change, and will contribute to the achievement of the goals of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In the context of sustainable development, through a series of large scale country investments around the world, the Fund will promote a paradigm shift towards low-emission and climate-resilient development pathways, taking into account the needs of those developing countries particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.

Rather than a stand-alone endeavor, the GCF will support actions that bring co-benefits for other development priorities such as disaster risk reduction, food and water security, and supporting risk-informed development pathways. Climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction share the same objective: building resilience of communities and nations. It is necessary to tackle disaster risk reduction, climate change and issues like drought and food/water insecurity together. GCF seeks to channel investments to vulnerable countries that manage risks and build resilience of development results. The nexus of climate change to disasters, drought and food/water security is critical in context of the post-2015 development agenda. GCF seeks to forge the nexus between climate change, DRR and food and water security related targets, with a number of opportunities for high-impact investment in disaster risk reduction and more sustainable agriculture and water systems.

Duties and Responsibilities

Expected Output of the Assignment

The ultimate output of the assignment is a consistent, final concept note with all the necessary support studies and documentation.

This output shall be achieved through analytical work, desk-top and field visits and stakeholder consultations that fully complies with the GCF requirements.

The assignment will include 10-days mission to Jordan during the situation analysis/concept note development process.

Duties and Responsibilities

With this context, UNDP is recruiting an international consultant to help prepare a national assessment report that identifies the scope for GCF climate change adaptation (CCA) projects in Jordan, in support of project submissions to GCF for Jordan in 2017.

Prepare a national assessment report/Problem analysis
- Conduct initial desk review of available literature and baseline information, and collect data regarding NAPs, NAPAs, INDCs, climate change and disaster risk reduction strategies and action plans, or studies/assessments already undertaken on related topics;
- Identify and analyze the key climate change challenges and trends in the country, and nexus to related issues of drought and disaster trends and food/water insecurity;
- Identify strategies for UNDP/GCF support at the country level, and a matrix of expected outputs and activities and budget needs for Jordan;
- Identify past and ongoing projects on climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction that could serve as baseline for a future GCF investments;
- Define cost-effective solutions and strategies for building resilience in the country in focus, and in context of the GCF areas of support for climate change adaptation in the water/food security sector;
- An overview of the overall strategies and entry points recommended, as well as a breakdown of specific outputs and activities recommended to be undertaken through a UNDP/GCF project in Jordan.

The above tasks should be carried out in full consultations with government of Jordan, civil society organizations, private sector, UNDPs Regional Technical Advisor on Climate Change Adaptation, UNDPs Regional Climate Change Specialist who will serve as co-supervisors of the consultant and UNDP Jordan CO.

Develop and submit - Based on the scoping task (above) and the assessment report- a GCF concept note using the GCF template for the top priority interventions in the areas of water, energy and agriculture.

Conduct local consultations on-site with UNDP Country Office and partners and ensure all beneficiaries participate in defining the project focus and activities;
Ensure the concept note includes the project description, activity details, Financing / Costing, Risk Analysis and Multi-Stakeholder Engagement.
Conduct Gender analysis and ensure it is properly mainstreamed into the concept note framework;
Ensure that proposed project is aligned with national priorities;
Identify potential co-financing sources from public/private sectors;
Follow up and assist with GCF endorsement for the concept note.

The International Consultant should demonstrate how the proposed concept note is fully aligned with UNDP strategic plans and GCF priorities and policies; He/she should develop the project baseline including information on policies, plans and programs that are active in Jordan, highlighting opportunities for synergies and coordination; and indicate risks, that might prevent the project objectives from being achieved, and propose measures that address these risks. He/she should also prepare the project’s Logical Results framework and the project budget as well as suggesting the institutional arrangements and implementation frameworks. He/she should also be able to demonstrate economic viability of the suggested interventions; the Gender Analysis; financial analysis, Environmental and Social Impact Assessment and Environment Social Management Framework; and any other issues that might be raised post to the review of UNDP, implementing partners or the GCF secretariat.

The scope of the concept note to respond to climate change through activities within strategic impact/thematic areas of GCF i.e.:

Energy generation and access
Forests and land use
Transport
Buildings, cities industry and appliances
Health, food and water security
Livelihoods of people and communities
Ecosystems and ecosystem services

Conduct feasibility study of the project idea and draft a brief feasibility report for the project;

Competencies

Knowledge and thorough understanding of UNFCCC ( and other relevant international agreements) and GCF Project Guidelines;
Strong interpersonal and communication skills;

Strong qualitative and quantitative analytical, reporting and writing abilities

Required Skills and Experience

Post-graduate degree in environment science/management, climate change, water management or related fields.
Proven expertise -minimum 10 years -in climate change adaption and/or mitigation areas with strong emphasis on project development;
Proven capacity to draft proposals on climate change mitigation/adaption and resilience building;
Proven experience in undertaking similar assignments- experience in developing GCF proposals is preferred.
Technical expertise in data collection (surveys, interviews, desk research) and analysis.