UNDP Jobs - 88573- Financial Instruments/Extended Producer Responsibi

Financial Instruments/Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Consultant - Project Preparation Grant (PPG) of UNDP-GEF Project on Chemicals in Indian Ocean Small Island Development States (SIDS) (IRH)

Location :

Home-based

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

26-Nov-19 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

estimated December 2019 - May 2020

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

approximately 35 working days over 6 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

Due to their small size and narrow resource bases, Small Island Development States (SIDS) are import-dependent economies. On a per capita basis, waste generation in SIDS is rising. In 2014 it was slightly lower than in OECD countries (1.29 kg/capita/day, compared to 1.35 kg/capita/day), but as of 2019 is 2.3 kg/capita/day, 48% higher than that of OECD countries.

As SIDS progress import-dependent development pathways, the quantities and variety of products that are being imported (ranging from mercury containing thermometers to plastic [food] packaging, from second hand electronic products to motor vehicles, from agricultural chemicals to industrial chemicals) is rapidly increasing. This is leading to the generation of a large variety of different types of hazardous and toxic wastes which SIDS do not have the technical capacity or required treatment facilities to address alone. Waste volumes are also increasing due to changing consumption patterns, and the disposal of these growing levels of imports of non-biodegradable materials. The disposal of non-biodegradable materials, and industrial and agricultural chemicals pose an increasing challenge.

The remoteness of the Indian Ocean SIDS makes the export and logistics of recyclables and hazardous wastes challenging and costly. The tourism sector and related job opportunities are important to the Indian Ocean SIDS economies but come with the challenges of increased waste volumes (in particular plastics), especially during tourism peak seasons. Waste management and recycling systems currently in place often cannot deal with the increase in supply/demand. In addition, the agricultural sector and health care sector also come with their challenges, as a significant number of products used in these sectors end up generating hazardous wastes and/or lead to chemical emissions to air, water and soil.

Priorities that are common among Indian Ocean SIDS and that will be addressed through the ISLANDS programme applying national and regional approaches, include:

Improving import and export control of hazardous chemicals and products containing them;
Implementing integrated national and regional waste management systems focusing on Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM), Health Care Waste Management (HCWM) and hazardous wastes (including PCBs, POPs containing products like e-waste, end-of-life vehicles, etc.);
Building capacity for the assessment and introduction of safer/greener alternatives in supply chains (agriculture, tourism, health care);
Reducing marine litter by reducing waste generation and improving waste management systems;
Phasing-out Hg/POPs-containing products.

As one of the Implementing Agencies of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), UNDP is supporting developing countries to develop and implement projects aimed at such challenges and planned activities to overcome those in Union of Comoros (thereafter Comoros), Maldives, Mauritius and Seychelles as part of a regional programme for the Indian Ocean, and, at a broader and global level, will coordinate work with the parent programme (PFD) and other regional programmes in the Asia-Pacific and Caribbean Oceans which will be managed by UN Environment as the lead GEF agency in partnerships with FAO, Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) and implementing partners such as the Basel Convention Regional Center for the Caribbean region and Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment (SPREP) for the Asia-Pacific region.

With this background, and in order to support such efforts of the Governments of Comoros, Maldives, Mauritius and Seychelles, UNDP in its capacity as the Implementing Agency for the GEF, requires the support of a Technical Consultant on Financial Instruments/Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). The Technical Consultant is requested to support the Project Preparation Grant (PPG) phase during which the detailed preparation of the country projects in Comoros, Maldives and Seychelles.

Under the guidance of the PPG International Technical Coordinator, the Financial Instruments/EPR consultant will act as an advisor and technical resource person with respect to assessing and recommending environmental viable financial instruments to soundly manage the lifecycle of product and their wastes.

Under the overall guidance of MPU/Chemicals teams in UNDP Regional Offices in Istanbul and Bangkok, the Financial Instruments/EPR consultant will report to the PPG International Technical Coordinator and will work in close coordination with the Ministries and UNDP Country offices in Comoros, Maldives and Seychelles.

The international consultant will work in close cooperation with the relevant local agencies (ministries, research institutions, NGOs) in Comoros, Maldives and Seychelles and other stakeholders relevant for the subject-matter of the project and will support the creation of conditions conducive to strengthening the national ownership of the project.

Location:
Home based with missions to the Union of Comoros, the Maldives, and Seychelles

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant will carry out the following tasks:

Review the available documentation on the project, including the project PIF and draft UNDP Project Documentation.
Review and analyze the current national legislative frameworks in Comoros, Maldives and Seychelles to assess the current enabling environment for Extended Producer Responsibility from the perspective of such areas as: Legal criteria and standards of quality and performance associated with product life cycles and production; green alternative processes and products; and appropriate management of end-of-life products and waste materials from the production processes.; National level experience, access and availability, of environmental financial instruments to support and incentivize sustainable production, consumption and/or waste management surrounding product life cycles and associated processes, and/or around development and implementation of environmentally friendly innovation, redesign, safer waste disposal processes, and overall implementation of circularity in production processes.; Policy or fiscal incentives targeting both consumers and private sector and their roles and responsibilities for turning in/taking back end-of-life chemicals and chemical containing products, and safely handling such throughout the related product lifecycle.
Based on the initial analysis, prepare recommendations for improvements in the legislative framework, and ways in which fiscal instruments, private and public investment and any other key partnerships and fiscal products might be appropriate to set up a long term incentivization, revenue generation to support regulatory systems, and an overall access-to-finance mechanism to support minimization and safe handling of chemicals and products containing chemicals throughout the product life cycle. Key opportunities, barriers or requirements for stakeholder sensitization shall be included in the recommendations.
Summarize these recommendations in a succinct formal report which will be used in the formulation of the project documents for UNDP and GEF.
Assist in finalizing relevant sections of the UNDP Project Document and provide inputs into the regional GEF programme document for the Indian Ocean in respect to the prospects of using such instruments on a longer-term basis to ensure creation of circular economy approaches in the project countries, and the region.
In implementing this work, conduct relevant consultations with stakeholders, public, private and non-governmental organizations and collect the stakeholders’ feedback. Incorporate the comments, if appropriate, into the project’s related documentation and Results Framework.

Duration
The contract will enter into effect upon signature by both parties and is expected to span over a duration of 6 (six) months. The consultant is expected to start in early December 2019.

Travel requirements
The consultant shall overall perform his/her functions remotely but will be in regular contact with the PPG International Coordinator, national PPG coordinators in Comoros, Maldives and Seychelles and other consultants, partners, and stakeholders by email/Skype/phone and other means.

The consultant will be required to undertake at least four (4) missions planned as follows:

One mission of 3 days each to the capitals of target countries – Moroni/Comoros, Male/Maldives and Victoria/Seychelles, with additional visits to projects sites as deemed necessary in each country (9 working days in total).
One mission of 2 days to Port Louis/Mauritius to participate in a sub-regional PPG validation workshop.
Additional duty travel/s to participate in project meetings may be requested by the UNDP IRH over the duration of the assignment within the estimated workload.

Schedule of payments and expected outputs
The total number of days of work is estimated at approximately 35 working days. The breakdown below corresponds to expected outputs and schedule of payments as follows:

20% of payment upon submission of a succinct Inception Report (max 10 pages) which focusses on the proposed work approach, the planning of missions and the planning of the submission of the deliverables (approx. 5 working days; due date – 15 December 2020):
50% of payment upon submission of the review and recommendations report on the enabling environment and environmental finance instruments/EPR and recommendations based on findings of desk review/country missions (approx. 20 working days; due date – 31 January 2020):
30% of payment upon submission of the final report including financial instrument/EPR inputs into Draft project results framework and other relevant sections of UNDP/GEF project documents of Comoros, Maldives, Seychelles and the regional submission (approx. 10 working days; due date – 30 April 2020):

Competencies

Corporate competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Functional competencies:

Ability to analyze policy documents and make constructive policy suggestions;
Strong interpersonal skills, communication and diplomatic skills, ability to work in a team;
Capacity building skills and flexibility depending on the public;
Demonstration of commitment to the Project’s mission, vision and values;
Good writing and reporting skills;
Good presentation skills;
Ability to work under pressure and stressful situations, and to meet tight deadlines.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree in economics, finance, environmental economics or related fields.

Experience:

At least five (5) years of experience in review and application of finance instruments/EPR in environmental projects.
Experience of applying the environmental finance instruments/EPR in chemicals and/or hazardous waste management and circular economy principles in product design, recycling and waste disposal will be an advantage.
Relevant work experience in Small Island Development States (SIDS), preferably in Indian Ocean SIDS, is an asset.
Experience and/or familiarity with UNDP, GEF and/or other GEF agencies’ projects, processes, guidelines and structure will be considered an advantage.

Languages:

Excellent writing and oral communication skills in English.
Fluency in French will be considered an advantage.

Evaluation of Applicants

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal. The award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as: 1) Responsive/ compliant/acceptable; 2) Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical (P11/CV desk reviews) and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Only candidates who receive min 70% of points in technical evaluation (Criteria A-F) will be considered for the financial evaluation.

Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation – max. 70 points:

Criteria A Educational background – max points: 10;
Criteria B At least five (5) years of experience in review and application of finance instruments/EPR in environmental projects – max points: 25;
Criteria C Experience of applying the environmental finance instruments/EPR in chemicals and/or hazardous waste management and circular economy principles in product design, recycling and waste disposal will be an advantage. – max points: 20;
Criteria D Relevant work experience in Small Island Development States (SIDS), preferably in Indian Ocean SIDS, is an asset – max points: 7;
Criteria E Experience and/or familiarity with GEF and UNDP or other UN organizations’ projects, processes, guidelines and structure will be considered an advantage – max points: 5;
Criteria F Fluency in French will be considered an advantage – max points: 3;

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation – max. 30 points.

Application procedures

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

Step 1: Interested candidates must include the following documents when submitting the applications (Please group all your documents into one (1) single PDF attachment as the system only allows upload of one document):

Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the assignment
Two (2) samples of previous work (in English) similar to the assignment (links can be shared as well)
Filled P11 form or CV including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees (blank form can be downloaded from http://www.eurasia.undp.org/content/dam/rbec/docs/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc);

Step 2: Submission of Financial Proposal - Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and requested to provide a financial offer.

Payments will be made only upon confirmation of UNDP on delivering on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner.

Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director. Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.org.

General Terms and conditions as well as other related documents can be found under: http://on.undp.org/t7fJs.

Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply.