The EU4Climate Project helps governments in the six EU Eastern Partner countries - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine - to take action against climate change. It supports countries in implementing the Paris Climate Agreement and improving climate policies and legislation. Its ambition is to limit climate change impact on citizens lives and make them more resilient to it. EU4Climate is funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The objective of the project is to support the development and implementation of climate-related policies by the Eastern Partnership countries that contribute to their low emission and climate resilient development and their commitments to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. It identifies key actions and results in line with the Paris Agreement, the "20 Deliverables for 2020”, and the key global policy goals set by the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.  The project will also translate into action priorities outlined in the Eastern Partnership Ministerial Declaration on Environment and Climate Change of October 2016.

The following results will be achieved: (i) Finalized/up-dated nationally determined contributions and national mid-century strategies and communicated to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), (ii) Improved inter-institutional awareness and coordination at political and technical level of the Paris Agreement and the corresponding national commitments, (iii) Established or strengthened measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) systems, with countries getting on track with Paris Agreement transparency requirements, (iv) Establishment of concrete sectoral guidelines for the implementation of the Paris Agreement in each of the Eastern Partners, especially in the field of energy (v) Advanced alignment with EU acquis as provided by bilateral agreements with EU and in the context of the Energy Community Treaty, (vi) Increased mobilization of climate finance, and (vii) Enhanced adaptation planning. As of July 2019, the project has conducted consultations with the governments of the Partner Countries, and has identified priority areas of work and key deliverables for each of the countries.

The Senior Technical Advisor (the Consultant) will assist in connecting the EU4Climate project and its beneficiaries in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries to the EU best practices and recent developments related to climate change policies and greening agenda. He/she will be responsible for providing overall technical advice and quality assurance to the Project in particular by aligning with the EU Climate Policies and Green Deal and by drawing best practices, lessons and expertise on green climate policy development and implementation from EU to the EaP countries. He/She will render technical support to the Project Manager, project staff, Project Board and government counterparts. With support of the Project Manager and National Coordinators in the beneficiary countries, the CTA will ensure all necessary advisory support in order to smoothly implement the project and also provide guidance on the implementation of the Project activities based on the EU best practices and expertise.

The Senior Technical Advisor will work under the direct supervision of the EU4Climate Project Manager and with the guidance from UNDP IRH Climate and DRR Team Leader and UNDP Country Offices in beneficiary countries.

The Senior Technical Advisor on EU Climate Policies will provide technical overview, guidance and leadership for all technical aspects of the Project and will ensure that technical activities align with project strategic objectives and with the EU best practises and climate policies, including EU Green Deal and EU Climate Acquis.

Key Responsibilities will include:

• Provision of regular technical guidance to the nine outputs of the project in six countries as per approved workplan and budget, including guidance on EU policies for NDCs to four countries, EU and UNFCCC guidance on LEDS for four countries.  Production of quarterly technical guidance executive summary.
• Connecting the EaP project counterparts with the EU expertise, best practices, advanced policy instruments on climate change, including the EU Green Deal by organizing quarterly teleconferences between programme countries and relevant EU climate policy institutions;
• Critical screening of all technical guidance from the project to the participating countries, including guidance on clean air legislation and NDC development.
• Provide technical guidance to all ToRs developed within the framework of the project, mainly at national level in line with the approved workplans and budgets of the six national components. Provide induction training to newly recruited short-term consultants at national and regional levels.
• Assist in the preparation of four regional and national knowledge management events and communication events/products to ensure that EU experience, expertise and climate policies are adequately presented and communicated to the beneficiary countries and external audiences;
• Provide technical support to the UNDP and Project Management Team in development and monitoring of project indicators and targets against Results and Resources Framework (RRF) and provide technical guidance to ensure that EU4Climate policy level impacts are effectively captured and communicated, and resulting in improved alignment of the UNFCCC and EU climate action indicators with relevant national indicators;
• Prepare lessons learned annual report for the next Project Steering Committee scheduled for Q2 2021
• Upon request by the Project Manager, contributes to providing necessary guidance/advice to project staff, experts and national partners, assist in resolution of technical issues/problems;
• Upon request by the Project Manager, contributes to review of all major technical deliverables for the project, including project technical reports, output reports, annual report, gender mainstreaming and visibility / communications components of the annual report 
• Review, technical inputs, quality control, validation of six Annual National Project Reports (provided by UNDP country offices in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine); contribute to preparation and quality assurance of other project reporting to the EU as well as UNDP Climate Promise reporting;
• Review and technical advice on the development of annual work plans, identifying project risks and elaborating relevant management responses;
• Technical contribution to the result-based evaluation process, including evaluation of the project outputs annually.

Timing and travel: The Consultant will be engaged under the Individual Contract. The engagement will be app. 100 working days.

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 International Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed. 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. Approval of the IRH CDT Team Leader is required prior to planning of the trips and relevant logistics.

Reporting and delivery of outputs

The Senior Technical Advisor should provide the following reports according to the UNDP format:

• Completed time sheets;
• Quarterly progress reports that will include reports on major activities undertaken by the Consultant (including mission reports in case missions will be undertaken), as well as specific products developed/reviewed/validated by the Consultant during the reporting period (e.g. TORs, quarterly reports, workshop reports, etc.);
• Reviewed and updated 2d Annual Project Report (APR, with inputs from project team)
• Final compiled report, including lessons learned which incorporates the comments.

Reporting language:

Deliverables will be delivered in English. 

Functional Competencies:

• Strong interpersonal skills;
• Ability to work independently and in teams;
• Knowledge of policy issues associated with the Paris Agreement, EU Green Deal and its implementation, specifically in the area of NDC development and implementation;
• Ability to provide quality assurance and attention to detail;
• Excellent communication skills.

Corporate competencies

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards; 
• 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.

Education:

• Advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in economics, energy, environmental studies, climate policy or related disciplines.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of professional experience with developing or implementing EU climate change policies;
• Experience with EU climate change policies in the following additional sectors is an asset: energy, industry, waste management, transport, agriculture;
• Experience in delivering training and capacity building on EU climate policy development and implementation is considered an asset;
• Experience with developing or implementing climate change policies in EaP countries is considered an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required;

EVALUATION OF APPLICANTS

Individual consultant 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:

a) responsive/compliant/acceptable, and

b) Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical (CV/P11 desk reviews and interviews) and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

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

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

• Criteria A – (desk review) Advanced university degree in the fields related to economics, energy, environmental studies, climate policy – up to 5 points;

• Criteria B – (desk review) Experience with analysing, developing or implementing EU climate policies or policy tools at economy-wide or sectoral levels (energy, industry, waste management, transport, agriculture) – up to 15 points;
• Criteria C – (desk review) Experience with providing technical advice, capacity building or training on EU climate policy in the EU and/or EaP countries – up to 15 points;

• Criteria D – (desk review) Methodology on the approach to conduct the work – up to 5 points;
• Criteria E – (desk review) At least two samples of the similar assignments delivered by the applicant – up to 10 points;
• Criteria F – (interviews) Experience with developing, analysing or implementing EU climate policy   and delivering technical advice and capacity building on climate policies and low carbon development – up to 20 points.

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

Application procedure:

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
• 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);
• Brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work
• At least two samples of the similar assignments delivered by the applicant, focusing on the NDC and/or LEDS processes. The samples shall be developed no earlier than August 2014.

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.

Due to large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.