Climate change is already profoundly impacting the conditions for resource availability and agricultural activities. Over the last decade, the country has experienced many extreme events, such as droughts and major floods, along with the incremental effects caused by increased mean temperature, and the uneven distribution of precipitation throughout the year, which have had negative consequences on the country's economy, and its population wellbeing and health. Severe droughts are recurring more frequently causing significant economic losses. The increasing scope and intensity of extreme events have also resulted in increased frequencies of high-risk situations.

The Government sees the National Adaptation Planning (NAP) process as key to achieving the adaptation objectives outlined in its 2014 Climate Change Adaptation Strategy of the Republic of Moldova, and its 2020 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), as well as the continued mainstreaming of climate change considerations into its policies and budgeting processes. The proposed project supports the Government of the Republic of Moldova in advancing the second cycle of its National Adaptation Planning process (known as NAP-2). The outcomes of the NAP-2 national adaptation planning processes, are:

• Outcome 1: To strengthen and operationalize the national steering mechanism for climate change adaptation (CCA);

• Outcome 2: To improve the long-term capacity on planning and implementation of adaptation actions through CCA technologies;

• Outcome 3: To improve the mainstreaming of climate change adaptation through the increased alignment of national development priorities, in the priority sectors (forestry, health, energy, and transport).

The project will contribute to UNDAF, 2018-2022 outcome #3 (The people of Moldova, especially the most vulnerable, benefit from enhanced environmental governance, energy security, sustainable management of natural resources, and climate and disaster-resilient development). Additionally, the project will contribute to the UNDP Country Programme Output 3.3 (National and sub-national governments have improved capacities to integrate resilience to climate change and disasters into development plans and practices to reduce population’s vulnerability). Other than that, the project will contribute to the National Development Strategy “Moldova 2030" by ensuring resilience to climate change by reducing risks related to climate change and by facilitating adaptation in six priority sectors - agriculture, water resources, health, forestry, energy, and transport.

The preliminary work under the first cycle of the NAP (known as NAP-1) supported the development of a NAP as a process, conceptualizing and developing its elements, including the national steering mechanism, and laid down the groundwork towards long-term adaptation planning. Albeit the progress, significant gaps remain in the integration of climate change considerations into many of the development policies of the national priority sectors and their associated budget priorities. National appropriations for CCA remain limited.

The NAP-2 goals will be achieved within two parallel implementation tracks. The first track implemented by UNDP expands and deepens the national approach developed under the NAP-1 and strengthens synergies both vertically, at different levels of the governance, and horizontally, between the sectors affected by climate change to reduce duplication of efforts, pool scarce resources for effective use, and ensure a coherent and comprehensive approach to the integration of CCA responses into development planning, while the second track will focus on adaptation in the agriculture sector and will be concurrently implemented under the auspices of FAO.

The National Designated Authority has coordinated with the UNDP and the FAO country offices to ensure the complementarity and congruency of the activities and exchange, as appropriate. By its very nature, the NAP-2 will facilitate the integration of CCA into existing strategies, policies, and programmes and establish a strong foundation for the integration of methods, tools, and information systems in day-to-day planning activities to effectively inform decision-makers on the climate risks, and to enable the informed formulation of resilient projects and financing strategies.

The National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy (NCCAS) until 2020 and its Action Plan was approved by GD 1009/2014. The Strategy guides the sectorial approach for climate change concerns and their integration in the process of development of sector-specific strategies, action plans, and relevant policy frameworks, which lead to the possibility of identifying the best adaptation opportunities at the sectorial level. The general objective of the NCCAS is oriented towards "increasing the capacity of the Republic of Moldova to adapt and respond to actual or potential climate change effects” and it is underpinned by an in-depth study of future climate risks and their impacts on vulnerable sectors. The NCCAS has three medium- and long-term objectives under which adaptation actions are clustered for the priority sectors (agriculture, water, health, forests, energy, and transport), as well as for cross-sectorial action.

In this context, UNDP Moldova is seeking to recruit an international consultant (supported by a national pool of 5 sector-specific experts and one gender expert) to evaluate the implementation of the National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy of the Republic of Moldova until 2020 and its Action Plan and to develop a new state of the arts CCA strategic framework. The elaboration of the gender-responsive NCCAS will be carried out in parallel with other project activities such as:

• Analysis of current strengths, weaknesses, capacity, and resources needed to integrate CCA into current and in future processes of development planning of central and local planning authorities;
• CCA self-assessment survey of climate-related institutions (government, NGOs, research, universities);
• Update the SAP action plans for the health, forestry, water, and energy sectors;
• Gender gap analysis of sectorial policies and adaptation plans for 5 priority sectors (health, energy, water, transport, and forestry) to identify climate vulnerability related gender gaps.

The main objective of this assignment is to provide a detailed critical analysis of the implementation of the current NCCAS until 2020 compared with the established vision, scope, objectives, and necessary actions of the Strategy. Considering lessons learned from the previous experience in implementing adaptation policy documents and national and subnational aspects for CCA, develop a new state of the arts CCA strategic framework that sustain synergies between wider global strategic frameworks, such as NDC, Agenda 2030/SDGs, Paris Agreement, Cancun Adaptation Framework, and Sendai Framework and the national ones under development, such as disaster risk reduction strategy, etc.

Summary of key functions:

• Review the ToRs for the pool of 6 national experts (five sectorial and one gender) that will support the international consultant to evaluate the implementation of the National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy of the Republic of Moldova until 2020 and its Action Plan and to develop a new state of the arts CCA strategic framework.

Undertake an evaluation of the implementation of the National CCA Strategy and its Action Plan

• Liaise with relevant national stakeholders, provide relevant methodologies for the national context and guide the team of national sectoral experts to identify the degree of implementation of the current Strategy;
• Develop a comprehensive report on the degree of implementation of the NCCAS until 2020, compared to established vision, scope, objectives, and necessary actions of the strategy;
• Plan and facilitate a stocktaking workshop and coordinate the results of the evaluation with all relevant decision-makers.

Draft gender-responsive National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy

• Liaise with relevant national stakeholders, provide relevant methodologies for the national context and guide the national experts in updating the sectorial impacts, risks, and vulnerability assessments as the basis for future Strategy;
• Develop a draft Concept of the NCCAS and its Action Plan, following p. 34, 3), lit. a)-g) of the Regulation regarding the planning, elaboration, approval, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of public policy documents GD 386/2020. The concept should include the following components (but not limited to): name of the document; type of the public policy document that is proposed to be developed; the addressed problem;  the scope of the public policy document proposed to be developed; concordance with the National Development Strategy, National Development Plan, Medium Term Budget Framework, etc; the planned period for the elaboration of the public policy document; the parties involved, etc.
• Consult the draft Concept of the NCCAS with MARDE upon sending for approval to the State Chancellery. Address all comments upon final approval of the Concept by the State Chancellery;
• Based on the best European Union experience in climate adaptation planning, develop a gender-responsive draft NCCAS, according to the approved Concept, and in line with GD 386/2020 on planning, elaboration, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of public policy documents. The Draft Strategy should include the following chapters (but not limited to): Introduction; Description of the current situation and future risks; Analysis of the sectorial climate change impacts; Vision, scope, and objectives of the strategy; Necessary actions; Costs assessments; Results and expected impact; Implementation arrangements; Reporting and evaluation framework (including progress indicators); and Action Plan for Strategy implementation;
• Ensure synergy between adaptation in the agriculture sector, implemented under the auspices of FAO with health, energy, water, transport, and forestry sectors, and incorporate the strategic agriculture component implemented under the auspices of FAO into the Draft NCCAS and its Action Plan;
• Develop climate change adaptation measures considering climate change scenarios of the Republic of Moldova; 
• Promote synergies between wider strategic frameworks, such as the NDC, Paris Agreement, the Agenda 2030/SDGs, and the Cancun Adaptation Framework and Sendai Framework
• Support the review process of the gender-responsive Draft NCCAS and its Action Plan, including its conformity to the provisions of the GD 386/2020 well as GD 967/2016 on the mechanism of public consultations with civil society in the decision-making process;
• Address all stakeholders’ comments and objections after each round of the consultation and review;
• Conduct online consultative workshops.

Academic Qualification:

• University degree in environmental sciences, sustainable development, environmental law, environmental economics, public administration, or another relevant field.

Experience:

• At least 8 years of relevant professional experience in climate change-related issues;
• Experience in review and elaboration of strategic policy documents in the climate change adaptation field, experience in Europe and/or Eastern Europe is an advantage;
• Knowledge of international climate-related political frameworks, knowledge of EU frameworks is an advantage;
• Knowledge of climate change sectorial adaptation measures, knowledge of relevant adaptation measures in Eastern Europe is an advantage;
• Knowledge of the country-related political context and adaptation process will be an asset;

Competencies:

• Excellent proven analytical and writing skills.
• Excellent negotiation, leadership, and diplomatic skills;
• Excellent facilitation and public presentation skills;

Language requirements:

• Fluency in English is required for this assignment, Romanian or Russian is an asset.

Proven commitment to the core values of the United Nations, in particular, respecting differences of culture, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, language, age, HIV status, disability, and sexual orientation, or another status.

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:

Applicants shall submit the following required documents:

• CV, including information about experience in similar assignments and contact details for at least 3 referees;
• Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment;
• Offeror's Letter confirming Interest and Availability with the financial proposal (in USD, specifying the total lump sum amount). Financial proposal template prepared in compliance with the template in Annex 2.

Initially, individual consultants will be short-listed based on the following minimum qualification criteria:

• University degree in environmental sciences, sustainable development, environmental law, environmental economics, public administration, or another relevant field.
• At least 8 years of relevant professional experience in climate change-related issues.

The short-listed individual consultants will be further evaluated based on the following methodology:

Cumulative analysis

The award of the contract shall 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 and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

* Technical Criteria weight – 60% (300 pts);

* Financial Criteria weight – 40% (200 pts).

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 210 points would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Winning candidate:

The winning candidate will be the candidate, who has accumulated the highest aggregated score (technical scoring + financial scoring).

For supporting documents (Terms of Reference and Individual Consultant Procurement Notice and Offeror's Letter) please visit https://sc.undp.md/current_jobs3/ .