Background

The preamble of the Paris Agreement on climate change, adopted in 2015, underscores close links between climate action, sustainable development and a just transition, with Parties to the Agreement “taking into account the imperatives of a just transition of the workforce and the creation of decent work and quality jobs in accordance with nationally defined development priorities. Ideally, any NDC process should be informed by an assessment of the employment impacts—positive and negative—as well as an indication of the measures that will be taken to ensure a Just Transition for workers, as indicated in the Paris Agreement. Against this background, UNDP NDC Support Programme is supporting countries to measure how green and climate policies affect job creation, for women and youth, income distribution, skills development and economic growth, using the tool developed by the International Labour Office (ILO). This tool will provide quantitative and qualitative employment estimates for evidence-based decision making.

UNDP NDC Support Programme supports governments to achieve transformational change by scaling up public and private investments in climate change actions to deliver long-term sustainable development and championing the benefits of zero-carbon, climate-resilient development. It will enhance the capacities of public- and private-sector actors to deliver on NDC targets through strengthened climate governance; implementation of mitigation actions and mid-century, low-emission development strategies; engagement of the private sector; and improved investment environments. It currently supports 36 countries in a variety of NDC-related work areas that include the development of NDC implementation plans, strengthening of monitoring systems, and mainstreaming of gender-responsive approaches. The program is also collecting and disseminating best practices and lessons learned to advance global progress on NDC implementation.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of the NDC Support Programme manager and working closely with the team, the recruited consultant is tasked to develop a National Green Jobs Assessment Model for two African countries and assess the policy questions related to NDC policy making following the methodology as described in the Guidebook on How to Measure and Model Social and Employment Outcomes of Climate and Sustainable Development Policies. The consultant’s overall functions will be as follows. This is subject to change depending on the scope of the assessment which will be determined by the government.

• Support the first high level inception workshop and introduce key concepts of GJAM model and its data requirements. The objective of the first inception workshop is to lay the groundwork for green job assessment by initiating a national dialogue to define policy questions (scope) and institutional setups for implementation. A national taskforce will be established following this workshop and UNDP and ILO will provide support to this process;
• Development and update of SUT/IOT/SAM to latest GDP, based on international guidelines following the SNA 2008, SEEA 2012 and UN Handbook 2018;
• Data collection of Green industry structure in terms of intermediate demand, import, value added and employment and spilt of ISIC into green and conventional industries;
• Data collection of labour, social and environmental statistics, cleaning and interpolation in concordance with ISIC and Green Industry extension of SUT/IOT;
• Yearly SUT/IOT baseline business as usual projection up to next 10-15 years, such as up to 2030 or aligning to national development agenda, using IMF or other forecast;
• Review of climate and green policies, developing a number of scenarios and quantification of those in terms of investment and final demand up to 2030;
• Yearly SUT/IOT ‘green’ projection up to 2030 using IMF forecast but modelling structural shift and taking into account quantified green and climate polices;
• Analysis of employment, social and environment, such as CO2 etc. outcomes of policies;
• Preparation, presentation and discussion of results in national workshop;
• One report per each country.

Below you can find a detailed step by step guidance.

2-1. Data Collection

1. The economic data should follow national accounts data as per guidebook of System of National Accounts (SNA 2008) in conjunction with the System of Environmental and Economic Accounting (SEEA 2012) and the Handbook on Supply, Use and Input-Output Tables (UN 2018).
2. Following above key internationally agreed frameworks, the model should be based on the national accounts data of the bureau of statistics. The data should be made available or compiled by experts in an integrated framework of Supply and Use (SUT), Input Output (IOT), Social Accounting Matrix (SAM).
3. Detailed data on the structure of the environmental goods and service sector (EGSS), the so called ‘green’ industries, can be collected through establishment surveys, existing surveys or experts and estimation methods as described in the GAIN Training Guidebook.
4. In addition, labour force data are required at the International Standard Industry Classification (ISIC) level and added in a consistent way to the SUT, IOT or SAM. Data from national labour force surveys (LFS) and household budget or similar surveys should form the basis.
5. Carbon emission data should be added to the integrated SUT, IOT and/or SAM framework based on the IPCC inventory guide 2006 as far as possible.
6. In addition, other environmental statistics, depending on the national priorities and policy questions (waste, energy, deforestation etc.), should be collected and equally integrated in the standard national accounts framework following the SUT, IOT and/or SAM structure.
7. Depending on the policy questions such as income distribution, social protection, skills, women and youth etc. statistics need to be compiled.

2-2. Modelling 

1. The SUT/IOT or SAM should be updated to the latest available year of GDP.
2. Green industries (based on the EGSS as per above) should be split from conventional industries as described in the GAIN Training Guide.
3. Labour, environment and other identified data should be attached in a systematic and integrated framework of the SUT/IOT/SAM in a consistent and integrated manner. The additions are called satellite accounts.
4. The Leontief Model should be calculated.
5. A baseline economic growth scenario should be projected. Economic growth forecasts should be taken as exogenous and collected from renowned institutions, such as IMF, World Bank, OECD etc. They should be used at the most disaggregated sector level to project the model into the next 10-15 years, such as 2030. The projection will serve as the business as usual scenario.
6. The different green policies and climate change strategies will be incorporated into the model, either through final demand and investment changes or through changing technological coefficients. The model will be projected into the next 10-15 years and constitute the green scenarios.
7. Results in terms of job outcomes, CO2, income, skills levels etc should be analysed. Alternative climate policies should be evaluated, optimized and most promising policies selected to achieve nationally defined development objectives.

2-3. National process and institutional collaboration

The planning and building of the Green Jobs Assessment Model should be worked out in collaboration and with the support of the following institutions which will form a national taskforce. UNDP and ILO will provide support to this policy process, particularly on the first inception workshop.

Policy:

1. NDC National Steering Committee.
2. Ministry of Finance/Economy and/or Planning.
3. Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Education, Training, Human Resources.
4. Ministry of Environment.
5. Employers and Workers Organization.
6. Environment Protection and Energy Agency.

Data:

1. Bureau of Statistics.

Research:

1. University and economic research institution.

3. Expected Outputs and Deliverables

Under the direct supervision of the NDC Support Programme Manager, the consultant is expected to perform the following tasks:

4. Institutional Arrangement & Travel

The consultant will work under the supervision of the NDC Program Manager and in close consultation and collaboration with his/her team members of the NDC Support Programme. This is a home-based consultancy. Travel is envisioned in two countries for data collection, model building, and supporting national workshops. Minimum of two mission travels (3-4 days each) per country are expected but this is subject to change depending on country context.

 Any necessary travel missions undertaken to deliver these outputs must be at the request of the supervisor.

• The BSAFE course must be successfully completed prior to commencement of UNDP official travel.
• The selected candidate is responsible for ensuring that s/he has the necessary vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director.
• The selected candidate is responsible for obtaining any visas needed in connection with travel with the necessary support from UNDP.
• Consultants are required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under https://dss.un.org/dssweb/.

Competencies

Corporate:

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling 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 favouritism;

Technical:

• Technical understanding of national economic data collection and economic model building
• Data management and quality assurance;
• Training and capacity building;
• Sound understanding of implementation of public policy and investment plans and the projection and analysis of alternative public policy choices on environment, social and economic outcomes in general

Professionalism:

• Works toward creative solutions by analysing problems carefully and logically – inspires and fosters innovation;
• Has a dynamic, positive and adaptive attitude towards work-related challenges, bringing innovative and effective solutions to them;
• Facilitates meetings effectively and efficiently;
• Sets priorities, produces quality outputs, meets deadlines and manages time efficiently;
• Highly organized, detailed oriented.
• Strong capacity for independent and innovative research working with limited amount of data in developing country contexts;

Communication:

• Writes and presents clearly and convincingly;
• Ability to communicate complex ideas quickly and succinctly to non-specialist.

Client Orientation:

• Maintains strong relationships with partners and clients.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic qualifications:

• At least advanced post-graduate (Master’s) degree in economics, sustainability, environmental and climate change economics, econometrics, or a closely related field required.

Work experience:

• More than 5 years of research experience in national economic data collection and Input-Output models, required;
• Sound understanding of implementation of public policy and the projection and analysis of alternative public policy choices on environment, social and economic outcomes required.
• At least one research experience in green economy, green jobs and climate change, including scenario development and employment projections based on alternative policy options, on behalf of bilateral and multilateral organizations such as UN agencies, development banks, economic consulting firms etc required;
• At least one academic publication on employment effects of climate change and green economy policies at national and/or global level. Provide link to the sample or scanned copy required;
• Experience in training and capacity building in input output based economic models required.

Language:

• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English language required.

Application Procedure

The application package containing the following (to be uploaded as one file):

• A cover letter with brief description of why the Offer considers her/himself the most suitable for the assignment;
• Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects and specifying the relevant assignment period (from/to), as well as the email and telephone contacts of at least three (3) professional references.

Note: The above documents need to be scanned in one file and uploaded to the online application as one document.

• The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around the specific and measurable deliverables of the TOR. Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR, and deliverables accepted and certified by the technical manager. 
• Shortlisted candidates (ONLY) will be requested to submit a Financial Proposal. The financial proposal must be all-inclusive and take into account various expenses that will be incurred during the contract, including: the daily professional fee; communications, utilities and consumables; life, health and any other insurance; risks and inconveniences related to work under hardship and hazardous conditions (e.g., personal security needs, etc.), when applicable; and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services under the contract.
• Any unforeseeable travel agreed between UNDP and Individual Consultant, will be supported by the project travel fund and will be arranged according to UNDP entitlements and travel policy. Costs for airfares, terminal expenses, and living allowances should not be included in financial proposal.
• UNDP may request examples of past publications from applicants as part of the evaluation process.
• If the Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP.

The Financial Proposal is to be submitted through the UNDP eTendering Portal as per the instructions in the separete email that will be sent to shortlisted candidates.  Only shortlisted candidates will be granted access to the eTendering event during this phase.

Evaluation process.

Applicants are reviewed based on Required Skills and Experience stated above and based on the technical evaluation criteria outlined below (which will include a short interview). Applicants will be evaluated based on cumulative scoring.  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:

• Being 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 where technical criteria weighs 70% and Financial criteria/ Proposal weighs 30%.

Criteria for technical evaluation – (70 points maximum):

• Criteria 1. Relevant research experience in national economic data collection and Input-Output models (minimum 5 years; 5 years: 15 points, 6-7 years: 20 points; more than 7 years: 25 points) – Max. 25 points;
• Criteria 2. Relevant experience in green economy, green jobs and climate change related economic research, including scenario development and employment projections based on alternative policy options, on behalf of bilateral and multilateral organizations such as UN agencies, development banks, economic consulting firms etc. (minimum 1 project; 1 project: 15 points; 2-4 projects: 20 points; more than 4 projects: 25 points) - Max. 25 points;
• Criteria 3. Quality and suitability of the provided academic publication(s) on employment effects of climate change and green economy policies at national and/or global level (at least one; one suitable publication: 8 points; 2 suitable publications: 9 points; 3 or more suitable publications: 10 points) – Max. 10 points;
• Criteria 4. Interview – Max. 10 points

Only those candidates that meet the minimum level of education and relevant years of experience requirements will be considered for the technical evaluation. The technical evaluation will include a desk review to select the shortlisted candidates.

Only the top three candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (42 points, criteria 1-3) of the maximum obtainable points for education, experience and language (60 points) shall be considered for the interview.

Candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (49 points) of the maximum obtainable points for the technical criteria (70 points, criteria 1-4) shall be considered for the financial evaluation.

Financial evaluation - Total 30% (30 points)

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

Contract Award

Candidate obtaining the highest score in the combined score of Technical and Financial evaluation will be considered technically qualified and will be offered to enter into contract with UNDP.

Payment Method

Payments will be made upon submission of a certification of payment form, and acceptance and confirmation by the Supervisor on the outputs delivered. If the quality does not meet standards or requirements, the consultant will be asked to rewrite or revise (as necessary) the document before proceeding to payment. 

Annexes (click on the hyperlink to access the documents):

Annex 1 - UNDP P-11 Form for ICs

Annex 2 - IC Contract Template

Annex 3 – IC General Terms and Conditions

Annex 4 – RLA Template

Any request for clarification must be sent by email to cpu.bids@undp.org 

The UNDP Central Procurement Unit will respond by email and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all applicants.