Antecedentes

The United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), UN Environment, and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity have launched the project “Natural Capital Accounting and Valuation of Ecosystem Services”, a 3-year partnership project funded by the European Union. Partner countries in the project are India, Brazil, China, South Africa and Mexico.

Building on internationally agreed methodology (the System of Environmental – Economic Accounting, Experimental Ecosystem Accounting, in short SEEA EEA) and on the development of national competences, the project will initiate pilot testing of the SEEA EEA in partner countries to advance the knowledge agenda on natural capital accounting.

The project’s main objective in the partner countries is to mainstream natural capital accounting and valuation of ecosystem services in data driven decision and policy making and is expected to influence policy-makers at national, regional and local level. In this context, the project will review policy demands, data availability and measurement practices, in order to advance and mainstream Natural Capital Accounting in India. It is expected that the following work streams will be carried out during the project implementation period:

• Pilot ecosystem accounts in India, which include the development of a national plan and the compilation of selected ecosystem accounts in physical and monetary terms based on policy priorities and its policy mainstreaming
• Develop guidelines and methodology that contribute to the in-country implementation and global research agenda of the SEEA EEA
• Develop an indicator set based on SEEA EEA in India in the context of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, Aichi Targets or other international indicator initiatives
• Develop a national communication and outreach strategy to raise awareness and value added of SEEA EEA in India
• Organize a national training workshop to enhance capacity and enlarge the community of practitioners on SEEA EEA

To this end, UNSD and UN Environment are partnering with Central Statistical Office (CSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India. A national inception mission was held in October 2017 in New Delhi to launch the project. As a first step, a landscape assessment would be conducted to develop a work plan, given state of existing research on ecosystem accounting in India, and in line with priorities of CSO India.

Deberes y responsabilidades

UN Environment is looking for a consultant to perform the following activities:

Activity 1: Review of existing ecosystem accounting initiatives and literature in India. This will include, but not be limited to, initiatives and research related to ecosystem services modeling in biophysical terms, ecosystem services valuation.

Activity 2: Stocktaking of data sources for compiling ecosystem accounts. This stocktaking exercise should cover i) traditional data sources (e.g. agriculture, environment and nature/biodiversity statistics), ii) maps (e.g. on land use/cover, hydrology, soil, digital elevation, roads and infrastructure etc.) as well as iii) the potential of remote sensing data sources (e.g. on characteristics such as land use/cover, carbon, precipitation, evapotranspiration, etc.) that may be useful for bio-physical modelling on ecosystem services. The results of this stock-taking should be presented by type of ecosystem service that could be informed (e.g. provisioning services of crops, non-timber forest resources, regulating services such as carbon sequestration and storage, coastal protection, water flow regulation, as well as cultural series such as recreation, amenity services, etc.). In addition, the list of data sources should also be organized by type of ecosystem account (e.g. extent account, condition account, ecosystem service supply account, biodiversity account, water account, carbon account) as distinguished in the Technical Recommendations in support of Ecosystem Accounting.

Activity 3: Identify and engage institutions and agencies active in this field, understand their policy goals, map their interest in the field of ecosystem accounting, and identify their respective contributions to the SEEA EEA India project. In cooperation with CSO India, meet with agencies and institutions active in this space. This may include, but not be limited to, the Ministry of Environment, GIZ India, ISRO, Dept. of Land Resources, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, and relevant universities/ academic institutions.

Activity 4: under the leadership of CSO India draft the National Plan for Advancing Environmental-Economic and Ecosystem Accounting broadly covering the objectives, main initiatives, stakeholders and priorities. Specifically

1. Compile a comprehensive list of potential case studies (indication around 15 - 20) that may be undertaken in the context of the SEEA EEA in India, with short description of area, type of service(s) being assessed, biophysical model used, policy issue that may be addressed
2. From this long list, prioritize 2 to 3 case studies for SEEA EEA India, taking into account factors such as data availability, policy relevance and clearly articulating the thematic and geographical scope of each of the case studies
3. For each of the prioritized case studies, identify relevant stakeholders, partners, and data sources
4. For each of these prioritized case studies, detail the policy questions being responded to by the compilation of ecosystem accounts, and map the relevant government agencies and departments with these policy questions
5. For each of these case studies, identify the scope of ecosystem asset and flow accounts to be part of the physical and monetary accounts for India
6. Develop a work program to develop these accounts, including deliverables and timelines. 

Deliverables

In collaboration with the responsible program officer, the deliverables of the consultant will be as follows:

1.      Pursuant to Activity 1: Review of existing ecosystem accounting initiatives and literature in India, including biophysical assessments, and economic valuation of ecosystem services

         a.      Electronic submission of draft document providing a review of the above

2.      Pursuant to Activity 2: Stocktaking of data sources for compiling ecosystem accounts

        a.      Electronic submission of draft document presenting an overview of available data sources, organized by ecosystem service and type  of account

3.      Pursuant to Activity 3: Identify and engage institutions and agencies active in this field, understand their policy goals, map their interest in the field of ecosystem accounting, and identify their respective contributions to the SEEA EEA India project.

        a.      Electronic submission of draft document presenting findings from meetings; names of people and institutions met; minutes of meetings; mapping of policy priorities, and possible avenues for their cooperation and contribution to SEEA EEA India project. 

4.      Deliverable 4. under the leadership of CSO India draft the National Plan for Advancing Environmental-Economic and Ecosystem Accounting broadly covering the objectives, main initiatives, stakeholders and priorities.

        a.      Electronic submission of final document including –

                 i.     Comprehensive list of potential case studies that may be undertaken as part of SEEA EEA India

                 ii.     Priority 2 -3 case studies for SEEA EEA India, taking into account factors such as data availability and policy relevance, and

                        clearly articulating the thematic and geographical scope of each of the case studies

                iii.     For each of these case studies, identify relevant stakeholders, partners, and data sources

                iv.     For each of these case studies, detail the policy questions being responded to by the compilation of ecosystem accounts, and

                        map the relevant government agencies and departments with these policy questions

                v.     For each of these case studies, identify the scope of ecosystem asset and flow accounts to be part of the physical and monetary

                       accounts for India

                vi.   Develop a work program to develop these accounts, including deliverables and timelines

Competencias

Corporate Competencies:

• 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 favoritism;
• Be apolitical.

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

Educational:

• Advanced university degree, preferably with a specialization in natural resource economics or environmental economics

Experience:

• Ten years of progressively responsible experience in government administration, non-governmental organization, or related organization with a focus on accounting, environment statistics or environmental economics.
• International expertise on environmental-economic accounting with awareness of national accounts and broader official statistical processes is an advantage
• S/he should also write well and have the ability to undertake critical analysis.

Documents to be submitted by Consultant:

1. CV
2. Submission of any relevant reports written by the consultant
3. Submit at least three documents; hard copy or links showing examples of high quality reports on environmental-economic accounting, where contractor is lead author

Evaluation Criteria: 
The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as response and having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical Criteria weight - 70%.
Financial Criteria weight - 30%.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 42 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the financial evaluation.

Criteria for Technical Evaluation:

• Qualification of the individual (CV and interview) - 10 marks
• Relevant Work Experience within Ecosystem accounting/ related fields - 30 marks
• Quality of written reports/ supporting documents – 20 marks

Financial proposal:

The proposal shall include all costs as below;

• The cost of producing all four deliverables, including all meeting/ traveling related costs, if any.

Payment Schedule[1]:

[1] Part payment prorate may be considered on mutual agreements

For any clarifications, please write to: ic.india@undp.org 

Note - Please ensure that all the documents to be uploaded should be combined in a single PDF file before uploading as the system has provision of uploading only one document