Result of Service

The ultimate goal is to provide a comprehensive and sustainable MRV system that aligns with both national and international climate action transparency requirements, ensuring Samoa can effectively track and report its progress in climate action initiatives.

Work Location

Remote, from Apia, Samoa

Expected duration

13 months

Duties and Responsibilities

ICAT provides countries with tailored support and practical tools and methodologies to build robust transparency frameworks needed for effective climate action in sync with national development priorities. The projects ICAT supports relate to: building or enhancing transparency frameworks for mitigation; building a monitoring and evaluation approach for adaptation; building or enhancing frameworks to track progress in implementing nationally determined contributions; assessing the impacts of climate policies; estimating or enhancing projections of greenhouse gases; integrating and/or aggregating climate actions at the subnational level and by non-State actors; building a tracking system for just transition processes; establishing or enhancing a climate data system; and putting in place a framework to track climate finance. The Project Coordinator will work closely with the Ministry of Natural Resources & Environment of Samoa and the UNEP-CCC. He/she will be responsible for strengthening national coordination in terms of monitoring the implementation of the work plan. Among its activities, he/she will work along with the others consultants of the project, verify the accomplishment of the work plan, review activities and deliverables, and be in permanent contact with the UNEP-CCC Focal Points. The main objective of this consultancy is to provide project coordination for the ICAT-Samoa project to ensure timely and quality day-to-day coordination, technical inputs, monitoring, and reporting related to the implementation of the project, by helping setup a robust MRV system that will in turn aid the country in progressing on these fronts. The consultancy involves assessing climate change reporting gaps, evaluating NDC implementation, and analyzing the impact of selected policies/actions in Samoa. Tasks include conducting needs assessments, organizing workshops, and performing impact analyses using tools like GACMO. The aim is to enhance reporting, track progress, and ensure sustainable development. Specifically, the consultancy aims to provide technical support for the following activities and deliverables. Output 1. Gaps and need assessment of climate change reporting requirements at international and national level. 1.1. Mapping the current processes in place in Samoa and relevant in the context of the international reporting requirements 1.2. Gaps and need assessment of data collection, data sources, relevant institutional arrangements, and key priorities for the MRV system and NDC tracking. D.1.1 Inception report. Report summarizing the result of activities 1.1 and 1.2. Gaps and needs assessment report. 1.3 Organize an inception workshop for all relevant stakeholders. D.1.2 Inception workshop report highlighting the inputs and comments from participants. Output 2. Impact assessment of selected policies and actions for tracking progress of NDC implementation with the GACMO tool 2.2 Prioritize mitigation actions using stakeholder consultations 2.4 Conduct mitigation analysis using the GACMO tool 2.5 GACMO training of national stakeholders and interim results of applying the GACMO tool presented in a national workshop D2 Report of mitigation analysis including conditional and unconditional scenarios using the GACMO tool Output 3. GHG impact assessment of selected mitigation policies/actions in the energy sector are performed including the design of a monitoring plan. 3.2 Selection and description of the policy 3.3 Describe the BAU scenario in terms of GHG of policy X using the ICAT Renewable Energy guidance 3.4 Define a BAU for the policy for selected GHG impacts and indicators 3.5 Describe the expected impacts of the implementation of policy X, and establish a monitoring plan 3.6 Assess the policy's GHG impacts 3.7 Establishment of a monitoring plan to monitor indicators over time and report results on the implementation of policy X D3 Report on policy and BAU scenario for GHG impacts, and MRV of policy. Output 4. Sustainable Development/Transformational Change impact assessment of one selected policy/action are performed including the design of a monitoring plan. 4.2 Selection and description of the policy 4.3 Selection of impacts to be assessed. 4.4 Describe the expected impacts of the implementation of policy X, and establish a monitoring plan 4.5 Assess the policy’s sustainable development/transformational change impacts. 4.6 Establishment of a monitoring plan to monitor indicators over time and report results on the implementation of policy X. D4 Report on policy scenario for sustainable development /transformational change impacts. Output 6. The project outputs validated in a stakeholder workshop D6 Final validation workshop report

Qualifications/special skills

Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in Environmental Sciences, Engineering, Biology, Agronomy, or other university degree relevant to climate change, environment, and national development is required. A first-level university degree in combination with qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree. - Minimum seven (7) years of working experience in the climate change field at the national level or that related to climate change mitigation, policy development, and monitoring and evaluation systems that can also be applied to MRV system development is required. - Understanding of fundamental concepts of NDC-related issues (e.g., mitigation, adaptation, means of implementation, MRV, etc.) is required. Strong knowledge and familiarity with the content of UNFCCC processes and international negotiations is required. - Strong knowledge of international measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) procedures, as well on mitigation procedures and actions (GHG Inventories, quantification of emissions reductions/costs etc) is required. - Technical knowledge related to the design, development, and tracking of NDCs and related reports (e.g., GHG inventories, National Communications, Biennial Update Reports) is required. Previous experience leading public projects developed along with international agencies is required. - Familiarity with climate change policy, transparency, and MRV in Samoa, along with its associated stakeholders, is an advantage. Proficiency in Microsoft Excel is desired. - The contractor must possess in-depth knowledge of global climate change policies. Additionally, a strong understanding of Samoa's climate change laws and policies is essential. Moreover, understanding of theories, concepts, and approaches relevant to climate change mitigation and adaptation planning is necessary. The consultant should demonstrate the ability to interact with public and private sector official, and the capability to identify, analyze, and actively participate in resolving issues and problems. This includes the ability to exercise judgment in the given context, plan tasks effectively, and manage conflicting priorities.

Languages

Not available.

Additional Information

Fluency in written and spoken English is required. Knowledge of other United Nations languages (Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, English, French, Russian) is an asset.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.