Consultant for Preparation of a Kigali HFC Implementation Plan for Bangladesh

Contract

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Result of Service

Finalized country report for enabling component of the KIP Stage I acceptable to the National Ozone Unit and UNEP to be submitted to the Multilateral Fund Secretariat in a timely manner.

Work Location

Home-based

Expected duration

7 months

Duties and Responsibilities

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment. The Law Division works with international and non-governmental organizations, national and local governments, business and industry to develop and implement policies, strategies and practices that are cleaner and safer, incorporate environmental costs, use natural resources efficiently, reduce pollution and risks for humans and the environment, and enable the implementation of Conventions and international Agreements. UNEP OzonAction Branch under the Law Division is one of the four Implementing Agencies under the Multilateral Fund (MLF) for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.

The Government of Bangladesh through the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, National Ozone Unit (NOU) is implementing the project “Preparation of Stage I of the HFC phase-down”, henceforth referred to as the Kigali HFC implementation Plan (KIP) at the National Level. The project is implemented with clearly defined objectives with emphasis on national data collection to enable the Government to have comprehensive information on HFC consumption in the country, and on the key sectors using those substances, in order to be able to draw conclusions and strategically map an action plan in the phase-down of HFCs.

UNEP requires a national consultant to support the preparation of the KIP for Bangladesh, which is scheduled for submission to the first ExCom meeting of 2024. The consultant will be on home-based assignment. The overall responsibility of the national consultant is to support development of UNEP’s enabling components for phasing down HFC in Bangladesh through, but not limited to, the following: i) Control HFC demand growth by the introduction of innovative policy measures that favor the gradual adoption of low GWP technologies, ii) A national programme of capacity building of enforcement officers in monitoring, reporting, verification and enforcement of licensing system to control import and export of HFCs as well as trade of HFCs in the domestic market, iii) A national programme of capacity building to ensure competency of RAC and MAC servicing technicians to follow good servicing practices to minimize the use and leakage of HFCs, safely adopt more climate-friendly and energy efficient technologies and enhance/maintain energy efficiency of RAC equipment; iv) Public outreach and communication to different target audience such as key stakeholders relevant to HFCs phase-down and the general public; and v) Any other identified enabling components during the survey that are necessary to support Bangladesh to phase-down HFCs.

Specific tasks and responsibilities:

Under the overall guidance of the Montreal Protocol Programme Management Officers for South Asia Network of UNEP Ozon/Action CAP, Asia and the Pacific Office, the consultant will deliver this assignment with close guidance by and consultation with UNEP and NOU. The consultant will be facilitated to liaise with the national stakeholders and lead implementing agency (UNDP) of Bangladesh’s KIP stage I, during this assignment.

Detailed scope of work of the consultant comprises the following:

1. UNEP activities will be managed by UNEP, Compliance Assistance Programme (CAP), Asia and the Pacific Office
2. The lead implementing agency, UNDP, will carry out the necessary surveys, data collection and relevant consultation and validation by relevant stakeholders. Information obtained from the survey will be used to develop the overarching national strategy for the phase-down of HFCs and a plan of action for Stage I of KIP to address the freeze target and the 10 percent reduction target in HFC consumption by 2024 and 2029 respectively. UNDP, as the lead implementing agency, will be responsible for data collection at the macro level to understand overall situation and consumption pattern of HFC usage in different sectors for the development of the overarching KIP strategy and project proposal. The overarching strategy of the KIP will be built from the achievements of the Enabling Activities for HFC Phase-down project, which aimed to assist the country to meet its initial obligations under the KA and the infrastructures that have been built from HCFC Phase-out Management Plan (HPMP) taking into account additional intervention needed for phasing down of HFCs.

Preparation of Bangladesh’s KIP will entail the following which will be jointly developed by UNDP and UNEP

i) Data collection and analysis: Update of HFC consumption survey data in various sectors for the years 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023, and conduct analysis of HFC through consumption projections and analysis on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the demand of HFCs and HFC-based equipment during the actual and projected baseline years (2020-2022); ii) Assessment of policy options: Analyze and propose any required updates and expansion of the policy, regulatory and institutional framework particularly in terms of key Kigali issues such as the national HFC licensing and quota system, safe management and use of HFC alternatives, recovery, recycling and disposal of HFCs, and determine measures needed to fill any policy gaps. iii) Assessment of capacity building needs: Related to the import/export licensing system including by Customs, enforcement officers and importers/exporters, and related to the local refrigeration servicing technicians. iv) Awareness and communication: Assess and determine the need for awareness raising of each target group and propose outreach/promotional activities to support KIP implementation. v) Review of the state of alternative technologies, commercial viability and availability in Bangladesh, including determining the safety and environmental impacts and the development of a technology roadmap reflecting current and future HFC alternatives in sync with the phasedown scenarios mentioned below. vi) Development of phase-down scenario: Development of business-as-usual (BAU), growth modeling, and phasedown scenarios, sensitivity analysis, and, comparison of the pros and cons of each, determine compliance and climate change impacts; and vii) Development of overarching strategies and action plan: Develop an overarching strategy to curb demand for HFCs in priority companies and sectors, to decrease supply of corresponding HFCs at the national level and to enable the servicing sector to adapt to tightened supply along with the needed policies and institutional arrangements for the 2024-29 period, while articulating an overall and flexible longer-term strategy and plan for Kigali Amendment implementation; and viii) Gender mainstreaming: Promote approaches in the data collection, consultations and preparation that will allow gender policy and efforts to be integrated within the strategy and KIP as much as possible.

UNEP responsibilities under the Bangladesh’s KIP are related to collection and analysis of sector-specific data to develop the following “enabling component” of which the strategy and action plan will be integrated into the overarching KIP strategy and tranche 1 proposal led by UNDP. The following enabling components will be developed for the Overarching Strategy for UNEP Enabling Components and KIP Stage I proposal: 1. Policy and Enforcement capacity building 2. Servicing sector management including capacity building and policy/regulation development/implementation 3. Outreach and awareness 4. Others

Qualifications/special skills

Academic: First degree or higher in Environment, Energy and Chemical Engineering is required.

Experience: - A minimum of 5 years of previous experience in project implementation and of similar assignments (e.g. survey, study project, developing reports, organizing stakeholder consultations) at the country level is required. - Professional experience in the field of the Montreal Protocol or refrigeration and air-conditioning (RAC) sector or climate change or energy efficiency is an advantage. - Experiences in working at national and international level is desirable. - Demonstrable understanding of policy and technical issues related to ODSs, HFCs and alternatives to HFCs especially in the refrigeration and air conditioning servicing sector is a strong advantage.

Languages

Fluency in written and spoken English is required. Working knowledge of local language i.e. Bengali is an added advantage.

Additional Information

Not available.

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.