Consultant on Best Available Techniques for Air Pollution Control and Management in North-East Asia

Result of Service A report on Best Available Techniques (BAT) application in air pollution control and management policies in North-East Asia.

Outputs/Work Assignment In accordance with the conclusion of SPC-3 and under the overall guidance to be given by the SPC and member governments, the consultant t is expected to develop a comprehensive report of the development, use and application of BAT (or similar concepts) policies and measures to air pollution control and management in China, Japan, Mongolia, Republic of Korea, and Russian Federation.

The report will provide: (a) Overview of national regulations, policies and similar measures relating to BAT (or similar concepts) for preventing, controlling and managing air pollution (b) National processes and approaches of specifying advanced techniques and establishing BAT (or similar concepts) (c) Approaches for evaluating the effectiveness of policies and practices that embody BAT (or similar concepts) (d) Practical examples of BAT implementation in air pollution control and management (e) Key BAT technologies and deployment in sectors such as transport, industry and residential that are key to air pollution abatement (f) Suggestions on subregional cooperation on BAT with focus on use and application of BAT to policy

Work Location Home based

Expected duration Two work months on a part time basis between October 2021 to January 2022

Duties and Responsibilities North-East Asian Subregional Programme for Environmental Cooperation (NEASPEC), established in 1993 by six member governments, namely, China, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Japan, Mongolia, Republic of Korea and the Russian Federation, is an inter-governmental cooperation mechanism addressing environmental challenges in North-East Asia. United Nations ESCAP East and North-East Asia Office (ESCAP-ENEA) serves as the secretariat of NEASPEC.

The NEASPEC’s 22nd Senior Officials Meeting held in October 2018 in Beijing launched the North-East Asia Clean Air Partnership (NEACAP) to act as the key voluntary framework in addressing air pollution issues in North-East Asia. Subsequently, NEACAP Science and Policy Committee (SPC) was established as the steering body upon member States’ nomination of experts.

The NEACAP Work Plan 2021-2025 identifies “policy and technology cooperation (PTC)” as the priority area to facilitate NEACAP member States to share information on policies, technologies and best practices and undertake technological cooperation. A key activity of the PTC is to support voluntary collaboration among member States on the Best Available Techniques (BAT). NEACAP member States have begun applying the BAT concept into technology-based regulations for industrial pollution control. For example, China has formulated a series of non-binding Guidelines on Available Technologies of Pollution Prevention and Control (GATPPCs/ HJ 2300-2018) and enacted the Development Guideline for GATPPCs in 2018 . The Republic of Korea enacted the Act on the Integrated Control of Pollutant-Discharging Facilities (the IPCC Act) in 2017, which provides a BAT-based policy to prevent and control industrial emissions. The Russian Federation introduced a BAT-based policy to prevent and control industrial emissions with the amended Federal law on Environmental Protection in 2014, which introduces a gradual transition to a technological regulation system based on the BAT, using the EU experience and specifics of the domestic economy in the Russia Federation. The enactment of such normative frameworks indicates that NEACAP member States have begun applying the BAT concept into technology-based regulations for industrial pollution control.

The 3rd NEACAP SPC Meeting (SPC-3) in April 2021 agreed to conduct a review paper as reference for understanding current processes and approaches of BAT application to policy in member States, and subsequently support voluntary collaboration on BAT which could focus on how to use and apply BAT approaches to policy.

Against this backdrop, ENEA Office is hiring an international consultant to conduct a review of (a) current policies and practices of embodying BAT (or similar concepts) in NEACAP countries; (b) the process of specifying advanced techniques and establishing BAT (or similar concepts); (c) approaches for evaluating the effectiveness of policies and practices that embody BAT (or similar concepts); and (d) use and application of BAT (or similar concepts) to policies in air pollution control and management in North-East Asia.

Qualifications/special skills Academic Qualifications: Proven expertise, such as PhD degree or more than seven years of experience, in air pollution management, environmental engineering, environmental science, or related fields

Experience: Tangible experience in policy-oriented research on BAT or related field and its application to air pollution prevention, control and management.

Language: Fluent in English (both speaking and writing)

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.