Environment Systems Researcher

Result of Service The work of the consultant will contribute to the production of a finalized short technical report (20-30 pages) which will be then formatted as a UNCTAD publication, alongside an updated trade and pollution dashboard. The consultant is also expected to assist in events related to dissemination of the report, including liaison with WHO One Health activities and BRS conventions events.

Work Location Home-based

Expected duration 01.06.23 - 31.12.23

Duties and Responsibilities The growing interest in life-cycle approaches to trade such as product passports and EPR policies show a growing awareness of the production-pollution-export nexus. Yet, the linkages between plastic pollution management and human health are little explored, especially from a project case perspective. Through the SMEP export-pollution dashboard (http://bit.ly/SMEP_UNCTAD), a better understanding of the environmental pollution footprint of exports, as well as LCA (Life Cycle Analysis) impacts of plastic and their substitutes has been achieved, but not extended into human health considerations. While progress has been made on the environmental and trade governance of plastics, such as the Basel Convention Amendment of 2019 and the WHO One Health approach, the connections between circular plastic management systems and health remain mostly unexplored. This study, agreed with the project donor and alligned with SMEP’s logframe, will address this gap, building upon the observations of potential health implications of plastics recycling and material substitution in the 9 projects which are part of the SMEP project portfolio. With the economic consequences of plastic pollution and its management on human health being mostly unknown or unmeasured, this study will help fill this gap.

For this work, a consultant is needed to estimate Life Cycle Analysis of SMEP projects to the end-point (health), extending existing work already available at the SMEP trade and pollution dashboard.

Under the supervision of the Project Officer, the consultant will perform the following duties: - Prepare a methodological note structing the approach to survey the health consequences (positive and negative) of the SMEP plastic projects, taking into consideration their characteristics, material flows, through the extension of life-cycle analysis methodologies to the endpoint (workers and exposed populations). - Conduct a literature review using SMEP grantees as primary sources and other technical sources, including technical literature on the epidemiology of communicable and non-communicable diseases linked to plastic pollution, labor hazards in recovery, recycling and upcycling activities, potential contaminants, and national legislation aspects of countries covered in the SMEP plastics intervention. The scoping should also involve the latest findings from LCA examinations of material-shift performed by UNCTAD’s SMEP Dashboard and other relevant sources, such as UNEP life cycle initiative and WHO One Health. - A set of 9 structured interviews with project developers and the principal investigators under the SMEP plastics project portfolio for obtaining information which can be processed via literature-backed proxies and LCA inventories into health impact estimations. - Preparation of a 20–30-page summary report containing the structured lessons, formatted, and presented in a way to make it policy-relevant for national authorities, project developers, pollution and health practitioners, and policy makers; - Update the UNCTAD SMEP dashboard to include LCA endpoint impact estimations of impacts on health (based on SMEP portfolio of 9 projects). - Derive an academic submission to a peer-reviewed journal based on work performed, with acknowledgements to donor agencies (UNCTAD and FCDO).

Qualifications/special skills Advanced university degree (Masters degree or equivalent) in Environmental Engineering, System Analysis, Environmental Management or related field is required.

A doctoral degree in related areas is an asset. Ten years work experience in economic development, particularly in themes related to environmental sustainability is required. Experience working on plastic pollution issues is required. Experience with coordination of multidisciplinary environmental reports, including data implementation in public data-transparency dashboards is an asset.

Languages Fluency in oral and written English is required.

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.