Expert for Development of the MRV Chapter within Third Biennial Update Report (TBUR)

Contract

This is a International Consultant contract. More about International Consultant contracts.

Background

UNDP Montenegro, together with the Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism, is working jointly on preparation of the Montenegro’s Third Biennial Update Report.

The main goal of the project is to assist the country in mainstreaming and integrating climate change considerations into national and sectorial development policies by giving continuity to the institutional and technical capacity strengthening process, partly initiated and sustained by the National Communications. The immediate objective of the project is to assist the country in the preparation and submission of its Third Biennial Update Report to the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC for the fulfillment of its obligations to the Convention under Dec. 1/CP. 16 par. 60 and Dec 2/CP. 17 par. 41 and it’s Annex III. Thus, the project aims to enhance the capacity and efficiency of preparation of national communication and biennial update report in a continuous manner. The capacity building activities in Montenegro have yet to expand to reach government ministries/agencies to participate in the preparation process and enable them to prepare the documents on a more regular basis.

The project is structured as a set of outputs and activities organized in four (4) components:

1. National circumstances, institutional arrangements, financial, technical and capacity constraints, gaps and needs 1.1 Information on national circumstances and institutional arrangements relevant to the preparation of the Third Biennial Update Report (TBUR) revised and updated, level of support received to enable the preparation of the TBUR described; 1.2 The technology, financial and capacity needs for mitigation updated and recommendations with government priorities updated;

2. National GHG Inventory 2.1 GHG inventory updated up to 2019 year and improvement of GHG inventory system

3. Mitigation actions and domestic MRV system 3.1 Assessment of sectors and interventions contributing to GHG emission reduction at the national level conducted; 3.2 The process of establishment of domestic Measurement, Reporting and Verification system supported;

4. Production of the TBUR report, monitoring and evaluation 4.1 Compilation, editing, translation and publication of the TBUR, including Executive Summary 4.2 Monitoring and evaluation.

Objective of the assignment The objective of the assignment is to develop Monitoring Reporting and Verification (MRV) Chapter within TBUR, which will include overview of roles and responsibilities of national stakeholders relevant for establishment of the national MRV system.

Duties and Responsibilities

In the area of MRV, within the SBUR, MRV conceptual framework was developed, which constitutes good groundwork for further establishment of domestic MRV infrastructure. Furthermore, a prototype of online MRV management portal was developed. This portal provides a management overview for the MRV system and consists of components that structure data, support good practice activities and reinforce the institutional memory. The portal provides a coordination platform for managing information on stakeholders, engagement activities, datasets, QA/QC activities, climate actions and vulnerabilities, impacts, wider benefits, document storage and improvements to the MRV system. The portal develops the communication between stakeholder organizations and allows MSDT to better link data to policies. Going forward, the portal will be an important aspect of the MRV system and will help to produce transparent outputs such as NDCs, BURs, NCs and NAPs.

The country is in a unique situation when it comes to its international obligations regarding monitoring, reporting and verification due to its concurrent status as a non-Annex 1 party to the UNFCCC, a Candidate Country for EU membership, and a Contracting Party of the Energy Community (EnC). Within the TBUR, an-depth analyses of national capacities (financial and human) to put its proposed MRV system into operation will be conducted. The MRV part of the TBUR will focus on:

• Creating an enabling environment for establishment of national MRV system by reviewing changes made since conceptual framework for MRV was developed (within SBUR) and provide clear recommendations for the domestic MRV system operationalization.
• Populating MRV portal to the extent possible;

Explore possibilities and provide recommendations for linking a prototype online MRV management portal to the official national platform.

Under the supervision of the Project Manager, and in close cooperation with the Department for Climate Change within the Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism, and expert will undertake the following specific tasks:

• Familiarize with the recommendations and the MRV concept provided within the Second Biennial Update Report, as well as information provided in the Third National Communication on Climate Change and other key relevant strategic documents including NDC;
• Assess the current national policy and regulatory frameworks with the aim to identify gaps as well as entry points for embedding domestic MRV system in accordance with the UNFCCC guidelines;
• Explore potential requirements, including legal and administrative requirements for establishment of MRV in the context of the EU accession status of the country.
• Analysis of current and envisaged sector-level MRV needs, e.g. energy (including energy efficiency, renewable energy and ETS), LULUCF, Effort Sharing Decision, F-gases, transport, tourism etc., with the aim of integration with envisaged national MRV system.
• Propose a pathway describing all steps for implementation of the proposed Framework, including responsible entities, a timeframe, and related costs to the extent possible.
• Identify and present several best practices in measurement, reporting and verification of climate change mitigation actions applicable for the country.

Key Outputs:

• Analysis of legal and administrative requirements for establishment of conceptual framework for national MRV system (developed within SBUR) with recommendations for concrete regulatory and legal actions that will reinforce its establishment.
• Analysis of current and envisaged sector-level MRV needs, e.g. ETS, tourism etc., and integration with envisaged national MRV system.
• Specific information on technical and methodological details related to MRV infrastructure analyzed and related capacity building needs for country-specific level of support and required financial assistance for climate change mitigation and adaptation identified.

Thus, the consultant will be responsible for the following:

• Develop MRV Chapter for TBUR, including all above mentioned information.
• Present major findings of the analysis at various meetings/round tables, including, but not limited to: Project Management Board and Working Group on Mitigation and Adaptation.

Main project deliverables will include the following:

I. First draft of the MRV Chapter – 5th July 2021. II. Final MRV Chapter – 30th July 2021.

Time duration and travel:

The assignment will be carried out within 40 consultancy days from 25th June until 25th August 2021. Due to the nature of the assignment, the consultant would have to closely collaborate with the Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism, i.e. its Division for Climate Change.

Competencies

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of UN/UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
• Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills;
• Demonstrates ability to manage complexities and work under pressure, as well as conflict resolution.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• University degree in the thematic areas relevant to the assignment (e.g. natural, technical, environmental sciences);

Experience:

• Minimum 7 years of experience in development of similar analysis and programmes in climate change, MRV systems, GHG emissions, mitigation.
• Participation in at least 5 similar projects related to climate change, UNFCCC reporting.
• Excellent knowledge of the United Nations Framework for Climate Change (UNFCCC), Paris Agreement, NDC requirements;
• Demonstrable experience in environment sector, especially climate change, including knowledge on roles and responsibilities of relevant stakeholders and institutions. Knowledge of Montenegrin institutions and stakeholders will be an asset.
• Experience in policy/regulatory/financial frameworks related to climate change.

Language:

• Fluency in English with good writing, presentation and communication skills.

Criteria for selection:

Combined Scoring method will be used. When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as: (i) responsive, compliant, acceptable, and (ii) 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% (Background and education 10%; Relevant previous experience 20%; Substantial knowledge/Required competencies 30%; Required language 10%);
• Financial criteria weight - 30%.

Only offerors obtaining a minimum 490 points for technical criteria will be considered for the financial evaluation. For more information on procurement methodology for Individual Contractors, please refer to Procurement Notice.

Application procedure:

Interested applicants are requested to submit their applications by June 15, 2021 by using the Apply now button. The application should contain CV or P11 that can be downloaded at https://www.me.undp.org/content/montenegro/en/home/jobs.html. Please note that UNDP jobsite system allows only one uploading of application document, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into a single file.

Only the short-listed applicants will be contacted and requested to submit a letter of interest including a price quotation indicating the lump sum (in EUR) requested for the work envisaged in the section "Description of Responsibilities".