International Consultant to advise an operational coordination mechanism for climate change activities in the Republic of Moldova

Consultant

Contract

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Background

Climate change is already profoundly impacting the conditions for resource availability and agricultural activities. Over the last decade, the country has experienced many extreme events, such as droughts and major floods, along with the cumulative effects caused by increased mean temperature and the uneven distribution of precipitation throughout the year, which have had negative consequences on the country's economy, and its population wellbeing and health. Severe droughts are recurring more frequently, causing significant economic losses. The increasing scope and intensity of extreme events have also resulted in increased frequencies of high-risk situations. By 2050, an increase of 2–3ºC in the average temperature, an additional 32 days that exceed the current maximum temperature by 10%, and another 12 days with zero precipitation are projected.

The Government sees the National Adaptation Planning (NAP) process as key to achieving the adaptation objectives outlined in its 2014 Climate Change Adaptation Strategy of the Republic of Moldova and its 2020 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), as well as the continued mainstreaming of climate change considerations into its policies and budgeting processes. The proposed project supports the Republic of Moldova's Government in advancing the second cycle of its National Adaptation Planning process (known as NAP-2). The outcomes of the NAP-2 national adaptation planning processes are:

Outcome 1: To strengthen and operationalize the national steering mechanism for climate change adaptation (CCA);

Outcome 2: To improve the long-term capacity on planning and implementation of adaptation actions through CCA technologies;

Outcome 3: To improve the mainstreaming of climate change adaptation through the increased alignment of national development priorities in the priority sectors (forestry, health, energy, and transport).

The project will contribute to UNDAF, 2018-2022 outcome #3 (The people of Moldova, especially the most vulnerable, benefit from enhanced environmental governance, energy security, sustainable management of natural resources, climate, and disaster-resilient development). Additionally, the project will contribute to the UNDP Country Programme Output 3.3 (National and sub-national governments have improved capacities to integrate resilience to climate change and disasters into development plans and practices to reduce population's vulnerability). Other than that, the project will contribute to the National Development Strategy "Moldova 2030" by ensuring resilience to climate change by reducing risks related to climate change and by facilitating adaptation in six priority sectors - agriculture, water resources, health, forestry, energy, and transport.

The preliminary work under the first cycle of the NAP (known as NAP-1) supported developing a NAP as a process, conceptualizing and developing its elements, including the national steering mechanism, and laid down the groundwork towards long-term adaptation planning. Despite the progress, significant gaps remain in integrating climate change considerations into many of the national priority sectors' development policies and their associated budget priorities. National appropriations for CCA remain limited.

The NAP-2 goals will be achieved within two parallel implementation tracks. The first track implemented by UNDP expands and deepens the national approach developed under the NAP-1 and strengthens synergies both vertically, at different levels of the governance, and horizontally, between the sectors affected by climate change to reduce duplication of efforts, pool scarce resources for efficient use, and ensure a coherent and comprehensive approach to the integration of CCA responses into development planning. In contrast, the second track will focus on adaptation in the agriculture sector and will be concurrently implemented under FAO's auspices.

The National Designated Authority has coordinated with the UNDP and the FAO country offices to ensure the complementarity and congruency of the activities and exchange, as appropriate. By its very nature, the NAP-2 will facilitate the integration of CCA into existing strategies, policies, and programmes and establish a strong foundation for the integration of methods, tools, and information systems in day-to-day planning activities to inform decision-makers on the climate risks effectively and to enable the informed formulation of resilient projects and financing strategies.

The National Climate Change Adaptation Process (NAP) is seen as a fundamental process that will contribute constructively to identifying feasible solutions to the problems caused by climate change. It is a continuous, iterative, participatory, transparent, socially inclusive, and gender-sensitive planning process, which identifies the needs for medium- and long-term adaptation at the national level and facilitates the coherent integration of adaptation to climate change in relevant strategic documents (strategies, programs, action plans) in all national sectors. Moldova’s NAP is spearheaded by a cross-sectorial and multi-stakeholder Climate Change Adaptation Coordination Mechanism (CCACM), which contains the National Commission on Climate Change (NCCC) and builds on Moldova’s Updated NDC commitments.

The CCACM has been established by GD 444/2020 on establishment of the climate change activities coordination mechanism and is regarded as an efficient institutional instrument for coordination, monitoring, verification, and reporting in the field of climate change mitigation and adaptation of the social sectors and economy of the Republic of Moldova. The purpose of this multi-stakeholder adaptation mechanism is to foster dialogue, coordination, collaboration, and coherence among sectors, leverage, and report on planning and actions by all stakeholders related to climate change adaptation in the country. The established multi-stakeholder partnerships are foreseen to contribute to the development of a shared understanding in adaptation planning, improved rationality, and effectiveness of policymaking, facilitate the implementation of adaptation action, and contribute to the sustainability of governance.

However, almost 2 years after its establishment, the NCCC has never met in a meeting and in fact, it is not operational. In this context, an analysis of the structure, composition and attributions of the Commission is necessary, to identify the encountered deficiencies and provide recommendations on upgrading the Commission to correspond to the emerging needs in the climate change sector.

Duties and Responsibilities

This assignment's main objective is to ensure a strengthened legal and institutional framework and mandate for the CCACM by proposing a feasible and operational structure for the Commission, as well as for the CC adaptation and mitigation activities coordination mechanism. The consultant will work under the guidance of the Project Manager's supervision and will provide comprehensive support to the project team and to the NDA to establish efficient procedures for the implementation of the activities in the field of climate change. The specific tasks are presented below:

• Revise the existing national regulatory framework on coordination of the climate change activities, identify the existing gaps (SWOT or any other relevant analysis) and propose amendments to it;
• Revise the legal framework, structure, and operation modalities of the NCCC in other countries;
• Propose an operational structure for the NCCC of the Republic of Moldova, tailored to the country’s reality and needs;
• Propose an upgraded mechanism for inter-sectorial coordination of the climate change adaptation process for the Republic of Moldova (Annex 3 to GD 444/2020);
• Propose an operational mechanism for coordination of NAMA (Annex 4 to GD 444/2020);
• Provide recommendation for inter-sectorial coordination of the climate change related risks for the Republic of Moldova;
• Ensure participative consultation process for the proposed structure, involving the beneficiary and potential stakeholders;
• Address the concerns/comments received during the consultation process and define the final structure of the Commission (including its componence);
• Provide guidance to the NC in developing the normative acts necessary to operationalize the Commission (Regulations, Guidelines, etc as appropriate).

For detailed information, please refer to Annex 1 – Terms of Reference.

Competencies

Academic Qualification:

• University degree in environmental sciences, sustainable development, environmental law, environmental economics, or another relevant field.

Experience:

• At least 7 years of professional experience in climate change area;
• Demonstrated involvement in NAPs activities;
• Knowledge and experience in review and elaboration of strategic policy documents in the climate change field;
• Knowledge of international climate-related political frameworks, knowledge of the EU framework is an advantage;
• Knowledge of various National Climate Change Commissions functioning.

Competencies:

• Demonstrates excellent organizational skills and a proven ability for multi-disciplinary analysis;
• Excellent negotiation, leadership, and diplomatic skills;
• Good coordination and facilitation skills

Language requirements:

• Fluency in English is required for this assignment, Romanian and Russian is an asset.

Required Skills and Experience

The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

a) responsive/compliant/acceptable, and

b) having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

* Technical Criteria weight – 60% (300 pts);

* Financial Criteria weight – 40% (200 pts).

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 210 points would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Criteria

Scoring

Maximum Points Obtainable

Technical

University degree in environmental sciences, sustainable development, environmental law, environmental economics, or another relevant field

under-Master’s – 20 pts., Master’s degree – 40 pts., PhD degree – 50 pts.

50

At least 7 years of professional experience in climate change area

7 years – 40 pts., each additional year 5 pts., up to max – 60 pts.

60

Demonstrated involvement in NAPs activities

each assignment -5 pts., up to max 25 pts.

25

Interview (demonstrated technical knowledge and experience; communication/ interpersonal skills; initiative; creativity/ resourcefulness). Only the first 5 applicants that have accumulated the highest technical score shall be invited to the interview.

Knowledge and experience in review and elaboration of strategic policy documents in the climate change field

limited –<20 pts., satisfactory – <40 pts., extensive – <50 pts.

50

Knowledge of international climate-related political frameworks, knowledge of the EU framework is an advantage

limited –<15 pts., satisfactory – <30 pts., extensive – <40 pts.

40

Knowledge of various National Climate Change Commissions functioning

limited –<10 pts., satisfactory – <20 pts., extensive – <30 pts.

30

Other competencies:

• Demonstrates excellent organizational skills and a proven ability for multi-disciplinary analysis;
• Excellent negotiation, leadership, and diplomatic skills;
• Good coordination and facilitation skills.

limited –<10 pts., satisfactory – <20 pts., extensive – <25 pts.

25

Fluency in English is required for this assignment, Romanian and Russian is an asset

English– up to max 10 pts., Russian and Romanian – up to max 5 pts. each

20

Maximum Total Technical Scoring

300

Financial Evaluation Scoring

Evaluation of submitted financial offers will be done based on the following formula:

S = Fmin / F * 200

S – score received on financial evaluation;

Fmin – the lowest financial offer out of all the submitted offers qualified over the technical evaluation round;

F – financial offer under consideration.

200

Winning candidate

The winning candidate will be the candidate, who has accumulated the highest aggregated score (technical scoring + financial scoring).

DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS

Interested individual consultants must submit the following required documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

1. Offeror's Letter confirming Interest and Availability, including financial offer, according to Annex 2;
2. CV, including information about experience in similar assignments;
3. Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself the most suitable for the assignment.

For supporting documents (Terms of Reference and Procurement Notice and Offeror's Letter, including Financial Offer template) please visit https://sc.undp.md/current_jobs3/ (ref: Pr22/02508) or UNDP Moldova | Vacancy: NAP-2: International Consultant to advise an operational coordination mechanism for climate change activities in the Republic of Moldova, UNDP Moldova

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Proposals should be submitted online only by pressing the "Apply Online" link by July 14, 2022,11:59 pm (Moldova local time: GMT+2).

Requests for clarification must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following email pavel.gavrilita@undp.org UNDP will respond by standard electronic mail and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all applicants.

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Added 1 year ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: jobs.undp.org