International Consultant to support the preparation of the 2023 MED QSR including GES assessments for IMAP EO9 and EO10

Result of Service The ultimate result of this assignment is the timely and effective preparation of the 2023 MED QSR including GES assessments for IMAP Common Indicators 22 and 23, as well as providing substantive scientific contribution to the assessment of IMAP Common Indicator 17, in the Mediterranean. The Consultant shall lead and complete the work relevant to the:

i. Preparation of the marine litter chapters for the 2023 MED QSR; ii. Application of the NEAT IMAP assessment methodology for IMAP Common Indicator 17 in at least one sub-area, being selected within the 3 Mediterranean sub-regions after considering: (a) the assessment findings already produced from the application of the NEAT IMAP assessment methodology in the Adriatic Sea sub-region, (b) the recent assessment findings prepared in the framework of the SIDA Adriatic project, and (c) the new data already uploaded or that are under the process of their reporting by the CPs by the cut-off date on 31st October 2022; iii. Application of the NEAT IMAP and/or CHASE + assessment methodologies for the preparation of assessments for IMAP Common Indicators 22 and 23, in up to 8 sub-areas within the 3 Mediterranean sub-regions after considering: (a) the assessment findings already produced from the application of the NEAT IMAP assessment methodology in the Adriatic Sea sub-region, and (b) the new data already uploaded or that are under the process of their reporting by the CPs by the cut-off date on 31st October 2022.

Work Location Home-based

Expected duration 12 months

Duties and Responsibilities The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the United Nations system's designated entity for addressing environmental issues at the global and regional levels. Its mandate is to coordinate the development of environmental policy consensus by keeping the global environment under review and bringing emerging issues to the attention of governments and the international community for action. United Nation’s Environment Ecosystems Division works with international and national partners, providing technical assistance and advisory services for the implementation of environmental policy, and strengthening the environmental management capacity of developing countries and countries with economies in transition. This consultancy assignment is for the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP) - Programme for the Assessment and Control of Marine Pollution in the Mediterranean (MED POL), Athens, Greece.

In line with the Decision IG.22/7 (COP19) on the Integrated Monitoring and Assessment Programme (IMAP) of the Mediterranean Sea and Coast and Related Assessment Criteria and Decision IG.23/6 (COP20, 2017) on the 2017 Mediterranean Quality Status Report (QSR) recommending directions for the development of the 2023 Mediterranean Quality Status Report, IMAP is being implemented at regional and national levels. To this aim, the regional and national activities have been supported through the Mediterranean Trust Fund (MTF), along with the EU funded Ecosystem Approach (EcAp) MED II and III Projects, IMAP-MPA and the GEF Adriatic Projects. The most important results achieved during the previous biennium were as follows: - The methodological approaches to support mapping of the interrelations of drivers-pressures-impacts-state-responses (DPSIR) for the various ecosystem elements within integrated Good Environmental Status (GES) assessment. These methodologies are set for further testing, addressing also the approaches to definition of the scales of assessment and related areas for aggregation; - Updated assessment criteria proposed for assessment of the contaminants in biota and sediment at sub-regional level; - Recommendations to guide further discussions on scales of monitoring; and - National IMAP-based monitoring programmes. These programmes address spatial and temporal scope of scales of monitoring related to the respective IMAP Common Indicators per each Cluster of IMAP, namely Biodiversity, Pollution and Marine Litter, and Coast and Hydrography.

The above achievements are fully in line with the Roadmap and Needs Assessment for the 2023 Mediterranean Quality Status Report as provided in Annex V of the Decision IG.24/4 on Assessment Studies.

In line with above, Decision IG.25/19 on the Programme of Work and Budget for 2022–2023 adopted by the 22nd Ordinary Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention (COP 22) held in Antalya, Türkiye, from 7 to 10 December 2021, mandated MED POL with the implementation of the following activities related to the Outcome 6.2 “Science-based IMAP, foresight and other assessments and assessment tools for strengthened science-policy interface and decision making”: 1. Upgrade the assessment component of IMAP including possible integrated assessment for all IMAP clusters: Focus on assessment criteria and thresholds (CI 1, 2, 6, 13, 14, 16, 17, 21, 22, 23, Cand. Ind. 25); 2. Further develop IMAP Common Indicators; 3. Deliver 2023 MED Quality Status Report (QSR); 4. Strengthen national capacities to apply harmonized and standardized monitoring and assessment practices related to pollution and marine litter in line with IMAP; 5. Undertake Copernicus data analysis/integration of Copernicus Service to support indicator and data collection and ingestion; 6. Expand and improve the monitoring and forecasting capacities in the marine environment through integrating networks of observing and forecasting systems (oceanographic observatories) across the Mediterranean Sea.

In line with the UNEP/MAP Medium-Term Strategy 2022-2027 (MTS), the Programme of Work (PoW) and Budget for 2022-2023, and the 2023 MED QSR Roadmap there is a need to recruit a consultant to support the development of GES assessment of the Mediterranean within the framework of preparation of the 2023 MED QSR by applying the “NEAT” and/or “CHASE +” assessment methods.

The Consultant will work under the direct supervision of UNEP/MAP MED POL Associate Programme Management Officer, in close consultation with of UNEP/MAP MED POL Monitoring and Assessment Officer regarding the results of work related to IMAP Common Indicator 17, and the overall supervision of UNEP/MAP MED POL Programme Management Officer (Head of Unit).

Specific tasks and responsibilities:

1. Prepare a detailed work plan of performance for completion of the following tasks, accompanied by a timetable for the total period of the consultancy (i.e., 12 months), including detailed annotations for each task and means for achieving the prescribed outputs of this consultancy.

Tasks related to IMAP EO9 Common Indicator 17:

2. Assess the availability of data, undertake a thorough analysis, and quality control for IMAP Common Indicators 17 for the new datasets that will be reported in IMAP Info System by the cut-off date of 31st October 2022. 3. Assess the availability of data from alternative reliable sources (e.g., EU-funded projects, alternative national data sources, scientific literature, etc.) for IMAP Common Indicator 17, and prepare/convert the collected data into the format of IMAP Info System. 4. Prepare assessment findings for IMAP Common Indicator 17 further to the results already achieved in 2021-2022, by undertaking the following specific tasks: a) Prepare new datasets for IMAP Common Indicator 17, as collected under Tasks 2 and 3, for the application of the NEAT IMAP nested assessment methodology in one sub-region or sub-division as selected under task 4c, as well as for updating the existing GES assessments prepared in 2021-2022 for the Adriatic Sea and Western Mediterranean sub-regions; b) Coordinate and closely collaborate with the MEDPOL GIS expert regarding the application of the aggregation and integration rules, as defined in UNEP/MED WG.492/13/Rev 2 and UNEP/MED WG.492/Inf.10, with a view to prepare the GIS layers for the finest areas of assessment and their nesting in a meaningful way of integration within the application of the NEAT IMAP assessment methodology in the one sub-region or sub-division that will be selected within task 4c); c) Propose the finest areas of assessment (i.e., the SAUs) for one sub-region or sub-division, and their nesting in a meaningful way of integration, along with proposing, for the purpose of IMAP assessments, the use of assessment areas that are set within MSFD by the respective CPs, all in line with the NEAT IMAP assessment methodology application in the Adriatic Sea and the Western Mediterranean sub-regions; d) Prepare an assessment for IMAP Common Indicator 17 in one sub-region or sub-division by applying the NEAT IMAP assessment methodology conditional to data availability within the preparation of the 2023 MED QSR IMAP Pollution Chapters by MEDPOL; e) Update the assessment findings prepared for IMAP Common Indicator 17 in 2021-2022 for the Adriatic Sea and the Western Mediterranean sub-regions conditionals to the availability of new data that will be reported in IMAP Info System by 31st October 2022, as well as from alternative reliable data sources, taking also into consideration the Conclusions and Recommendations of the CorMon Meetings on Pollution and Marine Litter Monitoring held in May 2022.

Tasks related to IMAP EO10 Common Indicators 22 and 23:

5. Assess the availability of data, undertake a thorough analysis and quality control for IMAP Common Indicators 22 and 23 for the new datasets that will be reported in IMAP Info System by the cut-off date of 31st October 2022; 6. Assess the availability of data from alternative reliable sources (e.g., EU-funded projects, alternative national data sources, scientific literature, etc.) for IMAP Common Indicators 22 and 23, and prepare/convert the collected data into the format of IMAP Info System. 7. Prepare assessment findings for IMAP Common Indicators 22 and 23, further to the results already achieved in 2021-2022, by undertaking the following specific tasks: a) Prepare new datasets for IMAP Common Indicators 22 and 23, as collected under Tasks 5 and 6, for the application of the NEAT IMAP assessment methodology in one sub-region or sub-division as selected under specific task 7c, as well as for updating the existing GES assessments prepared in 2021-2022 for the Adriatic Sea sub-region; b) Coordinate and closely collaborate with the MEDPOL GIS expert regarding the application of the aggregation and integration rules, as defined in UNEP/MED WG.492/13/Rev 2 and UNEP/MED WG.492/Inf.10, with a view to prepare the GIS layers for the finest areas of assessment and their nesting in a meaningful way of integration within the application of the NEAT IMAP assessment methodology in the one sub-region or sub-division that will be selected within the task 7c; c) Propose the finest areas of assessment (i.e., the SAUs) for one sub-region or sub-division, and their nesting in a meaningful way of integration, along with proposing, for the purpose of IMAP assessments, the use of assessment areas that are set within MSFD by the respective CPs, all in line with the NEAT IMAP assessment methodology application in the Adriatic Sea Sub-region; d) Prepare an assessment for IMAP Common Indicator 22 in up to eight sub-divisions, by applying the NEAT and/or CHASE+ IMAP assessment methodologies conditional to data availability within the preparation of the 2023 MED QSR IMAP Marine Litter Chapters by MED POL; e) Undertake an assessment for IMAP Common Indicator 23 in up to eight sub-divisions, by applying the NEAT and/or CHASE+ IMAP assessment methodologies conditional to data availability within the preparation of the 2023 MED QSR IMAP Marine Litter Chapters by MED POL; f) Undertake a comparison and harmonize the assessment findings that will be produced for IMAP EO10 Common Indicators 22 and 23, through the application of the NEAT and/or CHASE+ IMAP assessment methodologies in the respective sub-areas; g) Set GES/non-GES threshold and GES assessment classes for IMAP Common Indicators 22 and 23 by comparing the assessment findings generated by the application of NEAT and/or CHASE+ IMAP assessment methodologies in order to decrease the uncertainty of the assessment results within the preparation of the 2023 MED QSR. h) Undertake an assessment for IMAP Common Indicators 22 and 23 through the application of alternative standard statistical analysis (e.g., mean values, standard error, standard deviation, Wilcoxon statistics, one-sample t-test, with the use of SPSS Software) for those sub-regions and /or sub-divisions where integrated GES assessments cannot be delivered due to the lack of data within the preparation of the 2023 MED QSR IMAP Marine Litter Chapters by MED POL; 8. Strengthen assessment findings for IMAP Common Indicators 22 and 23 by elaborating interrelations of the pressures and GES assessment findings conditionals to the availability of relevant sources containing information on drivers, pressures and impacts on the state of the marine environment within the preparation of the sub-chapter 4.3 of 2023 MED QSR. 9. Prepare the marine litter chapters for IMAP Common Indicators 22 and 23 for the 2023 MED QSR, taking also into consideration the assessment findings prepared under Tasks 7 and 8: a) Chapter 1: Key messages; b) Chapter 2: Background information and methodology; c) Chapter 3: Drivers, Pressures, State, Impact, Response (DPSIR); d) Chapter 4: Good environmental status (GES) / alternative assessment; e) Chapter 5: Key findings per Common Indicator;

Common Outputs:

10. Provide technical input and scientific support to UNEP/MAP - MED POL during the Meetings of CorMon on Marine Litter and/or Pollution Monitoring that will be held in 2023. 11. Prepare final report of deliverables for the consultancy with details on the methodology for performance of tasks and activities to achieve the deliverables.

Qualifications/special skills - Advanced university degree in marine science and /or environmental science is required. - A minimum of 5 years of relevant scientific background and experience in monitoring and assessing impacts of pollution on marine environment preferably with a focus on application of integration and aggregation rules on national the national monitoring data for preparation of the assessment products, including experience related to the application of NEAT tool for assessment of marine pollution caused by adverse impacts of contaminants and marine litter is required. - Experience with regards to monitoring and assessment of the impacts of contaminants and marine litter on the status of Mediterranean marine ecosystems, is an asset. - Good knowledge of UNEP/MAP-MED POL, Integrated Monitoring and Assessment Programme (IMAP), as well as the achievements in the Mediterranean by the scientific community, including the work under EU MSFD (2008/56/EC; 2010/477/EU; 2017/848/EU) implementation with regards to monitoring and assessment is an asset.

Languages - Fluency in oral and excellent writing skills in English language are required. - Knowledge of French language is an asset.

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.