Technical Expert in Accounting and Additionality for Argentina’s Transparency Framework on GHG Inventories and Mitigation Project

Result of Service CBIT’s most important contribution will be to strengthen Argentina’s reporting capacities so as to adequately comply with the requirements of the Enhanced Transparency Framework through the new reporting format under the Paris Agreement: the Biennial Transparency Reports (BTR). In order to carry out the activities of Argentina’s CBIT project it requires the hiring of a Technical Expert in Accounting and Additionality:

Ultimate Result of the Service:

¿ The role of carbon markets in achieving the NDC and the Long-Term Strategy (LTS) and enhancing ambition in mitigation and adaptation is estimated and quantified.

¿ The transparency of the accounting, tracking and reporting of carbon markets in the National GHG Inventory (NGHGI), the NDC (mitigation and adaptation actions) and the LTS, under the Paris Agreement is enhanced.

¿ The technical qualities of products linked additionality, methodologies, accounting and reporting on the use of carbon markets in Argentina are ensured.

¿ Technical assistance is provided to the NCCD team on issues related to carbon markets.

¿ A proposal for the national MRV framework for the accounting and reporting on the use of carbon markets is developed;

¿ The additional eligible activities under Article 6 and the voluntary carbon markets are identified and categorized;

OUTPUTS

Elaborate a work plan and analysis framework related to carbon markets and the analysis of Article 6 rules.

Hold technical meetings, face-to-face and/or virtual (as appropriate), periodically together with the NCCD team in order to agree on next steps, requirements, opportunities, and evidencing progress.

Work closely with the NCCD team in activities related to the National Climate Change Cabinet (NCCC).

Analyze the decisions of COP26 related to Internationally Transferable Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs) and emission reductions in Article 6.4. (A6.4ERs), to evaluate the needs for MRV of mitigation actions and the role of key stakeholders. This analysis must identify the main barriers and risks to avoid double counting and demonstrate the additionality of the mitigation actions that allow compliance with the NDC and increase the ambition. This analysis should also allow the NCCD to prioritize actions to implement the mechanisms of article 6.4.

Analyze current experiences worldwide (including subnational, international and/or regional regulations), in setting guidelines to determine the additionality and taxonomy of eligible projects and activities, framed in article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement.

Develop a comparative analysis of cases and good practices for the implementation of Article 6.4., which should include:

* Analyze and explore regional and international implementation schemes for Article 6.4 mechanism, detailing policies and/or regulations implemented at the national or subnational level, established criteria, operational tools used, and assessing the possible applicability of those structures in Argentina;

* Select useful cases for Argentina (the selection will be made in close coordination with the mitigation team of the NCCD and should have a proper justification), considering the national and subnational context and selected criteria;

* Identify criteria used for prior analysis, including regulatory framework, institutional arrangements, definitions of additionality, gases and emission sources included in the NGHGI, type of NDC, LTS; type of eligible projects/activities, credit periods, baselines, taxonomy of projects by NGHGI sectors, approvals and authorizations and any other criteria considered pertinent based on the results of the comparative analysis.

Prepare of a complete proposal for the implementation of Article 6.4 in Argentina, containing the following information:

* Definition of the term “additionality”: legal requirements, definitions and guidelines to determine the additionality of a project within the framework of Article 6.4;

* Detail of regulatory gaps at national and subnational level and recommendations to address them, in relation to the preceding products;

* Criteria for defining project eligibility under Article 6.4, national baselines and crediting periods;

* Quantification of Article 6.4 (A6.4.ERs) and Article 6.2 (ITMOs) possible participation in the compliance of the NDC and possible increase of ambition, considering the capacities and circumstances of each sector of the economy;

*Prepare a coordination and participation plan for the implementation of Cooperative Approaches in Argentina, identifying both public and private roles in light of the NDC;

* Map actors from the civil society accompanied by an analysis of the distribution of socio-environmental costs and benefits, and their perception of carbon markets;

* Analyze how to address and operationalize these guidelines and criteria in Argentina with carbon markets, considering current structure and legal regulations, including a proposal for an organizational structure scheme to address and follow the issues:

*Prepare a project-approval scheme (justification, additionality, baselines, methodologies) and transfer authorization (use of results, methods and virtuous transfer schemes), considering national capacities and circumstances;

*Prepare a virtuous benefit sharing scheme for bilateral projects and agreements.

*Propose templates and models for the presentation of projects, for evaluating project eligibility, for project approval and transfer authorizations, and monitoring implementation.

Prepare material to train government representatives (decision makers, officials and national government technicians on the results) on the subject, in coordination with the NCCD.

Provide a final workshop presenting results and conclusions.

DELIVERABLES

Deliverable 1: Report including analysis framework and workplan with a preliminary detail about the bibliography to consult, subnational, international and/or regional cases to analyze, and how the different barriers, risks and opportunities identified will be addressed.

Deliverable 2: Report including the analysis and interpretation of Article 6 rules, specifying implications, risks and benefits for NDC compliance.

Deliverable 3: Report including a comparative analysis of the selected cases and good practices, considered useful for Argentina, and a comparative table of cases, with the analysis of criteria and a summary of practices and recommendations.

Deliverable 4: Report including the proposed scheme for the implementation of Art. 6.4 mechanism, containing the main definitions, regulatory gaps, criteria for project eligibility and NDC compliance, identification of relevant actors, benefit distribution schemes, organizational structure and project-approval scheme (drafts and forms for project presentations).

Deliverable 5: Communication and information materials; Power Point presentations (or other formats), and communication pieces used in the workshop for disseminating the results. Presentations and Meeting reports in PowerPoint/Word/Pdf format.

Work Location Home-based

Expected duration 9 MONTHS

Duties and Responsibilities The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment.

The UNEP Latin America and the Caribbean Office (LACO), located in Panama City, works closely with the 33 countries of the region and its activities are integrated into the Medium-term Strategy and the Programme of Work approved by the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA).

The Argentine Republic ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1994 (Law No. 24,295), the Kyoto Protocol in September 2001 (Law No. 25,438) and the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol in May 2015 (Law No. 27,137). As a signatory of the UNFCCC, the country undertook obligations including the report of the national greenhouse gases inventories, national programs with mitigation and adaptation actions against climate change and any other relevant information regarding the fulfilment of the objective of the UNFCCC. As part of the country’s undertaken obligations, Argentina submitted its First National Communication in July 1997, and a revised communication in October 1999. The Second National Communication was submitted in December 2007 and the Third National Communication and the First Biennial Updated Report (BUR) were both submitted in December 2015. The Second BUR was submitted in August of 2017, the Third BUR was presented to the UNFCCC in November 2019, and the Fourth BUR was presented in December 2021.

In December 2015 during the 21st Conference of Parties (COP 21), the Paris Agreement (PA) was adopted; its article No. 2 established the objective of “holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels''. In September 2016, Argentina ratified the Paris Agreement (Law No. 27,270), then in December 2019, the National Congress approved the National Law No. 27,520 on Global Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation.

In terms of mitigation, in accordance with decisions 1/CP.19, 1/CP.20, 1/CP.21, 1/CP.24, 4/CMA.1, 9/ CMA.1 and 18/CMA, the Argentine Republic submitted in 2015, its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), which was reviewed and updated in 2016, and showed a much higher level of ambition and transparency, than the previous document. Subsequently, in December 2020, Argentina presented its second NDC to the UNFCCC, with an updated version in November 2021, also increasing its ambition in the mitigation and transparency objective.

In the second updated NDC, Argentina commits to the absolute and unconditional goal, that covers the entire national territory and all sectors of the economy, of not exceeding the net emission of 349 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) in the year 2030, a goal that is 27.7% more ambitious compared to the first NDC, in 2016.

When it comes to carbon markets and its use towards compliance with its NDC, the Argentine Republic has reserved its national position and decision-making in relation to the possible use of any market mechanism established under the Paris Agreement, until negotiations on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement within the framework of the UNFCCC arrive to a conclusion. Until then, any operation that involves emission reduction units achieved in the Argentine territory, both public and private, must be registered and have the express authorization of the National Government and, unless expressly provided otherwise, all emission reductions in the national territory will be counted towards the achievement of the NDC goal. Nonetheless, this statement must be new re-evaluated in light of the results of the last Conference of the Parties (COP), that took place in November 2022, in Glasgow, Scotland, regarding the rules for the implementation of carbon markets.

To date, Argentina is designing its national strategy for the use of carbon markets and generating technical inputs to plan a possible structure and subsequent operationalization of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. In order to advance in addressing this topic, in December 2021, the National Registry of Climate Change Mitigation Projects was created, under the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development’s Resolution No. 363/2021. Its main objective is to register and systematize projects that reduce anthropogenic emissions or that increase the capture of greenhouse gases in the National territory. However, this Registry comes out as an isolated instrument within the Ministry’s current needs to begin a complete and integrated approach towards market mechanisms.

Following the results of COP26, and the consensus reached on key actions which permitted the conclusion of the Paris rulebook, an important further step in addressing carbon market mechanisms established in the Paris Agreement, is to determine specific eligibility criteria for projects that may fall under the provisions of Article 6.4.

One of the most relevant challenges that the implementation of the Paris Agreement poses on countries is to count with strong Transparency Frameworks. Article No.13 of the PA establishes the need for Parties to implement national robust and transparent reporting and accounting systems to give clarity on action and support while providing clear information to stakeholders. As part of building and enhancing their Transparency Frameworks, Parties of the UNFCCC will progressively implement better tools and institutional practices, many of them not sufficiently developed in the countries. This is especially true for developing countries.

The UNFCCC Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) demands substantial and immediate progress in the countries’ domestic Monitoring Reporting and Verification (MRV) systems and strategic de-carbonization planning. This entails moving from often disintegrated and often different-methodological approaches in data management to an integrated and robust system. The success of the Paris Agreement hinges on enhanced transparency of action and support, as a critical foundation to making its bottom-up, country-led approach work, as well as building mutual trust and confidence amongst Parties. Under the framework of Article 6 rules reporting needs to be complied, in consistency with Article 13, concerning the ETF. The national framework needs to be developed to ensure transparent reporting for both.

In this respect, implementation of Article 6 mechanisms entails the need for an adequate accounting system of emissions, including corresponding adjustments to avoid double counting, increasing the Parties necessity to have a transparent national structure and monitoring system. Rules established by the UNFCCC for the implementation of article 6 of the Paris Agreement, include the need to comply with the additionality criteria. For this reason, and to comply with the Argentine Republic international commitments, including the Enhanced Transparency Framework, the implementation of market mechanisms requires setting up specific criteria to determine the additionality of potential projects. These shall be proved through an exhaustive evaluation that demonstrates the activity would not have occurred in the absence of the incentives generated by the mechanism, to avoid double counting and to reveal the additionality of the mitigation actions that allow compliance with the NDC.

Article 6 mechanisms seek to promote the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions in a cost effect way in the long term while fostering sustainable development. Therefore, the construction of a national structure for implementing these mechanisms, has substantial repercussions in medium and long-term strategies.

The Global Environment Facility - Capacity Building Initiative for Transparency (GEF-CBIT) will support the Argentinian government for four years, mainly in strengthening its ETF. This will happen by improving the accuracy, completeness and consistency of its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventories and increasing its capacities to domestically track and evaluate mitigation measures and related finance support received and provided, as well as generating the technical inputs needed for medium and long-term planning contributing to the improvement of climate-related decision-making in the country. In order to achieve this objective, Argentina’s GEF-CBIT project, which was approved in July of 2019, is organized into three components:

- National and subnational GHG inventory System - Domestic tracking of mitigation actions and support received - Medium and long-term projections

In this sense, the Climate Change Unit of UNEP is recruiting a Technical Expert in Accounting and Additionality in the form of a consultant to strengthening Argentina’s reporting capacities so as to adequately comply with the requirements of the Enhance Transparency Framework-ETF through the new reporting format under the Paris Agreement: the Biennial Transparency Reports (BTR). The incumbent will work from home and will be supervised by the Climate Ambition and Transparency Coordinator of the Climate Change Unit, Latin America and the Caribbean Office of UNEP. He or she will work in close collaboration, in a virtual manner, with the National Climate Change Directorate (NCCD) within the Secretariat of Environment, Sustainable Development and Innovation of Argentina’s Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MAyDS).

Qualifications/special skills ACADEMIC:

¿ Bachelor´s degree in Engineering, Economics, Environmental Sciences, or similar university degree (required). ¿ Postgraduate degree in Environmental areas specially related to GHG accounting, climate change policy and/or carbon markets (desirable).

PROFESSIONAL:

¿ A minimum of 7 years of professional experience in areas related to climate change (required). ¿ Verifiable professional experience of at least 2 years, within the 10 years of professional experience, in related to activities within carbon market sector (desirable). ¿ Demonstrates understanding of tools used for the estimation of GHG emissions and captures (desirable). ¿ Knowledge of GHG emissions inventories estimation, NDC, LTS and ETF (desirable). ¿ Demonstrates good understanding of Argentina’s national policy related to climate change with particular focus on carbon markets(desirable). ¿ Experience working with, and building partnerships with public and private sector both national and subnational (desirable).

LANGUAGE:

¿ Fluency in Spanish is required ¿ Confident level of writing, reading, and editing skills in English is desirable.

SPECIAL KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS:

¿ Very good knowledge and understanding of theories, concepts and approaches related to the climate change policy and carbon markets (required). ¿ Very good understanding of the Argentina’s legal framework and infrastructure related to the climate change and carbon markets (desirable). ¿ Verifiable experience using IT tools such as Microsoft Office (Word, Excel and Powerpoint) and related apps (required). ¿ Verifiable knowledge of environmental equipment related to monitoring the waste sector (desirable); ¿ Knowledge of the standards ISO such as ISO 14001 (desirable). ¿ Confident with numbers and equations, as well as drafting reports with procedures and results. ¿ Relationship skills with public and private sector officials. ¿ Ability to identify issues, analyze and participate in the resolution of issues/problems. ¿ Ability to apply judgment in the context of assignments given, plan own work and manage conflicting priorities. Shows pride in work and in achievements. ¿ Demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; Is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; Is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns. ¿ Shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; Remains calm in stressful situations; Shows leadership capacities. ¿ Experience in teamwork, with recognition in the field of their specialty to cooperate with consultants of other specialties ¿ Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals; solicits input by genuinely valuing others' ideas and expertise; is willing to learn from others; supports and acts in accordance with final group decision, even when such decisions may not entirely reflect own position; shares credit for team accomplishments and accepts joint responsibility for team shortcomings. ¿ Develops clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies; identifies priority activities and assignments; adjusts priorities as required; allocates appropriate amount of time and resources for completing work; foresees risks and allows for contingencies when planning; monitors and adjusts plans and actions as necessary; uses time efficiently.

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.