Finalize the outline of the technical note on status of implementation of Paris agreement and work on the first draft.
Produce a work plan for the activity on the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) and produce a first draft of the technical note on status of implementation of Paris agreement.
Produce inputs to the technical notes on economic impacts of climate change, adaptation and mitigation co-benefits for climate actions and finalize the final draft of the technical note on status of implementation of Paris agreement. Also, to prepare a presentation for the LAKT technical meeting.
Conduct a dialogue and a meeting with the Arab group to present and discuss the final draft of the technical note on status of implementation of Paris agreement jointly with the ESCWA team and revise the final draft in view of the comments received from the Arab Group experts.
Submit the final technical note and contribute to the Arab group meetings capacity building workshops by preparing and presenting the final findings and outcomes of the technical note as well as other technical notes jointly with ESCWA team.
UN-House
17 August - 31 December 2020
Background:
Climate change is a global, regional, national and local challenge that poses important implications for the achievement of sustainable development. Regional projections estimated that the Arab region will face temperature increases of up to 2-5oC by the end of the century for different climate scenarios and will face increased frequency and intensity of extreme climate events. This will affect water security, food security, the environment, human health and livelihoods. Therefore, there is a need to establish adaptation strategies that are evidence based in key sectors, as adaptation is a key priority for all Arab countries. This can be done through a science-policy interface to use the scientific outputs from regional climate modelling to build and screen the policy measures for the formulation of national adaptation strategies and sector specific plans to cope with climate change.
In the meantime, efforts to mitigate climate change have implications for socio-economic development plans, particularly in Arab States whose economies are largely concentrated on fossil fuel production and associated energy-intensive industries. Therefore, there is a need for a solid Measuring, Reporting and Verifications (MRV) systems to be integrated in ministries of environment at the Arab countries to report their emissions and to inform global reporting mechanisms under Paris agreement such as the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF). Thus, both climate change adaptation and mitigation measures must be considered in a sustainable development policy context to advance climate action.
Because of these challenges, member States asked ESCWA to establish the Arab Centre for Climate Change Policies (ACCCP) in June 2018 to support the development of informed climate policies and positions, foster consensus on regional priorities for action, and create opportunities for regional collaboration. The Centre does this by providing technical assistance and advisory services, providing regional knowledge products, and building the capacity of Arab States and stakeholders for climate action.
Nearly 100 activities have been organized under the umbrella of the ACCCP since its establishment in 2018. These activities build upon a history of ESCWA support to Arab platforms on climate change and associated normative work. This includes 13 workshops for Arab climate negotiators, which have been organized twice per year since 2013; Conducting 5 meetings of the Arab Climate Outlook Forum (ArabCOF) for meteorological services, which has generated seasonal consensus output statements since 2017; and the contributing to 4 meetings of the Arab Platform and Partnership for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) as well as providing substantive inputs to the chapters of the Regional Assessment Report (RAR) on DRR led by UNDRR. These platforms have been informed by ESCWA’s normative work on energy vulnerability, climate change impact and vulnerability assessment, food security, extreme climate events and DRR, climate finance and technology.
ESCWA has been supporting the Arab Group for Climate Change for almost a decade now not only by convening capacity development workshops on negotiation issues but also through supporting the official Arab Group meetings at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties (COP) on Climate Change. In doing so, several side events were organized by ESCWA and other partners at the previous COP’s since 2012 to outreach the global communities and demonstrate the Arab initiatives and success stories in adaptation and mitigation actions that have been incorporated in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC’s) climate actions for implementation of Paris agreement.
As requested recently by the Arab Group, ESCWA will be developing technical notes to support the negotiation process and implementation of Paris agreement and in particular the efforts of reviewing of the NDCs by the Arab countries in 2020 and on other key negotiation issues, building capacities on the ETF to report mitigation efforts and emissions (a joint activity will be carried out by UNFCCC and ESCWA during 2020-2024), and in addition, implementing regional initiatives related to adaptation actions such as the Lima Adaptation Knowledge Initiative (LAKI) project that is implemented jointly by UNFCCC, ESCWA and UN Environment/Regional Office for West Asia.
General Objective:
The objective of this consultancy is to prepare a technical note on an overview of current climate change negotiation status under Paris Agreement and pending issues, and status of review of NDC’s and proposed climate actions for the Arab countries. In addition, the consultant will substantively support other technical notes prepared within the ACCCP activities dealing with economic impacts of climate change on key sectors as well as adaptation and mitigation co-benefits for climate actions and implementation of LAKI regional initiative. Also, the consultant will support preparation of the project on Improving the readiness of ESCWA member states in implementing the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) of the Paris agreement.
Duties and Responsibilities:
Under the general supervision of the Lead of Cluster 1 “Climate Change and Natural Resources Sustainability” and the direct supervision of the Lead of the Project C1.a “Strengthened Arab Networks and Enabling Environment for Climate Action”, the Climate Change Consultant will provide substantive inputs through preparation of and contribution to technical notes on the ACCCP activities related to climate change and status of implementation of Paris agreement.
In specific, the Climate Change Consultant will be responsible for the following duties:
• Prepare a technical note (30-35 pages) on the overview of current climate change negotiation status under Paris Agreement and pending issues, and status of review of NDC’s and proposed climate actions for the Arab countries;
• Support the preparation for the ESCWA-UNFCCC project on improving the readiness of ESCWA member States in implementing the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) of the Paris Agreement by developing a work plan for the project;
• Provide substantive inputs to the development of other technical notes on economic impacts of climate change on key sectors as well as adaptation and mitigation co-benefits for climate actions and impacts of response measures undertaken by the Arab countries and other climate change issues relevant to the implementation of Paris Agreement;
• Provide substantive inputs to the LAKI project implemented jointly with UNFCCC and UN Environment/Regional Office for West Asia by supporting the designing and executing of the technical meeting on stocktaking of adaptation initiatives and stakeholder engagement in the Arab region;
• Support substantively the regional capacity building virtual meetings, conferences, as well as expert dialogues to review the methodologies and findings of the technical notes with international and regional experts;
• Contribute to training webinars for national experts addressing climate change issues and make presentations on assigned topics/activities.
Academic Qualifications: Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in environment, climate change, natural resources management, economics, sustainable development or related field. A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
Experience: A minimum of five years of progressively responsible experience in policy-oriented work examining a broad range of climate change and sustainable development issues
Language: English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. Arabic is also a working language of ESCWA. For this post, fluency in oral and written Arabic and English is required.
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.