Duty Station: Addis Ababa
Deadline: 09 October 2022
Job Description
Result of Service
The consultant will be expected to prioritise the following considerations in measuring impact of projects:
• Job creation impact
• Contribution towards GHG mitigation
• Adaptation impact
• Access to facilities and services (e.g., access to energy/water)
• High-integrity carbon
• High-quality carbon credits
• Financing flows unlocked
Consultations: Consultation with member states, and representatives of the Congo Basin Climate Commission, the Mano Rover Commission and any other governmental or international entity will be facilitated by the UNECA.
Work Location
Ethiopia
Expected duration
The consultancy is for three (3) months.
Duties and Responsibilities
Background
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa is supporting the efforts of its member states to be able to secure access to voluntary markets for carbon credits.
Globally, there is an increasing recognition that carbon financial flows are an essential vehicle to accelerate the implementation and delivery of global, regional and national plans and programmes aiming to increase conservation of natural resources and ecosystems, achieve responsible production and consumption, and propel economic growth towards sustainable patterns.
Among the major policy instruments that promote those financial flows aimed at conserving ecosystems, and promote conservation efforts by communities, are carbon pricing and trading, mainly tradable carbon emission credits or offsets generated by carbon emission offset by those conservation efforts or programmes.
The transactions of such offsets that generally have been occurring either through market mechanisms (voluntary and compliance carbon offset schemes) and non-market mechanisms mainly through REDD+ have also been growing over the past years, despite several challenges that have been corrected to some extents through public policy.
Growth of such transactions is significant across other regions, but it remains marginal in Africa, which unfortunately is endowed with vast natural capital resources which lend themselves to the development of carbon credit markets.
The ECA has already launched a programme of support to countries of the Congo Basin Climate Commission, to be able to develop a high integrity regional carbon registry, and the creation of a standardised and harmonised protocol for the measurement of Green House Gas Emissions.
The Congo Basin Climate Commission requested the ECA to support the development of transformative initiatives to scale-up, through the Congo Blue Fund, investment in in conservation of forest, and other crucial ecosystems including peatland, mangroves, that not only play an important role in regulating the environment (climate), but also support development of economies and societies across Africa and beyond.
To support African countries increase the delivery on some of those commitments, the Technology, Climate Change and Natural Resources Management Division (TCND) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has started providing technical and substantive supports (intervention) to the Congo Blue Fund to build carbon market integrity, scale-up public and private investment in biodiversity conservation, and several other developmental goals alluded to early.
To accelerate this intervention that needs additional skills that are not available in ECA, ECA is seeking the services of a team of international consultants (up to 3 persons) to support the development of relevant projects that can be used to generate carbon credits by helping to structure these projects and to engage with potential partners and investors. The consultants will also advise and assist in the certification and verification of these carbon credits using appropriately accredited international mechanisms.
The intervention is aimed to support the following:
1) Member countries of the Congo Basin Climate Commission
2) Member countries of the Mano River Commission
3) Individual countries which have requested assistance from ECA
Under the direct supervisor of Technology, Climate Change and Natural Resources Division Director the consultant will assume the following duties and responsibilities
• Review project proposals from member states and partner organisations for the purposes of issuing carbon credits.
• Development of a brochure of prioritised projects for presentation to investors
• Presentation of prioritised investment opportunities to potential investors and partners
• Apply blockchain technology for linking the carbon registry ECA has developed for the CBCC countries and ensuring reliability
of data regarding projects issued for the generation of carbon credits and to facilitate the verification of project outcomes
3. Deliverables
The consultant is expected to deliver the following outputs:
Deliverables
Outputs Expected delivery time
1) Consultancy Workplan 24th October 2022
2) Brochure of prioritised projects 1st November 2022
3) Production and presentation of blockchain-based systems for (a) improving GHG including carbon emission verification, and carbon credit traceability, quality, and integrity, and (b) linking the CBCC Regional registry with other registries and facilitating transfer including trade of carbon credits. The systems are tested using the projects proposed by ECA and CBCC mainly pertaining to the energy, forest conservation, and related sectors outlined in the TOR 20th November 2022
4) Production and presentation of the report on the use of blockchain technologies for verification of project outcomes, and linking the CBCC carbon registry with international registry and markets 29th November 2022
5) Presentation of priority projects made to investors 30th November 2022
1. A consultancy workplan is delivered one week after the appointment. A preliminary report reviewing potential projects proposed by the Congo Basin Climate Commission, the Mano River Commission and selected individual countries will be provided after one month with prioritisation of potential projects.
2. Brochure of prioritised projects is drafted for the purposes of engagement with investors after one month.
3. Two blockchain-based systems are produced for (a) improving GHG including carbon emission verification, and carbon credit traceability, quality, and integrity, and (b) linking the CBCC Regional registry with other registries and facilitating transfer including trade of carbon credits. The systems are tested using the projects proposed by ECA and CBCC mainly pertaining to the energy, forest conservation, and related sectors outlined in the TOR. The systems are presented for review to ECA, CBCC, and other stakeholders selected by ECA 45 days after the appointment.
4. A draft outlook of the report is produced as outlined in the TOR. The report is expected to analyze factors used to inform the design of the blockchain-based systems for generating high-quality accounting including verification of carbon emission reduction credits, and the linkages of the CBCC regional Registry with other registries as outlined in the TOR. The report is submitted for review to ECA 60 days (two months) after the appointment.
5. A final report of approximately 50-60 pages including all the additional comments made by the Congo Blue Fund’s member countries and ECA is presented to ECA 90 days (three months) after the appointment.
Presentations of priority projects are made to investors in events identified by ECA by the end of the three-month period.
All of the documentation including annexes, notes and reports should be submitted in English. Upon receipt of the deliverables and prior to the payment of the first installment, the deliverables and related reports and documents will be reviewed and approved by ECA. The period of review is one week after receipt.
Qualifications/special skills
Skills: Good computer skills are required.
Strong analytical skills, including in GHG emission monitoring, forecasting using numerical and other relevant models, accounting, reporting, and trading.
Strong ability to quickly assess various data with a high level of precision and quality.
Mastery of new technology and related applications in communication to the wider public
Communication: The consultant must possess excellent report writing, written and verbal communication skills, as well as excellent presentation skills.
Academic Qualifications: Advanced university (Master’s degree preferably PhD) in environmental economics, environmental engineering, energy economics or engineering, physics, applied chemistry with a particular emphasis in climate change and development Or other relevant areas is required.
Experience: A minimum of seven years of practical experience in carbon markets development, large-scale ecological project development and implementation is required. Experience of working in carbon market development focusing in the main sectors highlighted in the TOR in emerging economies is required. Proven experience in the development and applications of blockchain, artificial intelligence, big and data, in environmental management is required. Experience of carbon markets in Africa is desirable.
Language: English and French are the working languages of the UN Secretariat. For this consultancy, fluency in English is required. Working language of the other is desirable. Knowledge of another UN language is desirable.
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.