Consultant: Climate Change Adaptation and Development (UN)

Duties and responsibilities

The expert will work under the direction of the EEG Director at UNDP headquarters in New York City and will undertake missions to the five countries as requested. Within the contract budget and duration, the EEG Director can, based on evolving needs, either reduce one country mission and redeploy those resources to additional work days at HQ or to add a mission to a sixth country and decrease the work days at HQ accordingly. A detailed work plan will be developed by the expert in consultation with the EEG Director following the start of the assignment.

• Review and comment in detail and provide inputs to UNDP policy papers on climate change and development, with special reference to adaptation to climate change in developing countries. Review, as requested, documents from other UN agencies and bodies including the UNFCCC Secretariat. Prepare briefing notes for the EEG Director as requested.
• Review and comment in detail and provide inputs to UNDP comments on World Bank documents dealing with the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) and in particular the PPCR (Pilot Program on Climate Resilience) and the CTF (Clean Technology Fund), including on the roles and responsibilities of the different partners. Prepare briefing notes for the EEG Director as requested.
• Advise the EEG Director on the multi-dimensional aspects of the climate change issue and the positioning of UNDP as a key partner in helping countries access the new international climate change funds being channeled through the World Bank and other bodies. Review and comment on documents and reports from various sources and prepare briefing notes as requested.
• Develop a roster of qualified climate change adaptation experts/consultants for use by UNDP headquarters and UNDP Country Offices. This should be a web-based system accessible to all UNDP managers. Also advise on methods, lessons learned and case studies in the climate change adaptation area and developmental implications.
• Visit five pilot developing countries (from a list that would include Bangladesh, Cambodia, Nepal, Tajikistan, and selected countries in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America/Caribbean). Discuss with the respective UN Resident Coordinators, UNDP Country Directors and UNDP staff the climate change implications on development processes with special emphasis on adaptation to climate change, brief them on the new international climate change funds being channeled through the World Bank and other bodies, and help them assist the respective governments make informed decisions concerning these new funds and ways to align them with ongoing national level development priorities including sustainability and poverty reduction. Each country visit would last one week. Liaise with all concerned UNDP Bureaux (including Regional Bureaux and BCPR) as well as with donor governments and other bodies.
• Prepare brief reports on the results of each mission for the EEG Director, specifying what follow-up activities would be required in each respective country, and highlighting the implications for the World Bank-UNDP partnership.

Deliverables

During the contract period, the International Expert on Climate Change Adaptation and Development will produce the following deliverables:

• Briefing notes on the results of the PPCR Steering Committee meetings covering the adaptation part of the new international climate change funds.
• Comments, advice and briefing notes on positioning UNDP as a key partner in helping countries access new climate change funds targeted for adaptation to climate change.
• Back to office reports on advisory visits to 5 pilot PPCR countries, specifying what follow-up activities are required in each country and highlighting the implications for the World Bank-UNDP partnership.
• Web-based roster of qualified climate change experts/consultants developed for use by UNDP HQ and UNDP Country Offices.
• Advisory notes as requested on methods, lessons learned and case studies in the climate change adaptation area and developmental implications.
• Contributions to UNDP reports, papers and publications on adaptation to climate change and developmental implications as requested.

Qualifications

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards
• Advocates and promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UN
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism
  

• Ability to lead the design and implementation of climate change activities, strengthening of strategic partnerships for UNDP implementation.
• Ability to build and sustain effective partnerships with UN Agencies and main constituents, advocate effectively, communicate sensitively across different constituencies.
  

• Ability to lead formulation of strategies and their implementation
• Ability to negotiate with donors and internal units; ability to identify and analyse trends, opportunities and threats to fund-raising
• Excellent drafting and presentation skills
• Ability to plan and organize work programme
• Ability to work with minimum supervision
• Ability to apply RM and partnerships building theory to the specific country context
• Strong IT skills
  

• Master's Degree in Economics, International Development, Public Administration or a relevant technical field (for example, Chemistry)
• A minimum of 20 years of relevant work experience in the fields of environment and development, especially related to climate change.
• A minimum of 10 years work experience within UNDP or a comparable development organization, with in-depth knowledge of UNDP’s environment programmes, personnel and financing structures.
• Detailed knowledge of the new World Bank climate change funds and a general knowledge of World Bank operations.
• Complete familiarity with UNDP operations and programmes at the country level.
• Proven ability to consult, advise and build consensus among senior managers in relevant development organizations in the area of environment and development.
• Fluency in written and spoken English; proficiency in Spanish or French would be an advantage.
• Proficiency in the use of computers and office software packages (word processing, e-mail, presentations, spreadsheets, etc).

Application Deadline