Result of Service

The ultimate result of this assignment is to provide substantive support to national competent authorities in Montenegro to deliver the updated NAP (2025-2035), as per Article 5 of the LBS Protocol.

Work Location

home based

Expected duration

3.5 working 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. The Land Based Sources (LBS) Protocol to the Barcelona Convention Protocols was adopted in 1980 and amended in 1996. The amended Protocol entered into force in 2006. As stipulated in Article 5, the LBS Protocol requires the Contracting Parties to elaborate and implement, individually or jointly, as appropriate, national and regional action plans and programmes, containing measures and timetables for their implementation. The principal objective of the NAP development is to identify and prioritize a national programme of measures to achieve Good Environmental Status (GES) concerning pollution-related ecological objectives under the ecosystem approach (EcAP) in the framework of the LBS Protocol and the Regional Plans adopted in line with Article 15 of the LBS Protocol. To assist the countries in developing NAPs, MED POL developed in 2015 the “Guidelines for updating National Action Plans for the implementation of the LBS Protocol and its Regional Plans in the framework of SAP MED to achieve Good Environmental Status for pollution-related ECAP ecological objectives”; The “Programme of Work and Budget for 2024-2025,” adopted by COP 23 (Portorož, Slovenia, 5-8 December 2023), mandated MED POL to support the Contracting Parties to develop 21 NAPs/PoM, including as appropriate project fiches on priority actions/interventions to achieve and maintain Good Environmental Status (GES), as well as to review and update the NAP guidelines. The development of the NAP in Montenegro will be based on the evaluations derived from the National Diagnostic Analysis Report created within the framework of GEF Metaprogramme/CP 1.1, and it will support the country in implementing the adopted regional plans prepared under Medprogramme. The Consultant will work under the direct supervision of the MED POL Programme Officer (Pollution), under the overall guidance of the MED POL Programme Management Officer. The consultant is expected to perform the following tasks and liaise with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): 1. Prepare and submit a detailed work plan for the assignment, in line with the SSFA signed with Environmental Protection Agency (Montenegro); the work plan should include monthly meetings (online or face to face) with EPA to discuss the progress. 2. Provide inputs to (documents, presentations etc.,) and attend the national steering committee meeting and the thematic experts’ groups meetings related to the development of NAP. 3. Collect the necessary data and assist the national authorities to populate the “Mapping Table” prepared by MEDPOL, with measures identified at the national level, by considering the following, inter alia, a. Measures implemented in previous NAPs (2015-2025); b. Measures not implemented in previous NAPs (2015-2025); c. New national measures promulgated between 2015 -2025; d. National Reports of relevance to the scope of application of the LBS protocol, in addition to other emerging pollutants as per countries’ specificities 4. In line with NAP Guidelines, prepare a benchmarking assessment based on: a. Status of implementation of the NAP (2015-2025) and identify unimplemented measures; b. State of Play of marine and coastal environment using National Baseline Budget tool (NBB), national monitoring data, national transboundary diagnostic assessment (where applicable), and assessment deriving from the 2023 MED QSR (key findings and recommendations). c. National legally binding measures promulgated between 2015 – 2025 d. Regional legally binding measures adopted under the LBS protocol, the Hazardous Waste Protocol, and the Dumping Protocol. 5. Identify/re-assess the gaps by evaluating the implementation of national measures towards Ecological Objectives and adopted Regional Measures using the table that will be provided by MEDPOL. 6. Re-assessment of existing hotspots (NAP 2016) and new hotspots based on the updated criteria shared by MEDPOL. 7. Assess the business-as-usual scenario if the GAPs can be filled in with already established national measures; 8. Prioritize the National GAPs considering an economic assessment (cost-effectiveness/cost-benefit analysis) of NAP measures/programme of measures with a focus on the legally binding measures provided in the Regional Plans, in accordance with UNEP(DEPI)/MED WG.404/7, Appendix G, 9. Classify priority measures per Ecological Objective(s). 10. Prepare/update a detailed implementation plan that is sector-based or Ecological Objectives (EO) based (where applicable). The plan will include: a. Operational Targets” and Quantifiable Objectives; b. Timeline of the implementation associated with every operation target; c. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs); 11. Monitoring Programme and reporting modality. The monitoring of the programme should be based on NAP Indicators, IMAP Indicators, and other relevant national indicators; 12. Capacity Building Activities underpinning the implementation of the proposed plans: Explaining the needs in terms of capacity building to achieve the targets/objective set. 13. Develop/update up to 10 fiches for the identified priority measures in the NAP under the guidance of the NSC and thematic expert group/s. 14. Prepare and submit the Draft NAP update report (2025-2035) in English considering comments and suggestions received through the consultative process with EPA and the recommendation of the meetings referred to in Chapter 3 of the ToR; and submit it to MED POL for comments. 15. Prepare and submit the Final NAP update report (2025-2035) and submit the final consultancy report. 16. Prepare the final consultancy report.

Qualifications/special skills

• Advanced university degree in environmental engineering, environmental sciences, natural sciences, or related discipline is required. • A minimum of 5 years’ Experience in developing environmental policies, action plans, and budgets is required. • Specific experience in pollution control and management is required. • Previous experience in the application of UNEP/MAP Guidelines for updating National Action Plans is desirable.

Languages

• Fluency in oral and written English is required. • Fluency in oral and written Montenegrin is desirable.

Additional Information

Not available.

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.