Organizational Setting

Under the Paris Agreement, countries are requested to revise their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) every five years to cut greenhouse gas emissions to limit Earth’s temperature rise and implement solutions to adapt to the effects of climate change. The updating of NDCs and their implementation present countries with significant opportunities to align their climate and development agendas to promote sustainable growth, but also presents challenges in mainstreaming these goals into existing policies and operations and mobilizing scaled-up domestic and international resources.

Article 13 of the Paris Agreement established an enhanced transparency framework for action and support, with built-in flexibility which takes into account Parties’ different capacities and builds upon collective experience.

Further, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has issued Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (2006) and their 2019 Refinement, which explain standards and good practices related to MRV for climate change, particularly under UNFCCC. Also, detailed modalities, procedures, and guidelines (MPGs) for the ETF have been established.^[1]

For this reason, the Capacity-building Initiative for Transparency (CBIT) was created at the request of Parties to help strengthen the institutional and technical capacities of non-Annex I countries to meet the enhanced transparency requirements defined in Article 13 of the Paris Agreement.

The CBIT has three aims:

• Strengthen national institutions for transparency-related activities in line with national priorities; 
• Provide relevant tools, training, and assistance for meeting the provisions stipulated in Article 13 of the Agreement; 
• Assist in the improvement of transparency over time. 

FAO is being requested to support the countries in its Sub-region of Central Asia (namely Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Türkiye, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) as well as the countries within the wider FAO Region of Europe to mobilize resources from the GEF CBIT and Enabling Activity (EA) programs for the improvement of institutional and technical capacities to carry out their reporting requirements under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in accordance with the Paris Agreement. The projects that will be implemented involve targets such as improving the transparency structure, containing enhanced components on the relevant sectors, including lists of sources and sinks of emissions, and also the information needed to track progress towards the priority actions identified in the nationally determined contributions of these sectors.

This call is issued to establish a roster of experts to support the development and/or provide implementation oversight for CBIT and EA projects funded by GEF in different countries in the sub-region and beyond.

Reporting Lines

Under the overall supervision of the Sub-regional Coordinator and direct/technical supervision and guidance of Natural Resources Officer, the Consultant will contribute to the preparation and/or implementation oversight of assigned projects.

Technical Focus

Supporting the formulation, drafting, development, submission and implementation oversight of the assigned projects through the provision of relevant expertise.

The objective of this consultancy is to either lead the project design and prepare the full GEF Project Documents and supporting materials for submission to the GEF Secretariat (SEC) or providing technical oversight of the project implementation, as required.

Tasks and responsibilities

To achieve the identified programme development and implementation objectives, the consultant will lead the project development and carry out general tasks, including:

• Coordinate inputs, such as detailed development of project framework, potential operational and financing arrangements; from other Project Preparation Grant (PPG) preparation support staff/experts, government and other key stakeholders;
• Provide professional recommendations on design of appropriate consultative processes and PPG work schedule;
• As a lead author, complete a fundable FAO-GEF Project Document and supporting documentation complying with the GEF Trust Fund results framework, the GEF-approved PIF, GEF Focal Areas, STAP comments and general FAO-GEF requirements;
• Ensure the project design process is participatory, and that the project is nationally relevant and ‘owned’;
• Support the FAO country office to identify potential co-financiers and obtain co-financing letters; and
• Lead, participate in and facilitate consultative, inception and validation workshops, meetings, providing clarifications and presentations as necessary, and ensure documentation of relevant meetings  
• Map the stakeholders that are involved in NDC process, understand the gaps for Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) enhancement, and other requirements to report  the under Paris Agreement

To achieve these objectives, the consultant, as a lead author of the project documents, will:

• Meet virtually with the GEF Operational Focal Point and key stakeholders to discuss the scope of the projects, confirming PPG support and the level of resources to be allocated to the project development;
• With the support of the PPG team members, will prepare, review, reconfirm and/or amend (if/where necessary) the following points:
  • • • The global environmental issues, CBIT focus, ETF,  related national NDC mitigation and adaptation priorities, technical and reporting capacities, systems and barriers that must be addressed via the project and utilizing FAO comparative advantage;
      • Reconfirm/update the baseline scenario and associated baseline activities/projects
      • Analyse relevant past and ongoing activities, projects and programmes that seek to address Enhanced Transparency Frameworks and identify priority gaps where these fall short; 
      • Based on the analysis of ongoing and planned projects/programmes, estimate potential baseline funding (sources of co-finance);
      • Review and, if necessary, re-define/focus the proposed alternative scenario, GEF focal area strategies, with a brief description of expected outcomes and components of the project, and articulate the project’s theory of change;
      • Define and justify all project components, indicative outcomes, outputs and activities and budget allocations (both GEF and co-finance) across the components;
      • Review and if necessary, re-articulate the incremental reasoning for the project;
      • Highlight innovation and sustainability aspects of the proposed project and potential for scaling up or replication;
      • If/where applicable, outline how the project can best address socioeconomic issues such as gender and indigenous communities’ issues/ concerns;
      • Review identified risks that might prevent the project objectives from being achieved, and propose measures that address these risks in the project’s design;
      • Ensure that management/implementation arrangements are secured and agreed upon by relevant stakeholders
• Present and discuss the project’s ProDoc and tracking tool with government, partners and relevant FAO teams, and incorporate feedback.
• Potentially provide methodological support for the stocktaking exercise on the progress achieved in the definition of Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) systems and development of a roadmap to finalize such systems
• Potentially provide oversight for the implementation process of the projects in different countries

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• University degree in Economics, development studies, environmental/agricultural sciences, political science, social science, international relations, business administration or a related appropriate field
• 3 years of relevant experience in climate finance and project/programme planning and monitoring, including practical experience in project formulation, appraisal, implementation, monitoring, communication and/or in financial and budget planning.
• Working knowledge (level C) of English and limited knowledge (level B) of one of the other UN Languages (French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Russian. Knowledge of Russian may be considered an advantage). For PSA, working knowledge of English.

FAO Core Competencies

• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

• Work experience in more than one location or area of work
• Extent and relevance of experience in project/programme formulation
• Extent and relevance of experience in results monitoring and reporting
• Familiarity with climate finance mechanisms