Project Technical Assistant

Applications are being invited from suitable qualified individuals to fill the following individual consultancy to support the implementation of the Government of Jamaica/Global Environment Facility/United Nations Development Programme project titled “Learning by doing Preparation of Fourth National Communication and Second Biennal Update to the UNFCCC”: Project Technical Assistant

BACKGROUND

1.1 In keeping with the commitments under Article 4 paragraph 1 and Article 12 paragraph 1 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), each Party must provide periodical reports to the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC. Reports shall be prepared based on the Guidelines for the Preparation of National Communications from Parties not included in Annex I of the Convention adopted at the 10th Conference of the Parties and are contained in Decision 17/CP.8.

1.2 Jamaica submitted its initial National Communication (NC) to the Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC at the 6th Conference of Parties in The Hague, Netherlands in November 2000. The Second National Communication was submitted at the 17th Conference of Parties in Durban, South Africa in December 2011 and the Third National Communication at the 24th Conference of Parties in Bonn, Germany in 2018.

1.3 The first Biennial Update Report (BUR) was submitted in 2016 at the 22nd Conference of Parties held in Marrakesh, Morocco.

1.4 The Climate Change Division of the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation is Jamaica’s Focal Point to the UNFCCC and the executing agency on behalf of the Government of Jamaica. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the Implementing Agency of the Global Environment Facility (GEF). Funding was based on the Operational Procedures for Expedited Financing of National Communications from Non-Annex I Parties (GEF/C.22/Inf.16).

1.5 Parties are required to prepare and submit emission of greenhouse gases by sources and removal by “sinks” to enable the compilation of global GHG emissions. Developing countries such as Jamaica are required to submit such an inventory every four to five years based on the availability of resources provided from developed countries. Parties are now required to submit such reports every two years to enable more accurate monitoring, verification, and reporting. Parties are also required to provide information on steps to mitigate climate change including mitigation analysis based on the most current GHG inventory.

PROJECT SCOPE

2.1 The key outcomes of the enabling activities to prepare Jamaica’s Fourth National Communication and Second Biennial Update Report are the following:

1. Fulfil reporting requirements under Article 12 of the Convention with respect to national communication from Non-Annex One Parties and decisions adopted in Doha to enable the preparation of BURs.
2. Further strengthen the technical and institutional capacities of Jamaican institutions to implement the Convention, as well as providing support for the integration of climate change considerations into national and sectoral development priorities.

1. Enhance the capacity and efficiency for the continuous preparation of national communications and biennial update reports.

2.2 The project will also achieve the following:

• Continue the implementation of awareness activities on climate change that interact with targeted audiences of various age groups including students, teachers, teacher trainers, government officials, members of the private sector, non-government organizations, civil society, and the general public, improving women’s participation.
• Build a national consensus to facilitate activities to mainstream climate change issues into relevant social, economic, scientific and environmental policies, programs and strategies, while integrating a gender approach, in particular, those for low carbon development and adaptation to the adverse effects of climate change.
• Assess the vulnerability to climate change of additional communities that will be identified and prioritized for potential adaptation options in a series of case studies. A gender approach will be incorporated in the community-based assessments where the most vulnerable groups have been identified as women, children and the elderly and the majority of the households are headed by single mothers.
• Strengthen the capacity of Jamaica to participate in the ongoing climate change negotiations under the UNFCCC which will enable more effective representation on the international level for Jamaica and other small island developing states.
• Respond to the identified gaps and constraints identified in the process of drafting the Forth National Communication

OBJECTIVES

The overall objective of this consultancy is to provide technical and strategic guidance to ensure soundness and consistency of the generated products for the GHG inventory, the mitigation assessment, MRV framework. Assist with reviewing national circumstances document for both NC and BUR. Assist with revising, updating and validating assessment of Jamaica's mitigation potential by 2070 for agriculture, forestry and other land use, energy and waste sectors. Assist with revising the assessed gender differentiated vulnerabilities to climate risk and the implications for men and women as well as the reviewed & updated vulnerability assessment in the TNC and the recommendations for a legislative & policy framework. Assist with reviewing the co-benefit of mitigation measures and the suggested criteria for prioritization and developed alternative mitigation scenarios reconciled with the 2009-2030 National Energy Policy, relevant projects, and associated programmes. Assist with the review of mitigation policies and verified results, assessed macro-economic impacts of mitigation options and recommended innovative measures for climate change mitigation. Assist with the review of the assessed national technology, financial & capacity needs including data collection for mitigation.

SCOPE OF SERVICE AND KEY ACTIVITIES

4.1 Assist the project coordinator and the Climate Change Division with all the activities involved in developing the 4^th National Communication and the Second BUR.

4.2 Provide technical and strategic guidance to ensure soundness and consistency of the generated products and related activities for the GHG inventory, the mitigation assessment and the MRV framework and compliance with UNFCCC guidelines related the preparation of NCs and BURs (including decision 17/CP.8 and 2/CP.17).

4.3 Proofread the reports coming from each activity involved in developing the GHG inventory, the mitigation assessment and MRV framework and ensure soundness and consistency of these products.

4.4 Assist with the revision and verification of the national GHG inventory.