A.    Project Description 

UNDP Afghanistan

UNDP supports stabilization, state-building, governance and development priorities in Afghanistan. UNDP support, in partnership with the Government, the United Nations System, the donor community and other development stakeholders, has contributed to institutional development efforts leading to positive impact on the lives of Afghan citizens. Over the years UNDP support has spanned such milestone efforts as the adoption of the Constitution, Presidential, Parliamentary and Provincial Council elections, institutional development through capacity building to the legislative, the judicial and executive arms of the state, and key ministries, Government agencies and commissions at the national and subnational levels.

UNDP has played a key role in democratization and support to governance reform in Afghanistan.  UNDP programmes in Afghanistan have benefited from the very active support of donors. UNDP Afghanistan is committed to the highest standards of transparency and accountability and works in close coordination with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and the UN system as a whole to maximize the impact of its development efforts on the ground.

UNDP’S Climate Promise

 Climate change presents the single biggest threat to sustainable development and is already causing widespread, unprecedented impacts that disproportionately burden the poorest, marginalized and most vulnerable. These impacts could drive 100 million people into extreme poverty by 2030[1]. Climate change will reverse hard-won human development gains, worsen inequalities, and trigger forced migration and conflict. It is also a key driver of disaster risks, leading to increased frequency, magnitude and impacts of climate-induced disasters on lives, livelihoods and socio-economic development[2].

 The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicates that urgent and transformative action is necessary to keep global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees or below, adapt to global threats, and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Under all scenarios described in the IPCC’s 2018 Special Report on 1.5C, global net anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions must fall 45% by 2030 and reach net-zero around 2050. Carbon dioxide removal will also be necessary.

Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, countries unanimously agreed to work toward global goals that would limit global average temperature rise. Specifically, the Agreement seeks to limit the rise in the world’s average surface temperatures to “well below” 2֯C above pre-industrial times this century, while “pursuing efforts” for 1.5֯C. It also sets a target of eliminating global GHG emissions by the second half of the century – or at least compensating any residual emissions through, for example, forest growth.

A key principle in the Paris Agreement is that no country should backslide on its intentions, which were put forward in climate action plans known as “Nationally Determined Contributions”, or NDCs. The NDCs describe each country’s self-determined strategy for curbing GHG emissions, typically in five- or ten-year periods (i.e., currently until 2025 or 2030). Most also include plans to increase resilience. Individually, NDCs represent each country’s climate priorities and vision for achieving sustainable development. Aggregated, they represent the world’s collective efforts to fight climate change. However current NDCs are estimated to collectively result in a temperature rise of 2.9 to 3.4 degrees C by 2100[3].

 Objective of the Assignment

The assignment main objective is to revise the Afghanistan National Determined Contribution (NDC) which will include 1) Coordinate the support in build political will and societal ownership at national and sub-national levels, 2) Coordinate the effort to review, align, and update existing targets, policies and measures 3) Coordinate the effort to Incorporate new sectors and/or greenhouse gases and Support in build political will and societal ownership at national and sub-national levels

 UNDP works closely with NEPA to revise the Afghanistan NDC. A structured approach to NDC revision, which can be tailored to country context and sectoral priorities, serves as the framework for this assignment.

 B.    Scope of Work

The scope of work for this assignment includes:

 Coordination of the overall effort of the NDC revision with NEPA/UNDP under below scope;

 Whole-of-government approach

·         Support NEPA in inter-Ministerial and sub-national discussions that promote the NDC vision, articulate the benefits of more ambitious NDCs by 2020, aligned with SDGs, and engage key stakeholders in regular policy dialogues

·         Strengthen institutions and coordination mechanisms for NDCs between and among Ministries (e.g. gender, climate/environment, finance, line ministries) in order to ensure integrated and systematic responses, including mainstreaming gender equality within national climate action.

·         Design of participatory and gender sensitive adaptation consultations and dialogues for defining goals and/or priority setting in the NDC at national and subnational level

·         Use existing programmes and processes to provide fora for discussion and building political will, including support to UN Resident Coordinator to advocate for greater climate ambition 

·         Support policy makers with cutting-edge evidence on political and/or economic benefits of ambitious climate action.

 Whole-of-society engagement

·         Open new and strengthen channels and platforms to support a whole-of-society approach with strong engagement with civil society, youth organizations, cities, movements and networks, NGOs, academia, media, parliamentarians, and the private sector. e.g. Ensure that citizen voices directly inform the NDC enhancement through platforms, such as online.

·         Strengthen youth engagement in the NDC enhancement process by: strengthening youth-led climate coalitions at country/regional levels; convening consultations or undertaking surveys with youth constituencies; amplifying and connecting youth-led advocacy campaigns to inform the NDCs and secure buy-in; supporting meaningful youth participation in policy discussions at all levels; organizing NDC-related trainings of public officials led by young people.

·         Engage women's organizations and promote leadership roles for women in climate action.

 Strategy for developing NDC implementation capacities

·         Most governments do not have a complete understanding of the capacities at national and subnational level for NDC implementation, nor what key non-state actors need to meaningfully participate in the NDC process.

·         Conduct institutional capacity assessment to identify critical skills gaps for NDC implementation and define a five-year strategy that builds the foundation and systems needed for NDC revision and implementation.

Review and update NDC targets

·         Set targets and take stock of country’s current progress toward existing NDC targets

·         Update targets in the NDC with the latest and most robust data, information and/or modelling (e.g. renewable energy statistics and data/resource potential assessment tailored to countries/regions, GHG inventory data, climate and disaster risk reduction analyses and assessments)

·         Review existing and/or new relevant policies, strategies and targets in other areas that could be transferred to the NDC (e.g. targets related to biodiversity, energy, end-use sectors such as heating, cooling, transport, adaptation, DRR, the SDGs)

·         Review and/or update elements of the NDC to identify and/or seize opportunities for enhanced ambition, e.g. including: global and sectoral benchmarks for achieving 1.5C as well as long-term targets; national emission projections and sectoral trends, including those for technology; current economic and development trends and other key assumptions; and baseline and scenarios

·         Align private sector initiatives to any new climate targets or goals

·         Ensure NDC targets are fully risk-informed in support of resilient development pathways

·         Development of sectoral roadmaps and long-term plans (e.g. energy sector modelling/planning)

 Policy alignment

·         Ensure consistency between NDC targets and relevant existing and/or new policies, plans and targets (e.g., for nature-based solutions, energy, adaptation, DRR, SDGs)

• Institutional and policy-level stocktaking/review of data on vulnerabilities and risks/analysis of synergies between NPPs (national Priority Programmes), ANPDF, SDGs, NDCs, NDPs and NAPs and gap analysis

·         Align and embed NDC targets/priorities in long-term strategies, sub-national plans and budgets, and/or sectoral plans

·         Provide training on the SDG Climate Action Nexus tool (SCAN-tool) to assess and align countries’ mitigation and adaptation actions to their development targets

·         Promote integrated/aligned approaches to NDC and SDG design and implementation

·         Provide tailored support for design and implementation of policy instruments (e.g. energy transition policies and regulations)

 Inclusive measures

·         Conduct a gender analysis of the NDC to better identify, understand, and describe relevance of gender differences for climate policies and actions proposed in a particular sector, and identify and address gender gaps and structural barriers to advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment

·         Design and incorporate actions in the NDC to empower and capacitate youth, women, indigenous, and other vulnerable groups to be more actively engaged in climate action

·         Assessment of socio-economic impacts of NDC targets/measures (e.g. impact of energy access targets on livelihoods).

·         Identify additional sectors which present opportunities for raising ambition (e.g. energy, water, nature-based solutions, short-lived pollutants, transport, circular economy)

·         Design participatory and gender sensitive adaptation consultations and dialogues for setting sectoral goals and priorities for the NDC (in partnership with FAO, UN-Habitat, UNEP, and others)

 Whole-of-government approach

·         Support regional and sub-regional, inter-Ministerial and sub-national discussions that promote the NDC vision, articulate the benefits of more ambitious NDCs by 2020, aligned with SDGs, and engage key stakeholders in regular policy dialogues

·         Strengthen institutions and coordination mechanisms for NDCs between and among Ministries (e.g. gender, climate/environment, finance, line ministries) in order to ensure integrated and systematic responses, including mainstreaming gender equality within national climate action.

·         Design of participatory and gender sensitive adaptation consultations and dialogues for defining goals and/or priority setting in the NDC at national and subnational level

·         Use existing programmes and processes to provide fora for discussion and building political will, including support to UN Resident Coordinator to advocate for greater climate ambition 

·         Support policy makers with cutting-edge evidence on political and/or economic benefits of ambitious climate action.

 Whole-of-society engagement

·         Open new and strengthen channels and platforms to support a whole-of-society approach with strong engagement with civil society, youth organizations, cities, movements and networks, NGOs, academia, media, parliamentarians, and the private sector. e.g. Ensure that citizen voices directly inform the NDC enhancement through games and online platforms, such as Mission 1.5

·         Strengthen youth engagement in the NDC enhancement process by: strengthening youth-led climate coalitions at country/regional levels; convening consultations or undertaking surveys with youth constituencies; amplifying and connecting youth-led advocacy campaigns to inform the NDCs and secure buy-in; supporting meaningful youth participation in policy discussions at all levels; organizing NDC-related trainings of public officials led by young people.

·         Engage women's organizations and promote leadership roles for women in climate action.

 C.    Expected Outputs and Deliverables

Note: Applicants, both male and female, can submit their documents (CV) to the address of the National Environmental Protection Agency located at: Daralaman, Senatorium Street, behind Lashmani Hospital, to the address of the Human Resources Department of this office, or Send to the following email address.

ccd.nepa@gmail.com