PES and Environmental Charges Expert

Organizational Setting

With funding from the UN-REDD Programme trust fund donors and the government of Luxembourg, FAO is supporting work the Government of Lao PDR in streamlining fees and charges in the forestry sector, particularly through a feasibility study for a Payment for Forest Environmental Services scheme. In May 2024, with support by FAO/UN-REDD an exchange visit was organized in Viet Nam. DoF presented the outcomes of this exchange to the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF), which were further reported to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The PMO issued Notification Letter No. 1482/PMO on July 30, 2024 and approved a pilot PfES program. Responding to the Prime Minister's direction, MAF issued Agreement No. 4977/MAF on October 10, 2024, to form a PfES Steering Committee and Technical Working Group (TWG). The Committee and TWG are tasked to develop a workplan, conduct consultations, review legal frameworks, measure impact to the hydropower sector and government’s budget, coordinate with government agencies and the private sector.

In fact, PfES is mentioned in the 2019 Forestry law. The Forestry Law also alludes to other fees and charges that are payable to the government. These include, technical service fees, royalties, forest resource fees, lease or concession fees, taxes, fines and fees for the compensation for damage to forests, forestland and forest resources, and breaking this down, forestland conversion fees, biodiversity compensation fees, [compensatory] tree [and NTFP] planting cost, reforestation costs, and land reclamation costs. The implementation of these fees collection are not fully known, but understood to be patchy. In parallel to the development and roll out of PfES, DOF requested FAO/UN-REDD to review other forestry sector fees and charges with the objective of streamlining the different charges and efficiently and effectively collecting due charges and fees.  

The “Feasibility study and assessment on the potential for Payment for forest Environmental Service (PfES) and improving the fee collection in the forestry sector” assignment is a technical assistance to the Department of Forestry being delivered in partnership between FAO and GIZ. The assignment comprises a package of six tasks to be delivered through a team of experts hired by FAO and GIZ. The six tasks include the following, where Tasks 1, 2 and 3 are focused on all fees and charges identified in the Forestry Law and all payer typologies; whereas Tasks 4, 5 and 6 are focused on PfES charges and payer typologies i) hydropower sector, ii) drinking water/beverage industry, iii) eco-tourism and iv) forest plantation sector. 
1.    Task 1 Legal framework review
2.    Task 2 Assessment of forestry fees and charges implementation practices
3.    Task 3 Frame of definitions and objectives of charges/fees
4.    Task 4 Insights from other countries and Viet Nam
5.    Task 5 Feasibility and potential study
6.    Task 6 Draft legal framework
Annex A describes the full scope of the assignment including the full package of six tasks. 
The “Feasibility study and assessment on the potential for Payment for forest Environmental Service (PfES) and improving the fee collection in the forestry sector” assignment will be delivered through a team of experts (consultants) hired by FAO and GIZ, including Lao national experts, Vietnam specialized experts, and the incumbent (PES expertise).

Reporting Lines

The incumbent will work under the overall coordination and technical supervision of the international expert in the team.  

The expert team:  

1)    Lao national expert on Lao environment legal framework 
2)    Lao national expert on hydropower sector  
3)    Vietnamese expert on environment and finance 
4)    Vietnamese expert on Viet Nam’s PfES experience 
5)    Expert on PES and environmental charges, for oversight and overall quality control for all tasks (incumbent)

 
The incumbent will report to the FAO Representative (FAOR) for Lao PDR through the Halting Deforestation and Climate Change Expert, in close coordination with the National Coordinator of UN-REDD Lao PDR. .The incumbent will work  in close coordination with a team from FAO, GIZ and government counterparts, to ensure coherence and timely coordination of activities.  The assignment does not involve development law work under FAO's responsibility; should any such legal matters arise during implementation, the FAO country team will liaise with the Development Law Service of the Legal Office (LEGN) for approval, supervision and validation,

Technical Focus

The technical focus of the PES and environmental charges Expert will be to provide technical oversight on all 6 tasks under the package of tasks, and in addition, compiling a coherent final documentation of the entire set of tasks. To provide technical oversight, the incumbent will be expected to review all plans and draft documentation and deliver quality control and assurance prior to the final submission of deliverables to FAO. The incumbent will substantively engage in the delivery of tasks 4 and 5 in addition to the oversight of the other tasks.

Tasks and responsibilities

The following tasks and responsibilities are expected from the incumbent, bearing in mind that the package of tasks will ultimately be carried out through team work, and therefore requires some flexibility in adapting to the expertise and skillsets brought forward by different team members. (Indicative number of days per task mentioned.)

•     Task 1 (3 days): The incumbent will provide oversight in the review of the existing Lao legal framework to organize the definition of the different fees and charges in the forestry sector including, the terms of payment (payers, basis for determining rates, timing of payment, collection regimes, and use of the collected fees) (forestry law and other decrees, sectoral by-laws). The fees and charges are those depicted in Annex A according to the forestry law. The incumbent will also provide oversight for the Viet Nam reference table for organizing fees/charges as defined in existing legal framework including (but not limited to) the information parameters listed in Appendix 2 of Annex A.  

•     Task 2 (3 days): The incumbent will provide oversight and support the expert team in an assessment to study how environmental fees and charges are currently being collected and managed. This will involve engaging directly with key government institutions to gather information that can help answer practical questions such as: What is the success rate of fee collection (by payer type and scale)? How are payments made – in cash or in kind (e.g. through infrastructure improvements)? And where are payments made, including which institutions receive them and how funds are distributed? This work will rely on interviews and official data collection from entities such as the Forest Protection Fund (FPF), Environmental Protection Fund (EPF), and the Ministry of Finance—particularly from the Department of State Budget and the Department of State Assets—at both central and sub-national levels, focusing on data from the past five years. In parallel, coordinate closely with the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Inspection under MONRE to access information regarding the implementation of environmental obligations by projects and companies, as specified in their Environmental Management Plans (EMPs) and Concession Agreements (CAs). To facilitate access to these official reports, the PfFES Steering Committee, through the Department of Forestry (DOF) as the lead agency, will submit formal requests through appropriate official channels.

•     Task 3 (3 days): The incumbent will coordinate and provide technical input to the expert team in  developing a proposed frame of definitions and objectives  for forestry fees and charges, including the rationale for payment, use and collection regimes. The work will draw on the findings of the expert team, including inputs from designated legal specialists, to address overlaps, inconsistences and gaps, with reference to relevant frameworks and practices, such as those of Viet Nam. Responsibility for legal interpretation will rest with the designated legal experts.  

•     Task 4 (10 days): The incumbent will lead in summarizing key lessons and insights from international experiences (such as Costa Rica and other relevant countries) that have adopted national or jurisdictional approaches to Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) or environmental taxation. Include references and links to supporting materials. For the key lessons and insights from Viet Nam, the incumbent will provide oversight to the Viet Nam expert. 
    
•     Task 5 (15 days): The incumbent will support assessment of the impact and feasibility of the fees recommended in Task 3. This will involve two main components: i) Estimating the potential volume of fee collection (or the required amount), and ii) Evaluating the feasibility of payment through a combination of interviews and analytical review. As part of the feasibility assessment, case studies of 3 to 5 representative payer company types—using the typology outlined in the indicative matrix in Annex A Appendix 1—will be carried out. These case studies will help illustrate the potential financial burden of the proposed fees and assess both the capacity and willingness of companies to pay.

•     Task 6 (3 days): Finally, the incumbent will provide coordination and technical support to the expert team drafting a document for PFES roll-out in Lao PDR. The nature and content of the document will be the responsibility of  the PFES steering committee members and proposed.

•     Compilation of documentation (10 days): The incumbent will be responsible for ensuring a final coherent set of documentation of the entire package of tasks and deliverables, and draft road map outline on piloting PfES (ie., deliverables in English language).

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

•     Advanced university degree in natural resource management, climate-finance, or related discipline
•     At least 7 years of relevant experience in forestry and natural resource or related to PES design and sustainable financing.
•     Full proficiency/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 advising governments and development agencies in forestry and climate finance. 
•     Familiarity with PES schemes, biodiversity offsets, or REDD finance. 
•     Excellent communication, policy writing, and stakeholder engagement.