TEEB Lao GCF EBA Valuation Research Assistant Consultant

Result of Service1. Identification of relevant ecosystem services provided by EBA scenarios in four cities in Lao PDR 2. Comprehensive database to enable spatially explicit economic valuation of at least two EBA scenarios in each of the four study cities, which quantifies priority provisioning, regulating, and cultural ecosystem services relative to a “do-nothing” scenario. Work LocationHome Based Expected duration6 months Duties and ResponsibilitiesOrganizational Setting: The United Nations Environment Programme is the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment. 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. UNEP Ecosystems Division works with international and national partners, providing technical assistance and capacity development for the implementation of environmental policy, and strengthening the environmental management capacity of developing countries and countries with economies in transition. The consultant will work for the Economics of Nature (TEN) Unit in the Ecosystems Division to contribute to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) project Building Resilience of Urban Populations in Lao PDR. The project is being implemented by the Lao Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) and managed by a team of Ministry representatives, national consultants, and UNEP staff. UNEP-TEN has been contracted to make the economic case for EBA and guide decision making around implementation of EBA measures by valuing their associated ecosystem services. The consultant will report to the TEEB Coordinator and Head of the Economics of Nature Unit (TEN) in the Ecosystems Division. Background: With financing from GCF, Lao PDR is undertaking efforts build urban resilience to climate change in four cities: Kaisorn, Paksan, Pakse, and Vientiane. Through capacity building, technical assistance, and multi-lateral planning and decision making, the five-year project aims to advise and encourage the adoption of plans and interventions to increase urban resilience to flooding. Under a cooperation agreement with the UNEP Climate Change Adaptation Unit, UNEP-TEN contributes to this project by demonstrating the utility of ecosystem-service valuation so that decision makers can recognize the societal value of natural ecosystems and adopt NBS and EBA measures to build urban resilience. Ecosystem services valuation is a tool to ensure that the decision-making process accounts for the benefits natural systems provide to society. Economic valuation of ecosystem services incorporates considerations of equity and sustainability in decision making processes and helps to identify and resolve the trade-offs inherent to urban development and management of ecosystems. Ecosystem management plans often result in net gains for some sections of society and net losses for others. For example, forest conservation might increase carbon sequestration (a global benefit) but as a result, local populations might be deprived of access to the forest and be unable to access services, like timber and non-timber forest products, as a result. Similarly, for floodplain wetland ecosystems, their conversion might increase the availability of land for agriculture and industrial uses, but ecosystem services like bioremediation, water storage and biodiversity may be lost, impacting the residents who depend upon them. Nature-based Solutions (NBS) are actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural or modified ecosystems in ways that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, to provide both human well-being and biodiversity benefits (IUCN 2016). Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EBA) is the use of biodiversity and ecosystem services as part of an overall adaptation strategy to help people to adapt to the adverse effects of climate change (CBD 2009). EBA and NBS both refer to actions, measures, or interventions that conserve or restore nature, with an aim to ensure or augment the provision of ecosystem services. Ecosystem-services valuation can be used to compare the costs and benefits of NBS and EBA measures and compare development scenarios that include NBS to those that do not. For any ecosystem service, its societal value is the discounted net present value of the flow of future expected benefits. By estimating this net present value, decision-makers can see how the marginal benefit, for example of conservation of urban or coastal wetlands, equates with the marginal costs of conservation or restoration. Duties and Responsibilities: Summary: For four cities in Lao PDR, identify the benefits (ecosystem services) people receive from ecosystems and NBS, and collect and prepare data to enable the economic valuation of ecosystem services and EBA scenarios. The objective of this consultancy is to identify relevant ecosystem services and collect and analyze data to enable the valuation of EBA scenarios for four cities in Lao PDR, to guide decision making around implementation of EBA measures. This data collection and analysis will build on the baseline study “Economic Valuation of Ecosystem Services from Urban Wetlands in Lao PDR under Climate Change” conducted in 2021/2022. The Economic Valuation Research Assistant Consultant will collaborate with the Lead Valuation Consultant to determine the relevant ecosystem services to be valued, identify the data requirements, data availability and data gaps to value these services, and co-develop a strategy for secondary and primary data collection. Secondary data will be obtained from ecosystem management plans, spatial hydrological assessments, government reports and databases, and GIS layers developed for the four study sites under other components of the project. Primary data will be collected by survey and field measurement, if necessary. The Research Assistant consultant will also participate in the co-development of specific EBA scenarios and NBS measures with UNEP staff and Lao stakeholders. Relevant economic valuation methods will be selected for each identified ecosystem service taking account of data availability, resource and time constraints. For the valuation of provisioning services (e.g., fish), market price or net factor income methods may be applied; for regulating services (e.g., flood water regulation, climate regulation), the avoided damage cost method may be applied; for cultural services (e.g., recreation), stated preference methods may be applied. The valuation is likely to require collecting data via surveys of local households and may require field assessments. In cases where primary valuation is not feasible, data from previous studies may be used. The UNEP consultant will: Participate in the co-development of specific EBA scenarios and NBS measures with UNEP staff and Lao stakeholders Liaise with Lead Valuation Consultant and/or UNEP-TEN staff to identify the ecosystem services that could be impacted by these EBA scenarios Work with Lead Valuation Consultant and/or UNEP-TEN staff to determine data requirements for valuation of EBA scenarios Scope and plan data collection for a valuation of ecosystem services provided by EBA scenarios in four cities Locate the data required to conduct a spatially-explicit assessment of the benefits of EBA measures, including existing maps and spatial data layers from reports, cost estimates from management plans and public works departments, etc., and translate a description of the data to English. Work with lead valuation consultant to organize data to enable estimation of the marginal economic value of ecosystem services due to the EBA measures, relative to a do-nothing option that accounts for projected climate change impacts. Qualifications/special skillsAn advanced university degree in Economics, Applied or Environmental Economics, Environmental Policy, or a related field is required. A first university degree with a combination of two (2) years professional and academic qualifications may be accepted in lieu of the advanced degree. A minimum of two (2) years of professional working experience in the field of economic assessment, ecosystem services modeling, ecosystem services valuation, or ecosystem-based adaptation assessment is required. An understanding of the political economy of environment and development planning in Lao PDR is required. LanguagesEnglish and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this position fluency in oral and written English and Lao is required. Additional InformationNot available. No FeeTHE 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.