WEC Background:
UNOPS Water and Energy Cluster (WEC) supports the design and management of multi-stakeholder initiatives by providing services in financial and grant management, procurement, human resources, and project management. The cluster has supported projects in the areas of water resource management, climate change adaptation, mitigation and transparency, energy access and distribution, and environmental conservation under the Paris Agreement. The WEC has also supported operations and financial management services, in Vienna, the rest of the ECR region, and beyond. The main partners include UN agencies, bilateral agreements (with the Nordics, Germany, and Italy), the Green Climate Fund, and several NGOs (such as CIFF and CWF).
The NDC Partnership:
The NDC Partnership is a global coalition of countries and institutions collaborating to drive transformational climate action through sustainable development. In 2015, the world endorsed the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Nations signal their commitments to the Paris Agreement through Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) - each country’s strategy to cut its own greenhouse gas emissions and build resilience against the negative effects of a changing climate. The Partnership advances the goals of the Paris Agreement by bringing together nearly 200 countries and institutions in new ways to accelerate NDC implementation and enhance ambition over time. The Partnership’s work through 120 partners supporting almost 80 countries produces many examples of impact, lessons learned and ideas for the future. The Partnership is governed by a Steering Committee, co-chaired by two country representatives. The Partnership’s work is facilitated by a Support Unit based at World Resources Institute in Washington DC and the UNFCCC Secretariat in Bonn, Germany. UNOPS supports the NDC Partnership and its Support Unit through the Water, Environment and Climate (WEC).
Country Context
Ethiopia has submitted its second updated NDC (2021-2030) to UNFCCC in July 2021 that aims to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 68.8 percent by 2030 through supporting climate mitigation actions in the sectors of agriculture (livestock and managed soils), land use change and forestry, energy, industry and waste sectors. Moreover, the revised NDC builds upon several national climate and development policy initiatives including the first NDC, the emerging 2050 Long Term Low Emission Development Strategy (LT-LEDS), the Green Legacy Initiative, and Ethiopia’s 10-Year Development Plan (10YDP) which considers CRGE as one of its strategic pillars for the period 2020-2030. The finance required for implementing the updated NDC is estimated at USD 316 billion (87 % for mitigation and about 13 % for adaptation) with 20% of the total resources planned to be domestically financed while the remaining 80% shall be financed by international support.
Ethiopia has put in place multifaceted institutional architecture to implement its climate strategies and plans and main institutions responsible for implementing CRGE/NDC are those entities responsible for priority economic sectors, i.e., Agriculture, Forestry, Water and energy, Mining, Transport, Industry, and Construction and urban development. Following the restructuring of public institutions in October 2021, the Ministry of Planning and Development (MoPD) of the Federal Government of Ethiopia has been mandated as the lead institution for coordinating national climate actions and the focal point (FP) and main interface between Ethiopia and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and Nationally Designated Authority (NDA) for Green Climate Fund (GCF), Global Environment Facility (GEF), and Adaptation Fund (AF).
MoPD has established an Environment and Climate Change Main Department (ECCMD) and developed a revised national guideline on new institutional governance and Coordination systems and structures. ECCMD will serve as climate arm of MoPD to lead on its new national climate mandate including coordination of climate change international negotiation and communication, planning and implementation of climate policy and strategy initiatives such as the updated NDC implementation and LT-LED Strategy, ensuring national compliance to the UNFCCC's requirements (such as the enhanced transparency framework), and mainstreaming climate into the sectoral development plans and budgeting processes.
To strengthen the technical capacity of the newly established Environment and Climate Change Main Department (ECCMD), MoPD has requested the NDC Partnership for a short-term assignment of a Climate Change and Environment Policy Advisor that will be embedded within the MoPD ECCMD team.
* This is a Homebased position, and therefore the incumbent will need to use his/her own laptop and software.
** As this is a Local Position, in order to be eligible, the incumbent should be a national of Ethiopia or have a valid residence permit in the Country.