UNDP is seeking to recruit an Individual Consultant to develop the Project Document and CEO ER, and establishment of the Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) system for stakeholder engagement. The MVA framework will help achieve data quality, necessary for reporting on Climate Change as per Paris Agreement (PA) decisions and through the main duties and responsibilities set out below.

Climate change is nowadays a central challenge to people and places around the globe. The costs of inaction are high, and smart solutions can propel economic opportunity, innovation, and greater energy reliability, which are the goals that all humans can embrace. Through the Paris Agreement (PA), the world agreed on a path forward. 196 nations signed the PA and for the first time the world has agreed on mutual action, which rocketed climate change to the top of the list of global issues.

As per the PA, ratifying countries will aim to keep warming well below 2ºC, and for the first time to pursue efforts to limit temperature increases to 1.5ºC. In addition, they can independently decide on how to lower their emissions. This is a significant improvement in comparison to the past actions, since previous attempts at a climate deal required that similar measures are adopted by all signing parties. However, because economies, cultures, and nations differ so greatly, a common denominator was hard to determine and, therefore, achieve. Allowing ratifying countries to determine the best way forward for them, individually, stimulated support for the agreement.

The Article 13 of the PA provides for an enhanced transparency framework aiming to build mutual trust and confidence and to promote effective implementation of the actions identified under the NDCs, i.e. framework for transparency of actions. The transparency provisions and the transformational change approach may pose additional challenges to countries, including Namibia Thus, to address these potential challenges, Article 13 provides clear understanding of climate change action in light of the Convention objectives, includes built-in flexibility, which takes into account Parties’ different capacities, and builds on collective experience, clarity and tracking of progress towards achieving NDCs, including good practices, priorities, needs and gaps.

This is further reinforced through the Article 4 of the PA, which highlights that, in communicating their NDCs, all Parties shall provide information necessary for clarity, transparency and understanding in accordance with decision 1/CP.21. Further, Article 4 requests for full, exhaustive, comparative and robust accountability of the measures and action, the progressions and achievements made determining that each country, except for least developed countries, shall report no less frequently than on a biennial basis their progress towards the implementation of their NDCs.The PA calls for Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) infrastructure that provides information on the measures taken and the support received, provided or accounted for the NDC.

Namibia’s Capacity Building Initiative for Transparency (CBIT) project has an overall objective to enhance Namibia’s institutional and technical capacities to establish a comprehensive Transparency Framework for Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) of climate actions and to report on NDC implementation under the Paris Agreement.  In the absence of MRV framework, the methodologies and tools to enhance transparency as stipulated in Article 13 of the PA will not be met. In addition, Namibia will not be able to put in place an MRV system that will smoothen and facilitate provision of accurate information, monitoring and assessment of the instruments that the country selects to address climate change.  Furthermore, Namibia will not be able to increase ambitions under its NDCs, as there is a major need to improve its institutional capacities and establish sustainable Institutional Arrangements

This work requires engagement with a wide range of different stakeholders and to ensure an adequate level of data quality. To do this, Namibia needs to establish an MRV system with reliable data flows and a robust evidence base for stakeholder engagement. This requires a transparent framework and structures for data exchange and the development of national Methods, Procedures and Guidelines (MPGs) for the appropriate consideration of climate action across all areas of government, private sector and civil society