National Consultant Assessment of Legal, Policy, and Regulatory Enabling Environment at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) helps developing countries attract and use aid effectively. In all our activities, we encourage the protection of human rights, capacity development and the empowerment of women.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: National Consultant Assessment of Legal, Policy, and Regulatory Enabling Environment on Integrated Analyses for a REDD+ Strategy in Nigeria, with focus on Cross River State

Location: Abuja with travel to Cross Rivers State, Nigeria
Type of Contract: Individual Contract
Post Level: National Consultant
Duration of Initial Contract: 30 working days
Expected Duration of Assignment: 30 working days

Background
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) is an international effort to create a financial value for the carbon stored in forests through offering incentives for developing countries to reduce emissions from forested lands and invest in low-carbon paths to sustainable development. REDD+ ("plus") goes beyond deforestation and forest degradation, and includes the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.

Nigeria's forests, which currently extend over 9.6 million hectares, have been rapidly declining over the past decades. The current deforestation rate, estimated at 3.7%, is one of the highest in the world. The Federal Government of Nigeria, reinforced by pioneering efforts from Cross River State, began to engage in REDD+ in 2009 and signed an agreement with the UN-REDD Programme in August 2012.  In February 2015, Nigeria’s REDD+ Readiness Programme was extended through 2016, following two years of stakeholder engagement with little progress towards a REDD+ strategy.  It envisions a two-track approach to achieve REDD+ readiness in Nigeria, based on: (i) the development of institutional and technical capacities at Federal level, and (ii) consolidating four key UNFCCC requirements for REDD Readiness on a pilot basis in Cross River State: the four Warsaw Framework elements of Strategy, Safeguards Information System, Forest Monitoring System, and Forest Reference Levels for carbon.

Nigeria’s REDD "readiness" programme entails the participatory development of a national REDD+ Strategy.  As a pilot state, Cross River State will develop a REDD+ Strategy that will both inform the national strategy and serve as a model for other states. The Strategy will comprise policy reforms, investment priorities, and a related REDD+ implementation framework, with due monitoring and safeguard systems, as called for under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The REDD+ Strategy intends to enhance the value of standing forests and to incentivize sustainable forest management through a multi-stakeholder approach and a green development perspective.
The objective of the Policy, Legal and Regulatory (PLR) analysis is to provide stakeholders at both Federal and CRS levels:

• Practical and innovative PLR interventions to ensure the successful implementation of REDD+ (i.e., short to medium terms arrangements to reduce deforestation);
• Justification for how addressing these PLRs can and would benefit CRS and Nigeria in the long term; and
• Clarification of priority PLR issues development for implementing REDD+.

To achieve these objectives, the consultants will carry out the following specific tasks, among others:

• Review and assess information, literature and studies on key Federal and Cross River State (CRS) policies, laws, regulatory frameworks and instruments in the land use sectors as well as sectors that are linked to the successful implementation of REDD+;
• Review recent and past efforts to identify policy and legal (indirect) drivers of deforestation and forest degradation.Identify gaps or weaknesses in these efforts and the follow-up analysis needed.This will build on the Participatory Governance Assessment and the Drivers Study.This will include assessing the status of REDD+, forest carbon and (in coordination with the finance analysis) forest carbon finance policy and legal frameworks in Nigeria;
• Summarize local, state and national policy and legal framework(s) relevant for REDD+ implementation, including roles and responsibilities of the different levels of government;
• Review existing definitions of carbon ownership and how these relate to different categories of land rights or other rights issues/concerns (with focus on local communities and forest reserves/protected areas) related to REDD+ readiness;
• Based on the review conducted under the above points, identify and assess gaps in PLR instruments and frameworks that may affect the implementation of the REDD+ (e.g. conflicting policies);
• Identify forest and other sector policies and processes that are being or should be considered and aligned with the climate change policy framework, such as agriculture, land use, property rights/land tenure, etc.

Provide recommendations or proposals on:

• How to optimize policy, legal and regulatory instruments (e.g., policy harmonization) to ensure effective and robust implementation of REDD+ including on financing, benefit sharing, safeguards, carbon rights, conflict management, forest governance, measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) systems, and Reference Emission Levels/Reference Levels amongst others;
• In recognition that some policy or actions may require time to adjust—practical and innovative PLR interventions to ensure the successful implementation of REDD+ at both Federal and CRS levels (that is, short to medium terms arrangements to be undertaken to achieve the designed goals in reducing deforestation);
• Provide clear reasoning and justification through the evidence-based analytical work on how addressing these PLRs can and would benefit CRS and Nigeria in the long term to promote REDD+ (i.e., feasibility, risks, and sustainability of the proposed interventions); and
• In collaboration with other consultants identify and formulate priority PLR issues that will eventually feed into an issues and options report and a future CRS and Federal REDD+ Strategy.

• Advanced Degree in Law/Environmental Law and a Degree or equivalent experience in a Natural Resource - or Development-related subject.

• At least 7 years of experience that aligns with the technical requirements of the assignment;
• Demonstrated experience of similar consultancies (to be verified through traceable records);
• Experience, and knowledge of the REDD+ mechanism, with evidence of similar work in other countries preferred;
• Experience in Africa;
• Experience with the United Nations system preferred;
• Demonstrated experience in drafting reports and action plans.

• Good interpersonal skills;
• Excellent writing skills;
• Ability to work in a multicultural environment;
• Excellent Team building skills.