Result of Service
The main objective of the consultancy is to develop the final version of the GEO-Ecuador report, including editing, proof reading and graphic design of its digital version to be published on the MAATE institutional website.
Work Location
Home-based
Expected duration
3 months
Duties and Responsibilities
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) 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.
The UNEP Latin America and the Caribbean Office (LACO), located in Panama City, works closely with the 33 countries of the region and its activities are integrated into the Medium-Term Strategy and the Programme of Work approved by the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA).
Since 1995, UNEP has been conducting an ambitious integrated environmental assessment project known as GEO (Global Environment Outlook). GEO reports have an established methodology to detect trends in the state of the environment and to monitor progress towards the achievement of environmental policy targets. The GEO methodology employs a matrix of the Driver Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) indicators to answer these questions as an analytical instrument that permits factors that act on the environment to be organized and grouped in a logical manner. It shows how urbanization affects the environment because of factors that put pressure on local natural resources and ecosystems, as well as action taken by local society and government to confront the problems caused by human activities.
In parallel with the production of GEOs at global, regional, national and city level, UNEP has been promoting the use and implementation of indicator frameworks to strengthen the national and regional environmental information systems and networks, enhance the capacity of countries to keep the Science-Policy, and promote a more effective and widespread use of environmental data and information in policy and decision making.
Since 2015 UNEP has taken the role of custodian agency for 25 core environment indicators for Goals 6, 8, 12, 14, 15, and 17 in the global framework for the 2030 Agenda. In this capacity UNEP provides the methodologies used to harmonize country data for international comparability and produce estimates through transparent mechanisms and supports the strengthening of data collection and statistical capacity-building.
The Ministerio del Ambiente, Agua y Transición Ecológica (MAATE) of Ecuador is the governing body of environmental and water resources management in the country and has the responsibility to coordinate the preparation of the National Report on the State of the Environment.
Its objectives are:
To provide access to the best scientific knowledge to generates support for environmental governance and to make evident its links to both the social and economic dimension through agreed development goals.
To facilitate the interaction between science and public policy through multidimensional and multiscale processes, elaborating products of high credibility and legitimacy.
As a global process, the GEO fits in Ecuador´s national political instruments for it states and analyses key concerns that require to be addressed through a multisector approach: what changes are operating on the environment, what are the causes and the effects of these changes in terms of ecological integrity and human heath, what is being done by different sectors and how effective are the measures, what should be done to shift to a more sustainable future
Based on the robust GEO methodology the report addresses all these issues structuring its contents in chapters covering Air, Land & soils, Freshwater, Biodiversity, Oceans, and other component relevant to the environmental policies of Ecuador.
Through a first intervention funded by UNEP (October 2021-March 2022), MAATE developed the structure and contents of all the chapters included in the national GEO, including all the visual material supporting the narrative (charts, figures, and tables) and main sources of information, indicators and data to be used in the report.
1.1 Explain the requirement for a consultant / individual
UNEP will support MAATE in the preparation of the final edited version of the GEO and its publication, as digital document, on the institutional webspace of the ministry. The incumbent will be supervised by the Programme Officer of the Sub-programme Science-Policy of UNEP Latin America and the Caribbean Office (Javier Neme).
The Consultant will be based in Ecuador and expected to work 40 hours per week indicatively from 8 am to 5 pm at the premises of MAATE, Calle Madrid y Andalucía, Quito – Ecuador.
Specific tasks and responsibilities:
Under the supervision of the Programme Officer, UNEP Latin America and the Caribbean Office, the consultant will perform the following tasks:
- Liaise with UNEP and provide administrative and technical coordination for the preparation of the GEO. Participate in meetings and technical workshops organized by UNEP and/or MAATE about GEO-Ecuador.
- Contribute to identify, collect, consolidate, process, validate, analyse and interpret, in order to prepare the final document of the GEO – Ecuador.
- Ensure coordination amongst all GEO’s stakeholders and contributors during the editing phase of all chapters to ensure consistency of the narrative, including facilitate the activity of the Working Group established by MAATE for the production of the GEO as well as support MAATE in the coordination of meetings and workshops to identify any new material it might be needed to include in the report.
Qualifications/special skills
Academic qualifications:
Bachelor´s degree Environmental Science, Environmental Analysis for Sustainable Development, Environmental Data and Statistics and related areas is required.
Master’s degree in environmental sciences or related fields is desirable.
Experience:
A minimum of four years of progressively responsible professional experience in Environmental Science, Environmental Analysis for Sustainable Development, Environmental Data and Statistics (required).
Knowledge and understanding of theories, concepts and approaches relevant to indicators frameworks to monitor the implementation of the Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals, Multilateral Environmental Agreements and other relevant international treaties and conventions (desirable).
Special Knowledge and Skills:
Knowledge of the GEO Methodology and DPSIR framework is desirable.
Languages
Language requirements:
English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the consultancy, fluency in oral and written Spanish is required.
Knowledge of English is desirable.
No Fee
THE 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.
