![](https://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/images/undp-jobs-logo.jpg)
NOTE: Signed Offeror’s Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and availability – https://www.ba.undp.org/content/dam/bosnia_and_herzegovina/docs/Operations/Jobs/Offerors%20Letter%20to%20UNDP%20Confirming%20Interest%20and%20Availability.docx – Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability.docx – to be sent to e-mail ba.shared.hr@undp.org with Subject: Job ID 101721.
Within the Capacity Building Initiative for Transparency (CBIT) initiative the UNDP BiH aims to enable Bosnia and Herzegovina to develop its capacity to meet the requirements of the transparency framework under the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. The project will attain higher-level change by contributing to the achievement of environmental objectives in BiH in three ways: strengthening institutions to improve monitoring and reporting praxis, establishing a domestic climate change MRV system, and improving information that forms the basis for GHG inventories and the NDC. Specifically, the capacity development efforts under this project and its emphasis on strengthening and harmonizing legislation on MRV will contribute to an enhanced legal and strategic framework for sustainable management of natural, cultural and energy resources (as stated under Outcome 5 of UNDAF 2015-2019 for Bosnia and Herzegovina). They will also support progress under SDG 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts, particularly Target 13.2, which focuses on integrate climate change measures into policies, strategies, and planning, and Target 13.3, which focuses on improving human and institutional capacity for climate change mitigation and adaptation.
To achieve this desired change, the Project will support the country in several ways. It will strengthen relevant legislation, including secondary legislation, it will support coordination among MRV institutions, it will design and launch an MRV system for reporting under Article 13 that can also support other environmental reporting commitments, it will strengthen the GHG inventory of BiH and its NDC, it will integrate gender considerations into MRV, and it will support a regional peer exchange.
European Commission introduced “Staff Working Document (SWD)” outlines in more detail the actions related to the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans included in the Communication on an Economic and Investment Plan for the Western Balkans adopted by the European Commission (Guidelines for the Implementation of the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans, Brussels, 6.10.2020 SWD 223).
It further details the five pillars of the Green Agenda: (1) climate action, including decarbonisation, energy and mobility, (2) circular economy, addressing in particular waste, recycling, sustainable production and efficient use of resources, (3) biodiversity, aiming to protect and restore the natural wealth of the region, (4) fighting pollution of air, water and soil and (5) sustainable food systems and rural areas. Digitalisation will be a key enabler for the above five pillars in line with the concept of the dual green and digital transition. The objectives of these pillars should be pursued through concrete actions and supported by mechanisms and financial instruments.
As well as its serious impact on the environment and people, climate change is one of the biggest threats to economic stability. Heatwaves make us less able to work and reduce productivity. Hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons devastate millions of people, leaving them in absolute poverty after ruthlessly sweeping away their communities. Droughts shrink harvests, further complicating the arduous task of feeding the world population, which is expected to reach 10 billion by 2050 (World Population Prospects 2019, United Nations Organisation). The World Bank is warning: if we don’t do something immediately, climate change could push 100 million more people into poverty by 2030.
Increasing number of studies and activities show that measures aimed at dealing with global climate change are a golden opportunity for ensuring sustainable development and driving economic growth. As explained by the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate (GCEC) adopting ambitious climate measures may generate profits of USD$26 billion by 2030, creating 65 million new jobs with low carbon emissions.
In order to unlock the economic potential of the green, low-carbon, and circular economy, address and curb the main drivers of climate change, the Leaders Western Balkan countries confirmed their determination to work towards improving the well-being of Western Balkan citizens through joining the EU’s efforts in fighting climate change. Leaders of Western Balkans countries gathered in Sofia on 10th November 2020 and to acknowledge and adopted so called Sofia Declaration on the Green Agenda by recalling the conclusions of the Berlin Process Summit in Poznan in July 2019, in which they expressed common willingness and readiness to meaningfully contribute to an ambitious Green Agenda, to concur to the leading efforts of the EU in fighting climate change, protecting the environment and to unlock the economic potential of the green, low carbon and circular economy in the region.
The mail role of legal expert would be to analyze legal aspects of Sofia declaration and regulatory framework in BiH and what should be done (along with local and international economist) in order to improve business environment and boost investment in environment area.