Consultant - Legal and Policy Framework for National REDD+

The REDD+ mechanism is a mechanism to create incentives to protect, better manage and wisely use forest resources, in line with the global fight against climate change. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is now taking the lead to develop a National Framework for REDD+ that includes the policy, legal and institutional components for REDD+, exploring and providing recommendations on sustainable funding mechanism for REDD+ implementation, as well as improving capacity and stakeholder participation in REDD+ management. The framework will build upon on-going best practices being undertaken in managing the forest, and will enable decision makers to make informed decisions related to REDD+ based on national and international circumstances, taking various costs and benefits into consideration. Activities carried out through this project must ‘do no harm’, and contribute to improving livelihoods.  The rationale behind introducing a REDD+ mechanism is to make protection of forest and carbon stocks a viable option.

The project will be implemented by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, NRE. Component 2 of this initiative will result in a Draft National Legal Framework for REDD+, to be endorsed by the already established National Committee on REDD+.  A consultant for Component 2 is needed to implement the scope of works, activities and provide the deliverables in its entirety, as outlined in this document.

Applicants for this assignment a consultant are encouraged to familiarise themselves with the TOR for the Component 2 so that the whole and individual scope of work for Component 2 is understood.

The role of the consultant is to execute and manage the particular project component and finally produce the below deliverables.

The consultant will work closely with the project team, consisting of the REDD+ Unit within the Ministry, the project manager, and consultants for the other two project components. A separate group of technical advisors from relevant government agencies is established to assist the consultant to cover specialist input regarding the institutional framework for REDD+ implementation in Malaysia.

The Consultant will also be required to coordinate and validate the technical issues related to the tasks involved for the project component in conjunction with the project manager as well as the other consultants and parties engaged.  The person will be needed to prepare reports, presentations, and lessons learned, as needed, and present relevant documentation for capacity building of other project partners and stakeholders. The person will have to coordinate the work of the sub-committee under the Technical Committee on REDD+ implementation which is set up to advice on the development of the legal and policy framework for REDD+ implementation.

He/She will be based at NRE.

• Submission of baseline report which will consist of the following: A comprehensive study on legal and policy framework for forestry and land use issues related to generation of revenues from forest carbon and ecosystem services;  Stock taking and summary on regional lessons learned on legal and policy frameworks for REDD+ implementation
• Report on national laws, policy and governance to include the following: Review if existing laws are sufficient to ensure REDD+ implementation be monetized in Malaysia; Review if national policy and governance would enable REDD+ implementation;   Proposal of amendments/ additions to enable REDD+ implementation in Malaysia.
• Submission of stakeholders’ consultation report which will include:  Conduct stakeholders consultations and solicit inputs through extensive correspondences, meetings and 2 workshops;  Coordinate inputs from the technical committee set up to advice on the legal framework for REDD+ implementation; Maintain networks and manage relationships with Malaysia’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment representatives, partners, implementers, universities and other stakeholders involved in REDD+ readiness activities in Malaysia;  Generate buy-in and consensus among partners for the national institutional framework for REDD+ implementation being developed; 
• Submission of the Final Draft recommendation paper for National Policy and Legal Framework for REDD+ implementation, and propose the way forward on how to address gaps (if any) for REDD+ implementation.

• Extensive knowledge in the field of environmental law or public law;
• Fluency in written and spoken English and Bahasa Malayu;
• Outstanding time-management, organizational and inter-personal skills;
• Excellent report writing skills;
• Excellent computer literacy.

Education:
The consultant shall have at least:

• An Advanced Degree Environmental Law, Public Law, Forestry law or any other relevant science-based background; Bachelor degree with extensive experience can be considered as well;
• A professional qualification or be a member of an acknowledged professional organization or society is preferred.

Experience:
The consultant requires knowledge and experience of:

• At least 10 years of extensive working experience of public law in the field of forestry or environmental law development or implementation, preferably under different government authorities;
• Experience with coordinating stakeholder inputs;
• Extensive knowledge of successfully implemented  environmental policies at federal and state level;
• Experience in project financing and funding management;
• Experience in REDD+ or forestry related initiatives;
• Knowledge of the Malaysian government structure and roles of federal and state authorities related to land use;
• Experience in or ability to perform programme monitoring and evaluation for policy making support;
• Ability to compile and consolidate technical training materials and develop training courses for information dissemination and capacity development for the local industry players;
• Excellent command of the English and Bahasa Malaysia in writing, reading and speaking.

DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

• Proposal – Provide a brief methodology on how they will approach and conduct the work. The methodology must address all aspects of the TOR, implementation schedule, quality assurance measures if applicable;
• Financial proposal – Based on the deliverable and terms of payment, please provide a financial proposal;
• Personal CV and UN P11 (https://sas.undp.org/Documents/P11_Personal_history_form.docx) including past experience in similar projects and at least 2 references.

Incomplete applications will NOT be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials