Terms of Reference “Gold Standard Accreditation consultancy services”.

Introduction

The Aga Khan Agency for Habitat’s (AKAH) goal is that people live in safe, sustainable, and resilient habitats with the opportunity to thrive, whether in a remote mountain village, a town, or a densely populated urban centre. It works with communities to help them prepare for and respond to natural disasters and the effects of climate change. AKAH also works to expand access to services and opportunities for people to improve their life. AKAH helps communities prepare for the worst; provides immediate relief after disaster strikes, and helps build back better and greener while planning for a better future.

Established in 2016, AKAH brings together several AKDN agencies and programs that had been working on habitat and disaster preparedness and relief since the 1990s, including Focus Humanitarian Assistance, the Aga Khan Planning and Building Services, the Disaster Risk Management Initiative and the Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan Fund for the Environment.

Background to Gold Standard Accreditation

Gold Standard works to create a climate secure world where sustainable growth brings life-changing benefits to communities everywhere. Gold Standard’s role as a standard and certification body is to maximize the impact of climate and development activities. This platform was designed with the strongest processes that amplify the impact of efforts to deliver clean energy and water, responsibly manage land and forests, and transform the lives of the world’s poor. The Gold Standard then verifies those outcomes, inspiring greater confidence that drives investment to accomplish even more. Gold Standard was established in 2003 by WWF and other international NGOs as a best practice standard to ensure projects that reduced carbon emissions under the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) also delivered on their dual mandate to foster sustainable development. Now with more than 80 NGO supporters and 1100 projects in over 70 countries, those projects have delivered billions of dollars in climate and development outcomes in local communities all around the world.

Job description

AKAH is seeking a qualified independent consultant as part of our Gold Standard certification process for the technical review and getting the Gold Standard certificate. The experts will be allocated technical project reviews on a part-time and as-needed basis. The expert will review the process for obtaining gold standard accreditation, the documents required, and the approach needed for obtaining gold standard accreditation.

Primary responsibilities:

Perform detailed technical review of climate change & reforestation/deforestation projects from various sources should be submitted for Gold Standard certification. The reviews will include, the program of activities reviews, pre-feasibility assessments, registration reviews (including internal validation), issuance reviews (including internal verification), design change reviews, and review of the renewal of crediting periods.

Education

• Bachelors, Masters, and Ph.D. degrees in environmental science or similar discipline degree in an environmental subject, ideally concerning climate change studies.

• Priority will be given to any professional qualifications or training related to Green House Gas (GHG) certification and audit work.

Experience

Minimum 6-7 years of professional experience post education in a carbon offset project development, audit, or certification capacity. Experience with the Gold Standard Requirements is highly desirable. Required Skill Sets In addition to the educational and experience requirements noted above candidates are expected to demonstrate a high level of competence in the following areas:

Required Skill

• Understanding and ability to quickly learn about a variety of project-related issues such as economics, environment, social, and development

• Personal and professional integrity and the commitment to protecting the integrity and reputation of the Gold Standard Foundation

• Deep understanding of carbon projects and carbon markets and proficiency in the technical approach to carbon project development 2

• Attention to detail, thoroughness, and sound judgment

• Commitment and ability to meet all deadlines and to respond to priority issues in a short time-frame .

• Familiarity with climate change reporting frameworks (e.g. GHG Protocol, SBTi, etc.)

• Strong quantitative and qualitative analytical skills

• Works independently and on schedule

• Fluent in English (written and oral)

The main responsibility to follow the steps with the registration procedure in the GS platform:

• Check the requirement and guidelines for gold standard accreditation
• Pre – Feasibility assessment
• Identify and collect project documentation for accrediting AKAH to be the eligible gold standard
• Aligning and defining AKAH activities for gold standard certified projects, streamlining requirements and criteria
• Describes the procedure that needs to be followed for any methodology that seeks approval under the ‘Gold Standard Land Use & Forests’ scope;
• Works with AKAH technical team and apply for Gold Standard accreditation
• Support in organizing stakeholder consultation and reporting processes as required by the carbon standard rules;
• Support in communications and notifications to the carbon standard regulatory body(ies) regarding the project as required by the carbon standard rules;
• additional assessment as per GS rules
• Managing the GS registry account on behalf of AKAH Tajikistan
• Preparation of the Joint Project Design Document (PDD) and Monitoring report and other documents required by the Gold standard accreditation rules;
• Submission of documentation and facilitation of registration and issuance with registry;
• Responses to queries by the carbon standard regulatory body(ies) and support in registration and issuance (if any)

The process to be certified gold standard:

• Plan project and hold stakeholder consultation
• A preliminary review by sustaincert
• Preliminary design approval
• Third-party validation
• Project design review by sustaincert
• Design certification
• Project monitoring
• Third-party verification
• Performance review by sustaincert

How to apply

Application guidelines:

This is an international assignment, interested and qualified applicants are requested to submit their detailed Resume to [email protected] latest by 11th September 2022.

AKAH is an equal opportunity employer, women and those with special needs are encouraged to apply.