• Country: Nairobi, Kenya
• Vacancies No: N/A
  
• Salary: N/A 
• Organization: UNEP
• Gender: Both  
• Deadline: 2023-12-13

Duties and Responsibilities
The overall objective of the Economy Division of UNEP is to encourage decision makers in government, local authorities, and industry to develop and adopt policies, strategies, practices, and technologies that promote sustainable patterns of consumption and production, make efficient use of natural resources, ensure safe management of chemicals, and contribute to making trade and environment policies mutually supportive. It promotes the development, use and transfer of policies, technologies, economic instruments, managerial practices, and other tools that assist in environmentally sound decision making and the building of corresponding activities.

The Sustainable Mobility Unit (SMU) is part of the Economy Division and the unit promotes sustainable, low and no emissions transport. UNEP is implementing the Global Electric Mobility Programme, supporting over 50 low and middle-income countries to shift to electric mobility for improved air quality and climate change mitigation. We do so via various programmes and projects like the Used Vehicles Project, the Global Fuel Economy Initiative, the Electric Mobility Programme, Non-motorized Transportation Programme, and the Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles project etc.

The SMU requires support from a Transport Consultant for a period of nine months to provide support to the Global Electric Mobility Programme. The Electric Mobility Programme supports low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) with the introduction of electric mobility, with a focus on programs promoting electric motorcycles, electric light duty vehicles, electric freight vehicles, and electric buses. The consultant will assist the programme to develop two technical reports, titled “Funding the transition: Financing options for e-bus integration in Emerging Markets” and “Cost Competitive E-Buses: A Meta-Analysis of Total Cost of Ownership in Emerging Markets” as inputs to its Global Working Group on Electric Buses.

The technical report titled “Funding the transition: Financing options for e-bus integration in Emerging Markets” will contribute to the objectives of the Global Working Group by providing and analyzing data from existing cases in Emerging Markets—delineated by the four regions: Africa; Eastern Europe, Western and Central Asia (EEWACA); Asia-Pacific (APAC); and Latin America & the Caribbean (LAC)—offering technology and policy advice to decision makers, and being a key deliverable to the e-mobility toolbox and input for capacity building events. The technical report will include: 1.) An estimation of the current funding gap for e-bus integration in the four regions and a mapping of the existing capital flows from the global finance community; 2.) An overview of the barriers to effective financing and funding of e-bus integration in the four regions, including operational, regulatory, financial, and institutional barriers; 3) In-depth case studies of existing e-bus programmes in the four regions that have overcome these barriers through appropriate financing arrangements, covering the context, landscape, system structure, financial architecture, and lessons learned from each case, and how these can possibly be transferred between regions, and if not, what the barriers are; 4) An executive summary encapsulating the findings of 1, 2, and 3; 5) Launch the technical report at a physical or virtual event, develop a slide deck and record the presentation of the cases and results of the analysis for education and training purposes.

The second technical report, titled “Cost Competitive E-Buses: A Meta-Analysis of Total Cost of Ownership in Emerging Markets”, will contribute to the objectives of the Global Working Group by providing and analyzing data from existing cases in Emerging Markets—delineated by the four regions: Africa; Eastern Europe, Western and Central Asia (EEWACA); Asia-Pacific (APAC); and Latin America & the Caribbean (LAC)—offering technology and policy advice to decision makers, and being a key deliverable to the e-mobility toolbox and input for capacity building events. The technical report will include: 1.) An overview of the value of conducting Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) analyses for electric buses, the various methodologies, and the regional differences in the methodological approach; 2.) In-depth case studies of existing e-bus programmes across the four regions, covering the context, landscape, system structure, cost drivers, TCO analysis, and cost mitigation solutions of each case; 3) A meta-analysis of the in-depth case studies, and the cost drivers in different contexts, as well as guidelines and recommendations on how to overcome the challenges associated with any higher costs of owning or operating electric buses; 4) An executive summary encapsulating the findings of 1, 2, and 3; 5) Launch the technical report at a physical or virtual event, develop a slide deck and record the presentation of the cases and results of the meta-analysis for education and training purposes.

Responsibilities
Under the supervision of the Coordinator of the Global Working Group for Electric Buses, the consultant will:

Develop the “Funding the transition: Financing options for e-bus integration in Emerging Markets” technical report through conducting the following specific tasks:
1.Develop an estimation of the current funding gap for e-bus integration in Emerging Markets, a map of the international landscape of financers, and a map of the existing capital flows from the global finance community;
2.Compile an assessment of the barriers to effective financing and funding of e-bus integration in Emerging Markets, including operational, regulatory, financial, and institutional barriers;
3.Develop at least five in-depth case studies of existing e-bus programmes across the four regions that have overcome these barriers through appropriate financing arrangements, covering the context (geographic, demographic), landscape (political, economic, policy, history), system structure (actors, institutions, policy rationale, intermediaries), financial architecture (policy, regulation, organizational structure, purpose) and lessons that have been learned for the next iteration.
4.Perform an analysis of the case studies, comparing the financing schemes in different regions, operational contexts, and offer guidelines or recommendations on how to overcome the barriers associated with financing electric buses in Emerging Markets, as well as how these recommendations can possibly be transferred between regions;
5.Compile 1. to 4. into one “Funding the transition: Financing options for e-bus integration in Emerging Markets” technical report and develop an executive summary based on the findings.
6.Launch of the “Funding the transition: Financing options for e-bus integration in Emerging Markets” technical report at a physical or virtual event, a presentation of the “Funding the transition: Financing options for e-bus integration in Emerging Markets” technical report to the Global Working Group and incorporation of their feedback into the final product;
7.Development of a slide deck and recorded presentation of the “Funding the transition: Financing options for e-bus integration in Emerging Markets” technical report for use during meetings of the Regional Support and Investments Platforms and other education or training opportunities.

Develop the “Cost Competitive E-Buses: A Meta-Analysis of Total Cost of Ownership in Emerging Markets” technical report through conducting the following specific tasks:
1.Develop an overview of the value of conducting Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) analyses for electric buses, the methodologies used to conduct these analyses, and any regional differences in their methodological approach;
2.Develop at least five in-depth case studies of existing e-bus programmes across the four regions that explain how the context (geographic, demographic), landscape (political, economic, policy, history), and system structure (actors, institutions, policy rationale, intermediaries) contributed to the cost drivers (battery degradation, charging infrastructure), or cost mitigation solutions, that resulted in the existing TCO of e-buses and the decision to transition to electric vehicles;
3.Perform a meta-analysis of the case studies, comparing the cost drivers in different contexts, and offer cost mitigation options, guidelines, or recommendations on how to overcome the challenges associated with any higher costs of owning or operating electric buses;
4.Compile 1. to 3. into one “Cost Competitive E-Buses: A Meta-Analysis of Total Cost of Ownership in Emerging Markets” technical report and develop an executive summary based on the findings.
5.Launch of the “Cost Competitive E-Buses: A Meta-Analysis of Total Cost of Ownership in Emerging Markets” technical report at a physical or virtual event, a presentation of the technical report to the Global Working Group and incorporation of their feedback into the final product;
6.Development of a slide deck and recorded presentation of the “Cost Competitive E-Buses: A Meta-Analysis of Total Cost of Ownership in Emerging Markets” for use during meetings of the Regional Support and Investments Platforms and other education or training opportunities
Qualifications/special skills
Educational Qualifications
An advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in environmental sciences, engineering, transport or a related field is required. A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
•A minimum of seven years’ work experience in transport projects in Emerging Markets contexts is required
•Knowledge on electric mobility issues including the operational and technical aspects of electric buses is required
•Experience in data collection and research is required
•Data analysis and modelling skills and experience are required
•Experience in report development including visualization tools is desirable.
•Proven analytical, presentation and communication skills are desirable.
Languages
English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the post advertised, fluency in oral and written English is required.

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