Background
With more than 30% of GDP and 60% of foreign exchange receipts, tourism is the dominant sector of the Maldivian economy. Tourism operations are intimately connected to a diverse range of value changes which provides goods and services related to agriculture, fisheries, manufacturing, construction, energy, water and waste management. However the onset of climate change undermines the resilience, viability and profitability of these value chains both directly and indirectly. Notwithstanding the evident impact of climate-resilient events on the tourism sector, environmental management systems in the tourism industry are highly self-regulated and their compliance enforcement needs further strengthening. Climate Change adaptation needs to be adequately integrated into policy and planning instruments of the tourism sector, which leads to insufficient adoption of climate-smart planning and investment practices. While the tourism sector is a strong promoter of ecosystem conservation, a number of tourism operators still employ water, waste and energy management practices which keep damaging the natural capacity of the sensitive reef ecosystem to adapt, and thereby render tourism value chains vulnerable to climate-related shocks and stresses.
Therefore, the main objective of the project is to provide the tourism sector of Maldives with the required policy environment, regulatory guidance, technical knowledge and skills to ensure that climate change-related risks can be systematically factored into day-to-day tourism operations. This includes strengthening the capacity of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, and tourism businesses to recognise evident climate risk issues in tourism operations and adopt appropriate adaptation measures to address them. The project will establish at least 10 new public/private investment partnerships between the Government of Maldives and tourism sectors to showcase the economic and environmental benefits of no-regrets adaptation in tourism operations.
In addition, 10 community-based adaption projects in tourism-associated communities will demonstrate how tourism operators and tourism dependent communities can cooperate on joint initiatives to reduce common vulnerabilities. These partnerships will demonstrate the adoption of climate-resilient building codes for over and underwater infrastructure; climate-resilient freshwater collection, distribution and storage; flood proofing of waste and waste water management systems; protection of coastal ridges and vegetative belts; and diversification of energy services with renewable sources. To cover residual catastrophic risk, the project will develop the capacity of the government and the tourism industry to assess the feasibility of market-based financing mechanims (such as weather index insurance) and ensure that tangible private sector investments can be leveraged.
To this end, the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MTAC) in collaboration with UNDP would like to invite applications from interested individuals/organizations to conduct a detail economic analysis of climate risks in, and costs/benefits of adaptation options for, the tourism sector and its dependent communities.
Objectives:
The primary objective of the consultancy is to ascertain the economic impact of climate change on the tourism industry as well as the costs and benefits associated with different adaptation related practices in managing anticipated climate risks.
Duties and Responsibilities
Scope of Work:
The consultant is expected to undertake a review of existing information sources and data to:
- Identify likely climate risks for the tourism sector, focusing on economically critical products including the physical environment (e.g. reefs, coastal zones), tourism related infrastructure and tourists to the Maldives. This include uncertainty in damages to ecological processes or mitigated through adaptation;
- Identify the level of vulnerability of the tourism industry associated with a range of expected climate risks over 2020, 2050 and 2100;
- Based on existing studies, conduct a back-of-the envelop economic valuation of the costs and benefits of alternative adaptation options to address climate risks. This valuation exercise will take into account relevant hard and soft infrastructure related investments in the industry and as well as impacts on communities dependent on the tourism sector;
- Based on an assessment of potential adaptation options and associated costs/benefits, propose a precautionary approach to manage expected climate risks and identify the likely associated economic costs of maintaining the tourism products and management practices of the industry and its dependent communities;
- Assess the effectiveness and short comings of existing policy and legislative instruments that are relevant to promote or increase climate change resilience of the tourism sector; and
- Identify alternative policy and legal incentives and disincentives for the tourism sector to reduce expected vulnerabilities of the tourism sector and its associated value chains to the climate risks.
Expected Deliverables:
The expected deliverables for this consultant include:
- Report on vulnerability of tourism products and associated management practices;
- Report of the economic costs and benefits of climate change impacts, and adaptation, to the tourism sector;
- Policy brief on recommendations, where possible, for appropriate public policy strategies and policies/regulations/incentives for the tourism sector to adapt to likely climate risks;
- A Final comprehensive report on the economic valuation of climate risks on the tourism sector in Maldives.
Reporting Procedures:
The Ministry of Tourism, Art and Culture represented by Mr. Moosa Zameer Hassan will be responsible to manage the proposed consultancy with the assistance of the Project Manager, Mr. Farooq Mohamed Hassan. The appointed consultant/s should prepare and seek approval of a workplan to complete the assignment and periodically report progress of the work to the focal point in MTAC. UNDP CO Energy and Environment’s Assistant Resident Represent (EE ARR), with support from UNDP-APRC will provide technical oversight and quality assurance of the products.
The tasks of consultancy should be undertaken in consultation with the relevant stakeholders through MTAC. Thus, prior to submission of the initial draft a consultative meeting, with representation from the concerned government agencies, private sector, civil society organisations and development partners should be conducted to ensure the project document represents the views of the stakeholders.
Duration:
The total duration of the consultancy is 2 months (work days - with 20 days in country and 20 days homebased) from the signing of the contract. The assignment will commence beginning of the third week of October 2012.
Duty Station:
The consultant should be available to be based in Maldives at the Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture for duration of the assignment in Maldives.
Terms and Conditions:
The MTAC shall make available and provide the following to the consultant free of charge:
- Relevant documents, data, statistics and information at the disposal of the Government;
- Counterparts on a full-time basis to assist the consultant in carrying out the duties;
- If required, a workstation with local telephone and internet connection at the MTAC;
- Facilitation of logistical arrangements for services related to official duties requiring travel outside of Male’ if necessary;
- In pursuit of the duties, should the consultants require interviews or any communication with national stakeholders, it should be arranged and conducted with the consent and representation of government.
Responsibility and Confidentiality:
Documents or data provided by the government for the purpose of this consultancy which is not of public nature shall be considered confidential and should not be disclosed to any other party.
Competencies
- Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
- Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
- Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
Required Skills and Experience
Education:
- Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in science, social science, economics, development studies, or related subjects.
Experience:
- Minimum 10 years of international experience in the area of economics, in particular natural resource economics including experience in the Asian region;
- Familiarity and understanding of climate change and its implications on the economic sectors including relevant policy and legislative issues in multi-hazard countries in the region will be a great asset.
- In-depth knowledge of scientific, technical, institutional and legislative issues economics of climate change;
- Extensive experience on conducting economic valuation of climate risks in the economic sectors;
- Demonstrated ability and experience to conduct high-level discussions and negotiations in a productive manner with senior management, government officials, representatives of UN agencies, international organizations, civil society groups and experts in related fields;
- Demonstrate strong research and analytical skills;
- Excellent interpersonal skills, team oriented work style, interest and experience of working in multi-cultural environment;
- Previous experience in UNDP, UN and/or other international agencies is desirable.
Language Requirements:
- Excellent language proficiency in English.