Water, Environment and Climate (WEC)
The Water, Environment and Climate (WEC) portfolio, based in Vienna, and with offices based globally is part of the UNOPS Global Portfolio Office. The Portfolio has built strong partnerships and is effectively managing a portfolio of over USD 500 million (over the last 15 years) to support key initiatives with fund management, project implementation and administrative support. WEC effectively operationalizes partners’ agendas with global approaches, as well as regional and country specific activities focused on climate action, protection and conservation of the environment. Partners profit from WEC’s ability to operationalize and/or scale up their important substantive agendas, including in support of key multilateral environmental and climate agreements, such as the Paris Agreement, the Cartagena Convention as well as the Sustainable Development Goals.
Initiative for Climate Action Transparency
The Initiative for Climate Action Transparency (ICAT) was created at the time of adoption of the Paris Agreement to help developing countries build transparency frameworks for effective, evidence-based climate policies and actions that can contribute to the global transformation required and help mobilize the financing and support to enable implementation. The Initiative works with over 80 developing countries ranging from large countries, like Nigeria, to small islands, such as Fiji.
ICAT provides countries with tailored support and practical tools and methodologies to build robust transparency frameworks needed for effective climate action in sync with national development priorities. Through regional hubs and direct country engagement, the projects ICAT supports relate to:
● Develop NDC tracking frameworks
● Assess greenhouse gas and/or sustainable development impacts of sectoral policies
● Build frameworks to analyze projections of greenhouse gas emissions and removals
● Develop monitoring frameworks for just transitions
● Develop the M&E adaptation actions
● Build climate finance transparency frameworks; and/or
● Aggregate or integrate greenhouse gas impacts of subnational and non-State actions
To support these areas, ICAT offers a suite of practical, open-source tools and methodologies to provide effective support to the transparency efforts of countries around the world.
ICAT is an unincorporated multi-stakeholder partnership steered by the Donor Steering Committee (DSC), confirmed by its donors, Austria; Canada; the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF); Germany; Ireland and Italy; and includes the UNFCCC Secretariat as the dedicated UN body with a climate change policy mandate, and UNOPS as an ex-officio member. The Initiative is hosted by UNOPS on behalf of the DSC. Within UNOPS, the ICAT Secretariat manages ICAT’s day-to-day activities, coordinating and guiding the work of the implementing partners.
Background
ICAT’s work is guided by a Theory of Change (ToC) that illustrates how support to countries and regions contributes to stronger systems for climate action transparency, enabling evidence-based policy design, enhanced reporting, and achievement of climate and development goals. Progress against the ToC is systematically tracked through ICAT’s Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning, and Uptake (MELU) framework, which collects data and insights on outputs, outcomes, and impacts across eight Key Performance Indicators.
While the MELU framework provides a robust structure for monitoring progress, attributing impact to climate transparency initiatives is inherently complex. Unlike direct interventions with clear cause-and-effect pathways, ICAT’s work focuses on strengthening national systems, policy processes, and institutional and human capacities over time. External factors such as political will, complementary international support, and the evolving climate policy landscape also shape outcomes, making it difficult to isolate ICAT’s specific contribution. Moreover, the full effects of ICAT’s support often emerge gradually, as building sustainable transparency frameworks requires long-term capacity development, institutional change, and policy evolution. Impact may not be immediately visible, and project timelines can limit the ability to track progress once country engagement ends.
Targeted, in-depth evaluations of ICAT projects are therefore needed to complement the MELU framework. These evaluations can provide deeper analysis of effectiveness, results, and lessons learned, as well as capture longer-term changes and update the understanding of impact once sufficient time has passed.
*This is a retainer vacancy / position for twelve 12 months, maximum of 20 working days, with the possibility of an extension depending on satisfactory performance and on availability of funds.
**This is a homebased position, meaning that the incumbent will not work from a UNOPS office. Therefore, the incumbent will need to use his/her own laptop and software.
***Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
The overall objective is to provide ICAT with independent, evidence-based assessments of its activities at the country and regional levels, complementing the insights generated through the MELU framework. Specifically, the evaluation consultant will:
Validate and enrich findings from the MELU framework by assessing ICAT’s contribution to strengthening national / regional climate transparency systems;
Analyze the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, and impact of ICAT’s activities, with attention to the complex and long-term nature of institutional and capacity change;
Examine how ICAT’s methodologies and tools have been taken up and integrated into policy, institutional frameworks, and reporting systems; and
Identify lessons learned and best practices that can inform ICAT’s strategic direction and enhance its support offering.
The ICAT Secretariat will identify projects where an in-depth evaluation will likely provide valuable additional insights, for example, cases where policy development has advanced after project closure. A list of five examples will be provided to the evaluation consultant. For each case, the following activities should take place:
Activity 1: Desk review
Analyze ICAT documentation, MELU data, country reports, and knowledge products to establish a comprehensive understanding of activities and outcomes.
Activity 2: Stakeholder engagement
Conduct interviews, focus groups, and/or surveys with key stakeholders, including government counterparts, implementing partners, regional bodies, and ICAT staff, to capture diverse perspectives.
Activity 3: Analysis of contribution and added value
Assess how ICAT’s activities have supported capacity building, institutional change, and policy development, and to what extent ICAT’s unique value can be distinguished from other actors and interventions. Particular focus should be placed on how ICAT’s support has been taken up over time.
Activity 4: Report development
Produce a clear, structured evaluation report that presents findings and lessons learned.
Deliverables
A draft report for each of the five case studies;
A final report for each of the five case studies.
