Chemical Footprint Expert

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment. The overall objective of the UNEP’s Industry and Economy Division is to encourage decision makers in government, local authorities and industry to develop and adopt policies, strategies and 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 Chemicals and Health Branch in UNEP’s Industry and Economy Division gathers, compiles and analyses state-of-the-art information and data, including through monitoring activities, inventories and assessments, to allow policymakers to make informed decisions on the sound management of chemicals and waste. The Branch also addresses issues of concern highlighted by governments, such as lead in paint. With the support of the Life Cycle Initiative, hosted by Industry Innovation Branch of the Industry and Economy Division, the Chemicals and Health Branch seek to advance the work on Chemical Footprint approaches within the context of the Global Framework on Chemicals. The purpose is to advance toward a robust, science-based international standard clarifying (a) what a Chemical Footprint refers to, (b) which approaches and data are relevant to assess it, and (c) how the assessment should be performed, and its results be interpreted in the different relevant decision contexts, including Green and Sustainable Chemistry and Chemical Alternatives Assessment. In this context, UNEP is looking for a consultant to support tasks related to the delivery of relevant outputs to initiate the process for developing an international standard on chemical footprint, facilitating stakeholder engagement and consensus-building, supporting the review and analysis of relevant background documents, designing capacity building opportunities and materials in the context of ongoing projects, and contributing to the necessary methodological alignment and terminology into an industry guidance developed separately from these ToR. The consultant will delivery a finalized, consensus-based guidance document on chemical footprint terminology and methodology, developed through coordinated stakeholder consultations and integrating scientific and stakeholder inputs, which provides a recognized technical foundation for initiating the development of an international standard and supports awareness-raising and capacity-building among key stakeholders.