Desired final outcome:

The desired final outcome of this project will be:

1. A guide with a general characterization of the sector, the main points of environmental impact and references for benchmarking illustrated with example cases that allow understanding the opportunities for improvement, especially those related to the improvement in efficiency in the use of resources and that show a clear relationship between cost and benefit. The guide will also include a methodology or guidance for the effective implementation of these improvements in an establishment.
2. Support and partly lead 3 stakeholder workshops in Argentina to gather information on key drivers / commodities/ activities for both consumption and production within the Food and Beverage sector.
3. Prepare background materials for the stakeholder workshops in order to deliver the outcomes of the project.

Project proposals sought:

Applicants should submit project proposals, under the supervision and technical guidance of the Life Cycle Initiative and UN Environment Programme

Who can apply:

Academia (Research Institutes and Universities), Non-Government Organisations (NGOs), Not-for-Profit Organisations (NPOs) or individuals.

Project budget:

The maximum budget for this project is $34,000, with in-kind contribution expected from the applicant.

Project duration:

The project implementation period is from February 2020 until November 2020.

How to apply:

Please send your project proposal using the template linked here, addressed to Mr. Llorenç Milà i Canals , and copy Ms. Joséphine Courtois

Timeline for application:

• Submission deadline: 5th February 2020, 19h (CET)
• Notification of selection: 12 February 2020

Background

Argentina is interested in strengthening its capacity to design and implement effective Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) policy frameworks and instruments at national level. Hence, with the support of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Argentina has recently engaged into the development of a coherent policy framework and mechanism to fully integrate and scale up action on sustainable consumption and production (SCP). Through the UN Development Account (UNDA) and with the support of UNEP, acting as the Secretariat of the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on SCP and One Planet network, the country is currently developing a national strategy on SCP while strengthening its institutional and technical capacities in this field.

In order to guide interventions to the key drivers of environmental impact, the One Planet Network, the Life Cycle Initiative and the International Resource Panel commissioned the SCP-Hotspot Analysis Tool (SCP-HAT). The SCP-HAT allows for the analysis of direct as well as indirect, i.e. trade-related impacts, of national economies. The tool identifies hotspots related to domestic pressures and impacts (production or territorial perspective) as well as impacts occurring in supply chains in foreign countries or linked to domestic consumption (consumption or footprint perspective).

Based on the initial results of the SCP-HAT and in order to inform the development and implementation of its national SCP strategy, Argentina now is highly interested in more in-depth understanding of drivers and actions for each actor within priority sectors. The country expressed interest in developing guides for priority sectors that allow knowing the most relevant levers to improve environmental performance and resource efficiency, with the linkages to sustainable consumption and production policies.

The application of the SCP-HAT in Argentina clearly shows that the Food & Beverage processing sector is among the most impactful sectors of activity in the country. Conducting a further in-depth analysis is also in line with Argentina’s interest in promoting sustainable food systems not only at the international but also at the national level, as part of its participation in the One Planet network programme on Sustainable Food Systems.

Objective of the project

The Life Cycle Initiative unit of UNEP is seeking a local support partner to conduct a more in-depth analysis of the Food & Beverages (Processing) sector. The objective will be to identify key resource efficiency and climate change mitigation opportunities, and related priority policies, using the sector Hotspots Analysis Guidelines^[1] developed by the Life Cycle Initiative to deliver a broad value chain stakeholder engagement and define robust and effective policy options.

Expected activities

The local support partner, in collaboration with UNEP, will undertake the following activities (tentative dates) within the next 10 months (Feb.-Nov. 2020):

• Define goal and scope of the study, under an established methodology framework, by expert (Feb 2020)
• Collect initial data related to key commodities of food and beverage sector in Argentina (quantities for domestic consumption and import/export) and end-of-life scenarios for food waste in Argentina, by expert (Feb 2020).
• Conduct Stakeholder workshop 1 (around Mar 2020): consultation on key drivers / commodities/ activities for both consumption and production within the Food and Beverage sector and conduct back-to-back training on SCP-HAT and sectoral hotspots analysis / LCT among national actors;
• Develop the main findings from initial assessment and stakeholder consultation into draft recommendations. This will include collecting required data and performing the assessment based on the hotspot analysis methodology, including life cycle inventory data related to key commodities of food and beverage sector in Argentina (across the whole value chain production data). Including the quantities of commodities for both domestic consumption (per sector) and import/export. More granulated data at sector level are also desirable, e.g. such as food and beverage data from e.g. retailer industry and tourism (hotels, restaurants and conference centers), and specific recycling / end-of-life scenarios for food waste in Argentina. Quantify the environmental impacts by linking the inventory data with the impact assessment indicators (based on existing LCA datasets at Argentina, regional or global levels). And finally identify and prioritize draft actions to address the hotspots with systemic thinking, so that measures are across the value chain targeting key stakeholders (Mar-May 2020)
• Conduct consultation of Summary document with findings and draft policy recommendations back-to-back with Argentina’s national SCP Roundtable and consultations on the national strategy on SCP to be held in April / May 2020 under the 10YFP Secretariat’s UNDA project;
• Expert preparing a final report / communication pack with the key actions for the sector and policy recommendations and specific inputs to the national strategy on SCP to be drafted between June and September 2020;
• Final communication event of findings, possibly back-to-back with the high-level event launching the national strategy on SCP (September / October 2020).

As part of this process, a guide will be elaborated with a general characterization of the productive sector, the main points of environmental interest and references for benchmarking illustrated with example cases that allow understanding the opportunities for improvement, especially those related to the improvement in efficiency in the use of resources and that show a clear relationship between cost and benefit. The guide will also include a methodology or guidance for the effective implementation of these improvements in an establishment. The Argentinian Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development has already carried out similar work with the sectors of metalworking, viticulture and surface treatments of metals (electroplating). A fourth guide is being prepared for the forestry industry sector.

This grant agreement will be used to support and implement selected activities as part of the overall roll-out of the SCP-HAT project in Argentina. These selected activities will be implemented between February – November 2020.

• One SCP HAT training and 3 stakeholder workshops / consultations, organized back-to-back with other meetings including the national roundtable on SCP and SCP capacity-building activities to be conducted under the 10YFP Secretariat’s UNDA project in Argentina (April/May 2020).
  The target audience the SCP-HAT training (one day in person meeting, with expert trainers, back-to-back with national SCP roundtable) includes mainly technical staff in Ministries (Environment, Industry…) as well as from National Statistics Offices, in charge of collecting and analyzing data; plus UN country office. Stakeholder workshops (in-person, half-day events, back-to-back with other events) / consultations (on-line) will target actors across the value chain (private sector) in addition to representatives from the Ministry of Environment and other ministries in charge of regulating the topics identified as key hotspots, as well as experts from academia. The local partner will participate and contribute to such workshops, which will be co-organised with other UNEP projects.
• Drafting of key recommendations / actions for the Food & Beverage processing sector in Argentina with specific links to the national SCP strategy which will be developed in parallel (10YFP Secretariat’s UNDA project), by expert / local partner;
• With the Argentinean authorities (civil servants from mainly the Ministry of Environment and the inter-ministerial body that will be in charge of coordinating SCP action at govt level, still to be defined), identification of 1-2 priority policy instruments to be designed and/or tested in the Food & Beverage sector, possibly under the piloting phase of the 10YFP Secretariat’s UNDA project (October 2020 – May 2021), working in close cooperation with the regional and international partners of the Sustainable Food Systems programme.

The qualification of the project proposal

Project proposals are sought which meet the following criteria:

• Proposals with clear objectives and feasible implementation plan.
• Proposals with a strong technical and science component on developing LCA studies and hotspot analysis of food and beverage processing.
• Proposals with a strong technical and science component on interpreting and linking LCA and hotspot analysis studies to policy recommendations and actions.
• Proposals with a strong technical and science component on identifying benefits and challenges of LCA data and methods and deriving recommendations.
• Track record of the applicant.

Who can apply?

Applications are sought from Academia (Research Institutes, Universities), Non-Government Organisations (NGOs), Not-for-Profit Organisations (NPOs). The applying institution shall have a good track record on:

• Possessing a good understanding of sustainable consumption and production topics, Life Cycle Assessment, life cycle-based indicators and hotspots analysis.
• Proven expertise and experience in the life cycle assessment and hotspots analysis.
• Proven expertise and experience on formulating recommendations based on LCA studies as well as giving guidance on interpreting such recommendations.
• Proven expertise and experience in research and development of LCA methods.
• Proven experience of carrying out desktop data collection and analysis and providing consultation.
• Published high quality reports or peer-reviewed journal papers related to the mentioned topics.
• Fluency in both written and spoken Spanish and English. Summary reports will need to be provided in English.

How to apply?

Applicants should submit an application in the attached template to the program coordinator Mr. Llorenç MILÀ I CANALS llorenc.milaicanals@un.org. Please also CC Ms. Joséphine Courtois josephine.courtois@un.org . Please also email us for any inquiries.

[1] Life Cycle Initiative (2017) Hotspots Analysis: An overarching methodological framework and guidance for product and sector level application. http://www.lifecycleinitiative.org/download/5863/