Senior Associate, REDD+

PURPOSE

• Provide guidance and support in the coordination and technical advisory needed for the achievement of policy development and investment formulation under GGGI's Sustainable Landscapes activities, particularly those related to deforestation control;
• Identify and pursue opportunities for technical advisory services around policy development and investment formulation under GGGI's Sustainable Landscapes activities, particularly those related to the deforestation control, REDD+ and related subsectors;
• Support project structuring for bankability in sustainable landscapes value chains linked to forest conservation and restoration in close partnership with government agencies, private sector and other relevant local stakeholders;
• Provide technical inputs and support to the CCO team, including operations enabling division (OED), Project Preparation Facility (PPF), Subnational and Policy teams. Upon request, specific technical support to subnational jurisdictions and other CCO activities must be provided;
• Reviews and is responsible for specific project components under supervisor´s guidance, ensuring execution within timeline and budget and assuring proper monitoring and reporting on project implementation;
• Compile best practices on REDD+ and deforestation control through research case studies and other illustrative materials which support GGGI´s state-of-art understanding on deforestation control and sustainable landscapes implementation;
• Provide analytical pieces, assess issues and potential solutions that can become policy or project-oriented solutions for deforestation control, REDD+ and related subsectors within the scope of work of GGGI- Colombia in alignment with GGGI´s global Landscapes thematic area and strategy.

ENGAGEMENT 

• Works closely (potentially embedded) with national counterparts to build cooperative relationships and establish the organization as an effective partner for policy delivery, particularly with the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, the IDEAM, the National Planning Department and other relevant environment-related institutions;
• Continuously build and sustain a strong collaborative relationship with the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, the IDEAM, National Planning Department and other relevant institutions;
• Sustain GGGI´s engagement with Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development and other relevant related institutions;
• Coordinate closely with the Colombian subnational team and PPF as needed to build complementary capabilities and stronger technical delivery to government and private sector partners towards achievement of program goals and desired impact;
• Identify, develop and sustain strong networks among other international cooperation agencies, NGOs, government institutions, private sector stakeholders and other relevant parties that could support and facilitate GGGI´s delivery, scalability and impact;
• Engage in stakeholder mapping and support facilitation of discussion between investors, government and various stakeholders across the program.

DELIVERY

• Implement Environment and Sustainable Development activities of GGGI's projects/programmes in close collaboration with GGGI's team and partners;
• Assists in Colombia-GGGI-Norway Green Growth Program (Phase II) design, development and implementation and understand project methodologies and is able to provide a wide range of contributions in support of delivery of components/workstreams related to deforestation control in the country program;
• Understands Colombia-GGGI-Norway Green Growth Program (Phase II) project cycle and is able to organize his/her analytical work to ensure that deliverables are provided in a timely manner to support subsequent work and consistent with the workplan and project cycle;
• Provide timely information to monitor project implementation and execution, as well as be responsible for developing all reporting information required for donor reporting purposes;
• Engagement with clients aligning client needs with provision of services; including particular programs such as the JDI, the Biocarbon Fund and others that are relevant for meeting sectoral climate mitigation commitments;
• Assess delivery issues and identifies potential solutions in consultation with key national counterparts to build common understanding and implementation of project activities;
• Elaborate and conduct technical and economic analyses to address green growth opportunities and provide relevant advisory services for sound regulatory and policy design and implementation;
• Apply enough technical skills to acquire relevant information/knowledge from a variety of sources in support of delivery of a good quality output;
• Participate in any other relevant activities deemed necessary for the development of GGGI’s Colombia programme.

REQUIREMENTS

QUALIFICATIONS

• Graduate degree in Climate Change, sustainable development, environment or similar;
• At least 5 years of relevant experience in the promotion and implementation of low-carbon, sustainable development, carbon markets and/or forestry;
• Over 3 years of relevant experience on projects/programs design, development and implementation;
• Understanding of Colombia´s land-use and overall sustainable development institutions, problems, policies and general state of the art;
• Knowledge of green growth approaches to advancing on sustainable landscapes objectives, involving both private and public sector;
• Field experience and context understanding of environment and development institutions, bottlenecks, issues and policies at the national and local levels;
• Experience working with local communities, indigenous peoples, or other rural and forest dwellers in the implementation of sustainable activities;
• Exceptional analytical and quantitative skills; capacity for synthesis, presentation and communication; and strategic thinking skills.

FUNCTIONAL

• Exceptional planning and strategical skills oriented towards the effective and timely deliverance of the agreed outputs;
• Sets high but achievable standards for self and others. Seeks opportunities to improve process and outcomes. Constantly reviews performance to identify areas to develop;
• Able to pick up and assimilate relevant information quickly and easily. Learns new tasks rapidly. Responds swiftly and appropriately. Can think on their feet in rapidly changing environments;
• Takes balanced view of situations incorporating different perspectives. Seeks alternative viewpoints. Recognizes priorities, weighs up different options and evaluates risks. Reaches logical conclusions and decides on appropriate plan of action. Evaluates previous judgements in order to improve;
• Able to communicate information and ideas clearly and articulately both in oral and written form. Uses appropriate language, style and methods depending on audience and the purpose of communication. Able to convey complex information clearly. Anticipates the information that others will need.

CORPORATE

• Sets personal goals which are challenging but achievable. Pursues these with energy, persistence and determination. Enthusiastic and committed to improving personal performance levels;
• Outstanding stakeholder engagement, client relationship, communication, team work and consensus building;
• Able to achieve results in a quality, timely, and cost-effective way. Sees priorities, plans the efficient use of resources, and monitors progress against objectives. Anticipates crucial stages in projects. Formulates alternative means of achieving objectives. Responds effectively to unforeseen events;
• Actively participates in team. Encourages co-operation. Aware of the needs of others and responds flexibly. Shares information and supports other team members. Can get things done through others and set realistic objectives;
• Able to identify and separate out the key components of problems and situations. Able to manipulate and interpret information from a range of sources, to spot patterns and trends in information and to deduce cause and effect from this. Can generate a range of creative solutions, evaluate them and choose the most appropriate option;
• Has actively sought to learn new things on own initiative. Has responded positively to change and adapted to new situations quickly. Able to take on a diverse range of tasks equally effectively;
• Fluency in English and Spanish (spoken and written).

Notes:

Applications and CV´s must be send in English 

Please notice that “Date to close” is in Korean Standard Time (KST) – not Colombia time -

COUNTRY PROGRAM BACKGROUND

Based in Seoul, The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) is an intergovernmental organization founded to support and promote a model of economic growth known as "green growth", which targets key aspects of economic performance such a poverty reduction, job creation, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability. GGGI works with countries around the world, building their capacity and working collaboratively on green growth policies that can impact the lives of millions. The organization partners with countries, multilateral institutions, government bodies, and private sector to help build economies that grow strongly and are more efficient and sustainable in the use of natural resources, less carbon intensive, and more resilient to climate change.

GGGI has a diverse portfolio of programs in developing countries around the world. These in-country programs, together with global products and services, focus on delivering results through an integrated approach of evidence-based green growth planning and implementation aligned to countries’ development priorities. The organization also focuses on knowledge development and management activities which build a strong theoretical and empirical basis for green growth, while providing concrete options and guidance for policymakers; as well as building the conditions for public and private green infrastructure investments.                                                                                                  

GGGI has been working with the Government of Colombia to advance green growth policies and green investments, through strategic partnerships such as with the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Treasury and Public Credit and the National Planning Department, among others. In a new phase of collaboration with Government agencies at the national and sub-national level, GGGI with the Support of the Norwegian Kingdom is initiating an expansion of its Colombia Country program, mainly to support the transition towards a greener growth pathway that is socially inclusive and contributes to Colombia´s medium term development agenda. The expected impact of this collaboration, after five years of support (2017-2022), is an increased capacity to mainstream green growth objectives into development planning and investments in priority sectors and regions that are critical for Colombia´s future green growth, particularly in areas that are highly susceptible to increased natural resource degradation and forest cover loss. 

The program was divided in two phases, one from 2017-2019, and a second one from 2020-2022. The second phase was designed to increase green growth investments in priority regions and sectors and to support the Government of Colombia (GoC) to reduce the current trend in deforestation. The program outcomes are aligned with the GoC´s nationally determined contributions (NDC) targets and sustainable development goals (SDGs), GGGI’s Strategic Plan 2015 – 2020 and GGGI Colombia Country Planning Framework (CPF) 2016-2020, as well as the Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI) strategic objectives.  

The desired impact of the activities carried between 2020-2022 is to facilitate Colombia in achieving its SDGs, those which include the following by the National Planning Document (NPD) 2018-2022:

• Reduce the tendency of growth of projected deforestation by the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM) from 0% to 30%.
• Accumulated reduction of 36 MTnCO₂eq of greenhouse gases (GHG), in relation to the national point of reference.
• Proportion of overall share gross domestic product (GDP) comprised by the forestry sector from 0.79% to 1%.
• Increase areas under sustainable conservation management (restoration, agroforestry systems, sustainable forest management) from 701,000 ha to 1,402,900 ha.
• Increase areas under Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) schemes and incentives for conservation from 65,000 ha to 260,000 ha. 

The second phase of the program is focused on: (i) strengthening conditions to increase the effectiveness of institutes to enforce measures of deforestation control and reduce deforestation; and, (ii) the implementation and subsequent upscaling of sustainable and/or restorative production systems through a landscape management approach.

The program capitalizes on GGGI’s comparative advantage to provide context-specific, tailored, green growth solutions, as well as its experience to date in promoting the green growth agenda in Colombia and other countries.  Phase II of the program is designed to ensure that results are consistently delivered and the outcomes of Phase I are sustained. This is achieved by leveraging lessons learned as well as by taking advantage of synergies with other donor-funded activities and programs. This is made possible by GGGI unique positioning within GoC, that now includes supporting directly the Ministries of Agriculture and Finance. In fact, with Norway support, GGGI has built a strong reputation in the country, becoming the go-to institution for the GoC on sustainability related topics. This is also made clear by the decision of the GoC to recently approve Law 1954/2019 for the Establishment Agreement of GGGI in Colombia and moving towards an additional ongoing bill in Congress for the approval of the Host Country Agreement which is expected to be finalized this year. 

The Theory of Change of the proposed program was developed in consultation with key government actors such as the Ministries of Finance, Agriculture, Environment and Commerce, and the National Planning Department (DNP for its acronym in Spanish), as well as non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the private sector, the Norwegian Embassy in Bogotá and other development partners.

The intrinsic logic of this program lies in the fact that to reduce the loss of forest cover and increase the sustainability and inclusiveness of production landscapes, it is necessary to both add value to current forest stands in order to provide conservation incentives, and alongside promote a sustainable, inclusive and productive transformation of landscapes.  Some of the activities that GGGI is currently working together with diverse stakeholders are:

1. Support to Colombia-Norway´s Joint Declaration of Intent and its extension. The role of the Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry in this extension will be more significant and therefore will require higher level of support from GGGI.
2. Support other Rural development low carbon/deforestation-free initiatives such as: i) Implementing Zero-deforestation agreements with 4 commodity value-chains, namely beef, dairy, palm oil and timber; ii) Deploy a public-private coalition to support zero deforestation agreements and efforts from companies -through the Tropical Forest Alliance chapter of Colombia; iii) Develop a Sustainable Cattle Ranching policy that accelerates conversion of existing livestock raising patterns in Colombia and iv) Developing and rolling-out a Sustainable Cattle ranching program that will support with the policy implementation.
3. Economic instruments for the promotion of sustainable agricultural/restoration/agroforestry practices. Jointly with key government entities, such as the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, FINAGRO (2^nd tier Bank for the rural sector in Colombia) and others, GGGI is supporting in the technical discussions and implementation of financial instruments that can be deployed to promote more sustainable, low-carbon cultural practices adoption by farmers/producers, particularly in areas highly susceptible to deforestation pressures, land degradation and other forms of ecosystem conversion/degradation.
4. Fostering Low Carbon Rural development at subnational level by the implementation of bankable Green Growth projects in selected jurisdictions.

One of the key partners to deliver this agenda is the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MADS) of Colombia, with whom GGGI has a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to facilitate collaboration around activities in support of Colombia´s interest and policies to combat climate change, promote green growth options and generate capacity building that help respond to its national and international goals and commitments within these areas, particularly in the context of REDD+ and other key mitigation approaches. 

Through this instrument, the two organizations and other allies like the IDEAM, will work to support the implementation and monitoring of the sectoral policy actions established for compliance with the Joint Declaration of Intention between the governments of Colombia, Norway, Germany and the United Kingdom; the implementation of the National REDD+ Strategy and associated programs and projects; facilitate and support the achievement of Colombia´s National Determined Contributions through specific policy, project development, financial structuring and implementation; share and disseminate institutional knowledge and experience on policy development, institutional frameworks and capacity building for the implementation of green growth strategies and REDD+ through joint publications, workshops, conferences and seminars and other knowledge exchange tools; and build and strengthen Colombia´s engagement as a GGGI member, among others. 

Child protection – GGGI is committed to child protection, irrespective of whether any specific area of work involves direct contact with children. GGGI’s Child Protection Policy is written in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child.