Background

The Green Climate Fund (“the Fund”) is a multilateral fund created to make a significant and ambitious contribution to the global efforts towards attaining the goals set by the international community to combat climate change.

The Fund is contributing to the achievement of the ultimate objective of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In the context of sustainable development, the Fund promotes the paradigm shift towards low-emission and climate-resilient development pathways by providing support to developing countries to limit or reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to the impacts of climate change, taking into account the needs of those developing countries particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.

The Fund is governed by a Board, composed of an equal number of members from developed and developing countries. The Fund is operated by an independent Secretariat headed by an Executive Director. The Fund pursues a country-driven approach in its operations. 

GCF has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with two central objectives. First, to ensure the safety of our personnel and the continuity of our business operations; and second to take adaptive measures to mitigate the impact on our portfolio and support a green resilient recovery in developing countries. 

With regards to the safety and business continuity objective, GCF introduced a series of measures including special flexible working arrangements for its personnel. In line with measures by the Korean government, the Secretariat has now implemented a roadmap for a phased return to the office and an adaptation of GCF operations to possible future waves of Covid-19. The roadmap, designed to ensure the safety of GCF personnel and the effectiveness of our operations, revolves around three pillars: a new working environment within G-Tower; a new way of working; and a new way to ensure business continuity. 

Now that GCF has implemented the roadmap, it now wishes to engage a consultant to undertake a study focusing upon how GCF can better respond to future threats to staff safety and business continuity, notably by drawing on lessons learned from its response to Covid-19 to date. These threats include, but are not limited to, further public health crises and natural disasters. This assignment will be carried out remotely.
 

Role

The senior consultant will be responsible for identifying lessons learned from GCF’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

S/he will report to the Office of the Executive Director. 

Objectives

The objective is to identify best practices and lessons learned for future threats to personnel safety and business continuity and, to ensure that the Fund can prepare for, resource, and better address such situations in future.

The consultant will undertake a two-stage review of GCF’s response.

The first phase (inception report) will comprise of a desk review of GCF’s response and that of comparator organisations to COVID-19, focusing upon identifying the operational and budgetary resources required to address future threats. This will help to inform the Secretariat’s budget for 2021. 

The second phase (in-depth review) will comprise an in-depth qualitative assessment of GCF’s response to COVID-19. This will be a forward-looking exercise and will include gathering feedback from GCF personnel (through a variety of methodologies) and will focus on lessons learned and how to improve GCF’s organizational response in order to better protect its personnel and ensure business continuity.

Both phases will focus upon the impact upon GCF’s direct operations (personnel and business operations) rather than the downstream impacts upon its portfolio. 

Findings from this review will be used as part of the Secretariat’s effort to update its safety, security and business continuity plan. 

Phase one will require coordination with relevant divisions/ offices in order to review GCF’s response since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The inception report will include a document review of GCF policies and communications, notably by its Crisis Management Committee. S/he will agree a list of comparator organisations and undertake a comparison of their responses with that of GCF to identify useful best practices.

Phase two will require that the consultant shall also conduct interviews with relevant staff and seek views of key internal stakeholders such as the Staff Council. The final in-depth report is expected to generate relevant insights, lessons and findings that would help in enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of GCF’s response to threats to personnel safety  and  business continuity, including further COVID-19 threats.

 Duties and Responsibilities

Specifically, and under the guidance of the Office of the Executive Director (OED) of the GCF Secretariat, the consultant will:

•    Liaise regularly with OED and the Division for Support Services (DSS) during the preparation of the reports;
Inception report:
•    Conduct a document review of GCF’s response;
•    Agree a list of relevant comparator organisations with OED and conduct a documentary review of their response to COVID-19, supplemented by interviews as appropriate;
•    Produce an inception phase report by end October 2020 focusing upon resource and budgetary implications for responses to future threats;
In-depth report:
•    Undertake interviews and other engagement with internal stakeholders;
•    Conduct more in-depth phase two study building upon the inception report and further reviewing GCF’s response;
•    Derive lessons learned and best practices for personnel safety and business continuity and how those can best be applied to update the GCF’s safety, security and business continuity plan.

Deliverables

•    Regular progress and status reports over the duration of assignment.
•    Inception phase report (draft and final revision based upon Secretariat input);
•    In-depth final report (draft and final revision based upon Secretariat input)

Duration

The inception report must be delivered by 30 October 2020. The in-depth report is expected to be delivered within a deadline of 6 months from commencement of the contract. Both phases of the study will be carried out remotely.

Required Experience and Qualifications

•    At least 12 years of professional experience in management consulting, programme and change, strategy and policy work especially in the field of organizational development. 
•    Familiarity and prior experience with international organisations such as multilateral development banks or UN agencies;
•    Advanced degree desirable in public policy/administration, business management, economics, environmental sciences, engineering, development studies or other relevant professional fields;
•    Excellent communication skills and the ability to prepare and communicate complex information in written format;
•    Strong inter-personal skills and empathetic approach to sensitive interviews
•    Exceptionally strong organizational skills and focus on details;
•    Ability to multi-task and meet strict deadlines; and
•    Fluency in English is essential; knowledge of another UN language is an advantage
 

Applications from women and nationals of developing countries are strongly encouraged.

Closing date for application is 25 September 2020 (KST). Applications submitted after the closing date may not be considered.