Climate Finance Specialist (Private Sector, Country Programming, Accreditation)

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• FAO is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality, background and culture.
• Qualified female applicants, qualified nationals of non-and under-represented Members and person with disabilities are encouraged to apply;
• Everyone who works for FAO is required to adhere to the highest standards of integrity and professional conduct, and to uphold FAO's values
• FAO, as a Specialized Agency of the United Nations, has a zero-tolerance policy for conduct that is incompatible with its status, objectives and mandate, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination　　
• All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks
• All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality

Organizational Setting

The FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia (REU) in collaboration with the Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment (CBC) and other FAO divisions assists member countries in policy development, planning and response regarding the challenge of climate change. One of the key areas of work is providing support and accelerating countries’ capacities to access climate finance and share best practices among the countries.

Climate finance refers to local, national or transnational financing—drawn from public, private and alternative sources of financing—that seeks to support mitigation and adaptation actions that will address climate change. Climate financing mechanisms such as the Global Environment Facility (GEF), Green Climate Fund (GCF), Adaptation Fund (AF) and other bilateral and multilateral climate funds have been established specifically to assist countries to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change.

Since 2016 FAO is an accredited entity with GCF with focus on assisting countries in access GCF grants as well as preparing Readiness and Preparatory Support Programmes.

There is growing international recognition that the agricultural sectors will play a central role in responding to climate change, as these sectors are among the foremost priorities in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) submitted by countries under the UNFCCC. FAO has an important role to play in supporting its Member States to access and utilize climate finance, as evidenced by the growing number of requests from government counterparts

The purpose of this call is to provide REU with a list of qualified candidates which can support its work on climate finance in the region and support member countries in project implementation.

Reporting Lines

The Climate Finance Specialist will work under the overall supervision of the FAO Representatives of the respective country and the direct supervision of the Lead technical Officer. The consultant will work in close collaboration with technical officers and consultants in country offices and REU.

Technical Focus

Supporting the effective implementation of FAO’s GCF Readiness and Funding Proposal portfolio. Provide expertise on relevant technical areas required in project implementation including climate change adaptation/mitigation, climate investment criteria, Accreditation to the GCF, private sector engagement.

Tasks and responsibilities

Tasks could include but are not limited to:

• Provide technical expertise to the implementation of Green Climate Fund readiness projects in the REU region;
• Undertake analysis, develops, provides technical input for plans and reports and edits/revises technical/scientific documents;
• Collaborate in the development of training tools and materials and the organization of workshops/seminars etc.;
• Support capacity development of national government officers, Civil society organizations, private sector organizations etc. on climate finance;
• Undertake activities to support accreditation of national entities to the GCF:
  • Develop and conduct an awareness-raising campaign on the GCF accreditation process, including discussions on existing information products developed by FAO REU regarding accreditation to the GCF;
  • Develop the methodology to conduct a rapid assessment for understanding the roles of existing institutions and identifying and initial list of potential DAEs;
  • Based on the results of the rapid assessment and prioritization of 1 entity by the NDA, coordinate the issuance of a nomination letter for selected potential direct access entity’ with the NDA, including following the existing procedures, as defined by the NDA and the GCF.
  • Develop the methodology and guide the conduction of a gap analysis of the institution nominated and provide inputs for the development of a roadmap for accreditation of the potential entity;

• Undertake activities to improve Private sector engagement in climate finance:
  • Provide guidance to the National Private Sector Consultant, in the identification of potential opportunities for engagement (according to Private sector potential contribution to climate change efforts) in the country including by organizing and facilitating a high-level dialogue event between the NDA, coordination mechanism and Private Sector.
  • Undertake capacity strengthening of the NDA and other institutions within the country coordination mechanism on climate change and climate finance matters, by concretely identifying capacity needs to leverage private sector participation.
  • Conduct a Capacity Needs Assessment and develop a roadmap for readiness support including capacity needs to enable private sector participation in climate action
  • Identify private sector actors who can deliver transformative investment models and the enabling environments for crowding in private investments related to climate change at national/regional level
  • Develop a portfolio of investment opportunities for the private sector in line with NDC, including a list of proposals on both mitigation and adaptation that can feed in the Country Work Programme on their potential for innovation, transformative investment models and international best practices.

• Undertake activities towards development of National country programming framework for the GCF.
  • Develop project origination methods to identify climate finance project ideas;
  • Identify the international practices, develop project assessment criteria and a project selection tool in consultations with NDA, and relevant national stakeholders;
  • Design, coordinate and facilitate the conduction of a Readiness Needs Assessment and develop a roadmap for readiness support as an integral part of the Country Programme;
  • Conceptualize and lead the stakeholder engagement Strategy and develop an action plan including broad awareness raising with relevant stakeholders at national and subnational levels, ensuring the coordination with the national gender specialist to ensure the use of the most relevant gender-sensitive tools;
  • Conduct broad stakeholder consultations for the development/validate the country programme

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• University degree(s) in Natural resources management, climate change and/or related fields
• Minimum of 5 years working experience in the field of climate change adaptation and mitigation.
• Working knowledge of English, French or Spanish and limited knowledge of one of the other two or Arabic, Chinese, Russian; for PSA subscribers, working knowledge of English.

FAO Core Competencies

• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

• Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in field positions is also desirable
• Extent and relevance of experience in developing private sector strategies/conducting assessments for accreditation
• Extent of knowledge and experience on gender issues and Environmental and Social Safeguards systems
• Extent and relevance of experience in the preparation, editing and revision of technical/scientific documents including project proposal documents
• Extent and relevance of Experience in organizing meetings and events at national levels and in coordinating consultations for inputs from government and private sector entities
• Working knowledge of Russian will be considered an asset
• Proven working experience on Green Climate Fund processes and procedures on private sector engagement and accreditation issues.
• Ability and self-initiative to carry out assigned tasks within deadlines in a team as well as under minimal supervision.
• Excellent knowledge and regular use of Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and any statistical tools

Please note that all candidates should adhere to FAO Values of Commitment to FAO, Respect for All and Integrity and Transparency