Environmental Financing Expert

Result of Service

The purpose of this assignment is to further support the delivery of integrated financing options to further strengthen national and regional actions to achieve climate, biodiversity and ocean economy goals and objectives.

Work Location

Home Based

Expected duration

Four months

Duties and Responsibilities

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the United Nations systems designated entity for addressing environmental issues at the global and regional levels. lts mandate is to coordinate the development of global consensus on environmental issues by keeping the environment under review and bringing emerging issues to the attention of governments and the international community for action.

The UNEP Cartagena Convention Secretariat is implementing project activities in the Wider Caribbean Region (WCR) focused on marine biodiversity, marine pollution and public awareness under a capacity-building programme related to Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Countries Phase III (ACP MEA).

In collaboration with the Law Division of UNEP, under the overall program in support of ocean governance and the related, the Cartagena Convention is currently focusing on identifying synergistic implementation of activities related to MEAs, including on identifying financing implementation of the MEAs in the region.

This consultancy will be implemented through financial support from the Law Division (under the Environment Fund allocation for 2023).

Focusing on issues of integrated finances that look at options for climate, nature and ocean (blue) finance options, and responding to the need to strengthen domestic finances, which has historically had an outsized role in financing biodiversity, cannot fill this gap alone. Understanding that an exponential increase in Official Development Assistance (ODA) alone would also be insufficient, UNEP published an analyses, in support of CBD COP 15 negotiations, of existing financing mechanisms and instruments in support of biodiversity conservation that includes review of select few financial instruments and structures involving public-private partnerships or blended finance structures such as – pooled investment vehicles, bonds, risk mitigation instruments (guarantees & insurance), high quality carbon credits, and biodiversity offsets & credits. These have the potential to scale and catalyze additional financing for biodiversity. Additionally, the UNEP FI has published guidance on issues related to climate finance and blue finance during the past few years.

The consultant will deliver a study focusing on “Achieving the environmental goals and targets relating to climate change, biodiversity conservation, and pollution reduction in the Wider Caribbean Region through development of integrated financing options and mechanisms. The study will contain elements of the following deliverables:

• An assessment of current options for financing climate, biodiversity and pollution actions in the Wider Caribbean Region
• Review of existing institutional mechanisms and donor support structures for resource mobilization for climate, biodiversity and pollution actions
• Challenges and gaps in sustainable financing for achieving national, regional and/or global environmental goals and targets.
• Options for integrated financing mechanisms and approaches that can support actions to deal with climate change impacts, conserve biodiversity and reduce pollution.
• Country specific case studies experiences (at least 2-3 countries) on integrated financing options
• Assessment of financial institution’s capacities to design actions in support of integrated financing approaches.
• Assessment of country preparedness on implementing integrated actions on financing.
• Capacity needs at country and regional institutional levels.

Qualifications/special skills

Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Sciences, Natural Resource Management, economics, financing or similar field is required

Post Graduate Training in Environmental Management or related field is desirable.
Three years or more proven experience in environmental financing issues (climate finance, nature finance or blue economy) is required.
Experience with intergovernmental processes or negotiations for multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) is desirable.

Languages

English and French are the working languages of the UN Secretariat. For the post advertised, fluency in English is required. Knowledge of Spanish is desirable.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.