CONSULTANT: INSTITUTIONAL INVESTOR FLOWS AND CLIMATE FINANCE

Background

The UNDP Environment and Energy Group (EEG) is based in UNDP’s Bureau of Development Policy (BDP) and is responsible for providing leadership and technical support to delivery of the Environment and Sustainable Development pillar of UNDP’s Strategic Plan. In the area of environmental finance, UNDP is one of the largest brokers of environmental grants in the developing world, directly disbursing around US$250 million per year and leveraging over US$750 million per year in co-financing from public and private sources to support sustainable development. The team working on environmental finance consists of more than 150 environment and energy experts located in Headquarters and six Regional Service Centres. This team supports UNDP’s more than five thousand staff distributed across more than 160 countries. It works primarily through supporting UNDP country offices to help developing country partners identify, access, combine, and use the various financial mechanisms available to support environmental management including: payments for ecosystem services; multilateral grant financing such as the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Trust and Adaptation Funds (LDCF, SCCF); the various emerging carbon funds, including REDD and the Adaptation Fund; and market based mechanisms such as the CDM and voluntary carbon markets. Currently the team has more than 1,000 projects in its portfolio. Expertise within the environmental finance team is currently grouped into five advisory platforms: low carbon climate resilient development strategies; ecosystems and natural resources; energy, infrastructure, and transport; chemicals; and communities. Staff are encouraged to work in broad multi-disciplinary task teams to effectively service client countries. The environmental finance team is led by a central strategic planning and management team. A key feature of the environmental finance team, and which differentiates it from much of the rest of UNDP, is that it works almost purely on a “cost-recovery” basis. Rather than having its staff paid for by grants, staff are paid for by the fees recovered from countries for assisting them to access global environmental financing. This imposes a very strict discipline and focus and requires both individual staff members, and the team as a whole, to work with a very high level of efficiency.

Duties and Responsibilities

UNDP is seeking an expert consultant, based in New York, to advise and assist the UNDP GEF Executive Coordinator/ Director of Environmental Finance on a number of initiatives related to institutional investor flows and climate finance. Examples of institutional investors include pension funds, hedge funds and sovereign wealth funds. In order to address climate change it will be essential to engage and incentivize institutional investors to make climate-friendly investments in developing countries. The consultancy will have a variety of outputs. These may include: Reports for internal use, sharing with partners, or broader publication; Presentations to be delivered by UNDP staff at conferences and events; Briefing and research notes, synthesizing external information or UNDP’s internal position on various topics; Proposals and business planning for early-stage through to late-stage development of UNDP initiatives and Financial modeling related to UNDP’s activities in various areas of environmental finance. These outputs will rely on the consultant’s own expertise, desk reviews of existing literature, and interviews with relevant actors and UNDP’s environmental finance team. The consultant will report to the UNDP GEF Executive Coordinator/ Director of Environmental Finance. OUTPUTS: The outputs and their timing for this consultancy will be determined and agreed upon on an ongoing basis during the term of the consultancy.

Competencies

Quality of work: consistently ensures timeliness and quality of work. Communication: strong communication skills, including the ability to convey complex concepts and recommendations, both orally and in writing, in a clear style Client orientation: ability to establish and maintain productive relationships with stakeholders.

Required Skills and Experience

Advanced university degree (at least Master's degree or equivalent) in business, finance, economics or a related subject At least 5 years or more professional experience in the area of institutional investors/asset management Experience on climate finance issues Experience with international organizations is a plus Experience working with developing countries is a plus Strong analytical skills Strong writing skills Strong financial modeling skills. Fluency in written and spoken English is a requirement

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UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.