Agriculture & Forest Finance Specialist

Result of Service- Lead engagement with private sector / finance partners in Brazil and neighboring countries of projects for which the Agriculture & Forest Finance Specialist will act as focal point. The consultant will track and document the degree of private sector engagement per project and any key results achieved on a monthly basis in assignment reports - Lead engagement with government agencies in Brazil and neighboring countries to update member states about projects taking place, how these relate to UNEP’s Programme of Work, and contribute to objectives and targets that governments have set to catalyze sustainable private finance that seeks to stimulate economic growth while meeting the climate, nature and restoration objectives. The consultant will track on a monthly basis the degree of interaction with Government agencies, and any relevant outcomes resulting from these engagements, in monthly assignment reports. - Gather intelligence from political decisions, agribusinesses, traders and financial institutions about developments relevant for forestry and agriculture in Brazil and neighboring countries. Produce at least 3 short (2 page) briefs about key developments. - Identify synergies and engage with other UNEP-managed projects taking place in Brazil and neighboring countries such as the TEEB AgriFood, the TradeHub (managed by UNEP-WCMC), GEF-funded Good Growth Partnership and other relevant projects. Deliverable: outline how projects managed by UNEP’s Climate Finance Unit can be linked with other relevant projects

Work Location Brasilia

Expected duration 12 months

Duties and Responsibilities UN Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading global environmental authority that promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment. Its mandate is to coordinate the development of environmental policy consensus by keeping the global environment under review and bringing emerging issues to the attention of governments and the international community for action. UNEP's Ecosystem Division works with international and national partners, providing technical assistance and capacity development for the implementation of environmental policy, and strengthening the environmental management capacity of developing countries and countries with economies in transition.

The loss of forest, and the accompanying loss of ecosystems and the services they provide, threatens the security and livelihoods of local communities, reduces access to clean water, decreases soil productivity and accounts for 12 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. In recent years, it has become apparent that the most significant threat to the world’s remaining forests is conversion for commercial agriculture – whether from large-scale operations or smallholder farmers – as well as other non-forest use. Many of the environmental benefits of intact forest are unpriced ‘externalities’, resulting in the market mispricing natural forest assets. By converting forest to land and then producing tradeable commodities that the market can price, land users are able to take advantage of this perceived arbitrage opportunity. Anticipated global economic growth and changing diets will strengthen the demand for agricultural commodities and place additional pressure on forests in the foreseeable future, meaning that the pressure will get even bigger than it is today without a changing paradigm how land is managed and agricultural commodities are produced. The challenge is to advance sustainable land use by developing business models that can manage sustainable commodity production while also maintaining forests and forest ecosystem services.

Against that background, UNEP’s Climate Finance Unit seeks to actively unlock and (re)direct public and private capital towards sustainable land use, including deforestation-free soft commodity production that led to ‘net zero, nature positive’ impacts on the environment and improves rural livelihoods. Given the challenge that Brazil and neighboring countries are facing with respect to changing agricultural production, forestry and other land use practices in order to meet climate and biodiversity targets and the need to scale up sustainable private finance and investment to make this a reality, UNEP’s Brazil Office and UNEP’s Climate Finance Unit are seeking an experienced Agriculture & Forest Finance Specialist to actively support several projects that are taking place and/or being planned in Brazil and neighboring countries.

The projects that the selected person will be involved in, include:

• Several blended funds and facilities such as the &Green Fund and AGRI3 Fund that have already made transactions in Brazil and whereby there is a pipeline of additional prospective projects in Brazil.
• The Responsible Commodities Facility (RCF), let by Sustainable Investment Management /BV Rio and which focuses specifically on creating a financial vehicle to deploy private finance towards sustainable soy production.
• The consultant seeks to catalyze efforts to finance landscape restoration by supporting and/or acting as focal point for facilities and business incubators such as the Restoration Seed Capital Facility (RSCF), Restoration Factory and Marketplace.
• Lastly, the selected candidate will be involved in a regional initiative to raise the level of ambition and deployment of private capital towards sustainable beef and soy production through the IFACC project in partnership with TNC and the Tropical Forest Alliance (WEF).

Under the supervision of the Coordinator of UNEP’s Brazil Office and in close coordination with the Chief, Climate Finance Unit, the agriculture & forest finance specialist will perform a number of specialized tasks to scale up exposure of the work by the Climate Finance Unit in Brazil and neighboring countries. The consultant will work directly with various team members in UNEP’s Brazil Office as well as the Climate Finance Unit team, and report to Coordinator UNEP’s Brazil Office, with a second reporting line to the Chief, Climate Finance Unit.

- Lead engagement with private sector / finance partners in Brazil and neighboring countries of projects for which the Agriculture & Forest Finance Specialist will act as focal point. - Lead engagement with government agencies in Brazil and neighboring countries to update member states about projects taking place, how these relate to UNEP’s Programme of Work, and contribute to objectives and targets that governments have set to catalyze sustainable private finance that seeks to stimulate economic growth while meeting the climate, nature and restoration objectives. - Gather intelligence from political decisions, agribusinesses, traders and financial institutions about developments relevant for forestry and agriculture in Brazil and neighboring countries. - Identify synergies and engage with other UNEP-managed projects taking place in Brazil and neighboring countries such as the TEEBAgriFood, the TradeHub (managed by UNEP-WCMC), GEF-funded Good Growth Partnership and other relevant projects to be identified by the consultant. - Engage with the Decade for Ecosystem Restoration initiatives within agribusiness sector related to innovative and green finance in Brazil. - Identify opportunities for new projects and funding on sustainable land use in Brazil

Qualifications/special skills Skills: The candidate should be autonomous and computer literate in standard software applications; have excellent writing and communication skills; good analytical skills with an interest in the topic of sustainable land use and green finance; have good interpersonal skills. Although, he or she will work in a small team, it is essential that the chosen candidate can work in an independent manner to complete the given assignments.

In addition, it would be an asset if the consultant has an excellent network with government agencies in Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and other neighboring countries, as well as having a network with agribusinesses, traders, banks and investors. Academic Qualifications: The consultant should have a Masters’ Degree in finance, economic, international relations or natural resource management Experience: It is desirable for the candidate to have ten (10) years of professional experience working with government, agribusinesses, non-governmental organizations or financial institutions on forest and/or agricultural finance. Language: For this consulting position, fluency in oral and written English and Portuguese is required. Being able to speak, write and communicate in Spanish is a distinct advantage

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.