Climate Impact Assessment Specialist

Organizational Setting

FAO had secured funding from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) Readiness programme, for implementing the project GCP/SRL/079/GCR “Capacity enhancement of the National Designated Authority (NDA) and other relevant stakeholders in Sri Lanka to re-evaluate technical needs for climate change adaptation and mitigation and assess climate finance priorities for agriculture by developing innovative climate smart investment mechanisms through increased partnerships between public and private sectors”. The Project Goal is to enhance the capacity of the Climate Change Secretariat of the Ministry of Environment and other relevant stakeholders, including the private sector, to jointly identify and implement technical needs for addressing Sri Lanka’s climate challenges in its priority sectors, and leverage public and private investment for climate-smart agriculture through scientific knowledge-based planning.

The main outputs of the project are: • Sectoral and national Technology Needs Assessments (TNAs) and Technology Action Plans (TAPs) updated for mitigation and adaptation with clear strategies to implement the Nationally Determined Contributions and the National Adaptation Plan. • Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) investment plan developed based on updated Agro-ecological maps and other relevant information. • Capacity of the NDA and relevant stakeholders strengthened to facilitate a dialogue and forge partnerships between the public and private sectors for increased private sector engagement and investment in CSA. • Concrete strategies and actions developed for improving private sector engagement and investment in CSA in the plantation and non-plantation sub-sectors identified through a public-private forum. • Capacities of relevant stakeholders enhanced to prepare quality concept notes for developing bankable projects for implementing the CSA investment plan. • GCF concept notes developed for in the plantation and non-plantation sub-sectors to advance the CSA investment plan through potential AEs, including FAO. • NDA’s data and information portal/web platform established to FAO’s Climate and Agriculture risk Visualization and Assessment (CAVA) platform to improve Sri Lanka's capacity to analyse, manage and disseminate information concerning climate vulnerabilities and risks. • Awareness and capacity of NDA enhanced with clear ways forward to improve knowledge management related to climate finance.

For this purpose, FAO Sri Lanka is recruiting a Climate Impact Assessment Specialist, to support the activities carried out by the International Climate Smart Agriculture Investment Specialist to develop an Agriculture Investment Plan for plantation and non-plantation sectors. The specialist is expected to compile a climate change impact need assessment, develop climate-smart options assessment, map financial needs and identify gaps to prioritize areas for climate financing in Sri Lanka.

Reporting Lines

Climate Impact Assessment Specialist will work under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative for Sri Lanka and the Maldives and the direct supervision of the Assistant FAO Representative (Programmes). He/she will work in close coordination with Project Management Unit (PMU) of the GCF Readiness Project, with the International Climate Smart Agriculture Investment Specialist, Climate Smart Agriculture Specialist, Agriculture Economist and under the overall technical supervision by the Environment and Climate Change Specialist and the Lead Technical Officer.

Technical Focus

• Climate-smart options assessments • Climate risks and opportunities • Climate finance needs gaps challengers and priority areas for climate finance

Tasks and responsibilities

• Review existing literature data on climate change impacts on the agriculture sector. • Develop a methodology to conduct a climate change impact assessment based on the available data and literature. • Assist the project to conduct the climate change impact assessment and validate the report with relevant parties. • Support the Agriculture Economist to conduct the economic analysis on the impact of the agriculture sector on climate change. • Support the International Climate Smart Agriculture Investment Specialist to develop climate-smart options assessments to characterize the agriculture sector’s climate change risks and opportunities via stakeholder consultations and available literature, models, and information. • Support the International Climate Smart Agriculture Investment Specialist to map climate financial needs, to identify gaps, challenges and prioritize areas for climate financing in Sri Lanka. • Provide possible inputs and support to the other national and international consultants of the project for producing their deliverables. • Undertake any other tasks as requested by the FAOR / AFAOR (Programme).

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced university degree in Agriculture, Economics, Climate Change, or any other relevant subject. • A minimum of 5 years of experience in the field of climate impact assessment and in financing and investments in public/private sector with experience working on international donor-funded projects, preferably in the Asian region and experience in working with government, regional and international development agencies. • Working knowledge of English and Sinhala and/or Tamil. • National of Sri Lanka.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Familiarity with effective use of standard office software, such as MS Office (Windows, Word, Outlook, Excel, Power Point). • Good interpersonal skills, ability to work collaboratively with diverse stakeholder groups. • Strong analytical skills and experience in developing technical reports - undertaking research, primary and secondary data collection, analysis and report writing. • Ability to work/deliver independently with minimal supervision.

Selection Criteria

• Extent and relevance of experience in climate impact assessment and Climate change. • Extent of experience in technical report writing. • Experience in coordinating and liaising with industry, academia, national authorities, UN agencies, donors, intergovernmental organizations, and non-governmental organizations. • Familiarity with the UN System and /or development sector will be considered an asset.