Nature4Cities Urban Finance Expert

Consultant Finance & Economy

Contract

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Result of Service

To fulfill the project's objectives, UNEP LACO is recruiting a Urban Finance Expert to provide technical expertise to the National Coordinator and ensure the effective delivery of economic-financial assessments and recommendations during the implementation of the project. The Urban Finance Expert in Uruguay will be responsible for developing an adaptation finance strategy that can maximize public, private, and external financial resources towards increasing the implementation of Nature Based urban development strategies in Uruguay. To achieve that she / he will review and analyze the regulatory economic framework, identify opportunities for financing mechanisms for NbS implementation and to engage the private sector, and will conduct a cost-efficiency analysis for prioritized NbS, in the cities of Durazno and Rivera. The Consultant will work closely with the UN Environment National Project Coordinator and the corresponding Project Manager at the UN Environment Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean. Additionally, she/he will work in close collaboration with the Directorate for Climate Change of the Ministry of Environment of Uruguay, and the focal points from Rivera and Durazno’s Local Governments. Project’s Outputs Output 2.4.1: Financial guidelines to support investment in climate action developed for the 13 participating cities and incorporated into the Nature Based Urban Development Plans Activity 2.4.1.1: Develop a private sector engagement plan in each of the 13 participating cities Product No. 1: Two (2) private sector engagement plan, one for Durazno and one for Rivera. Activity 2.2.1.5 Carry out a city-level assessment analysis based on a specific assessment for each of the selected cities of public and private funding for urban development Product No. 2: Two (2) reports including inputs and revision of the climate finance assessment elaborated for each city. Product No. 3: Two (2) Workplan’s including the scope and detailed methodology to perform the Cost-benefit analysis at a local level, one for each city. Activity 2.4.1.3 Development of long-term innovative financial guideline for the 13 NbS and included into the Nature Based Urban Development Plans and validated by the NbS Task Groups based on the findings from activity 2.2.1.4. Product No. 4: Develop two (2) appendants for innovative financial local instruments incorporating main results of previous products, apart from the land value capture instruments, one for each city. Activity 2.4.1.4 City-level validation workshops lead by the NbS task Groups for the long-term innovative financial plan Product No. 5: Two (2) reports with summary of key results, and recommendations from the two in person workshops for the long-term innovative financial guidelines, one in each city Product No. 6a: One (1) Cost-effectiveness analysis between one prioritized NbS (N1) for Rivera and grey infrastructure, including cost analysis of the Nbs.. Product No. 6b: One (1) Cost-effectiveness analysis between one prioritized NbS (N2) for Durazno and grey infrastructure, including cost analysis of the NbS. Output 4.1.1: Project concept notes developed of a fundable quality Activity 4.1.1.2 Hold virtual national meeting for the validation of the pipelines elaborated in activity 4.1.1.1., with local cities and national stakeholders, including poential AEs. Activity 4.1.1.3 Hold a consultation participatory workshop for the elaboration of seven concept notes, one per country, based on the results from Outcome 2 and the pipeline prioritized under activity 4.1.1.2. Product No. 7: Capacity Building material (including documents, and presentations related to the results of the 2-cost effectiveness analysis performed) and assistance to 2 events: • One (1) national workshop • One (1) workshop for concept note on upscaling urban NbS. 4.2 Specific tasks and responsibilities: The consultant will work on the following key outputs from the Nature4Cities project. Output 2.4.1: Financial guidelines to support investment in climate action developed for the 13 participating cities and incorporated into the Nature Based Urban Development Plans Activities for the development of product 1: Two (2) private sector engagement plan, one for each city. • Complement mapping of private sector actors in each city • Collect data and analyze climate finance information and opportunities to engage with private sector to deliver a private sector engagement plan developed for Durazno and Rivera. Activities for the development of product 2: Two (2) reports including inputs and revision of the climate finance assessment elaborated for each city. • Review, add and complement information about financial guidelines to support investment in climate adaptation actions to complement the climate finance assessment reports developed for Durazno and Rivera Activities for the development of product 3: Two (2) Workplan’s to perform the Cost-benefit analysis. • Preparation of a workplan and a summary of the context, the scope and detailed methodology of cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis for Urban NbS, one for each city. Activities for the development of product 4: two (2) appendants for innovative financial local instruments • Collect data and review existing financial mechanisms at the urban level and provide recommendations for innovative financial mechanisms to support the implementation and sustainability of blue-green infrastructure in the cities of Durazno and Rivera and planning of local economic development. • Provide advice, relevant to the urban finance field, as requested by the International Urban Finance expert. • Complement the financial city-level guideline for Durazno and Rivera of public and private funding opportunities for urban development with and appendant that include other financial local instruments besides the land value capture instruments (LVC) identified by the regional LVC expert. The report shall clearly distinguish the elements of the adaptation strategies that can be privately funded and those elements that should be funded by the public purse, because of their public goods nature. • For the elements of the adaptation strategy that could be funded from the private sector, carry out a barrier analysis to understand the factors that are preventing private sector investments in adaptation. Activities for the development of product 5: Two (2) workshop’s reports • Collaborate with the coordination and logistical tasks for the organization of Durazno and Rivera’s financial guideline and private sector engagement strategy workshops. • Collaborate with the financial guideline and private sector engagement strategy workshops with the NbS Task groups of Durazno and Rivera. Delignate participatory activities and provide methodology and support tools for capacity building for the participants. • Contribute to defining the main results (key messages) and recommendations from the workshops to include in the financial guideline to support investment in climate action Activities for the development of product 6: Cost-effectiveness analysis • Produce a comprehensive NbS cost effectiveness analysis between two (2) NbS infrastructure selected (one for each city) and grey infrastructure. The analysis will include the determination of the economic cost of the NbS selected. • Elaborate a completion report describing the process for the development of cost benefit analysis of the NbS prioritized in the NbS portfolio for each city, validated for each NbS Task group. Output 4.1.1: Project concept notes developed of a fundable quality. Activities for the development of product 7: Capacity Building material. • Participate and elaborate Capacity Building material (including documents, and presentations) for the following events: (i) National Workshop on Urban Adaptation and (ii) consultation workshops for concept notes on upscaling urban NbS. • Collaborate results finance presentations at the mention workshops. • Provide input to develop reports containing prioritized national pipelines of transformative investments on NbS for urban areas in Uruguay.

Work Location

HOME BASED

Expected duration

4 MONTHS

Duties and Responsibilities

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, 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. The UNEP Latin America and the Caribbean Office (LACO Office), located in Panama City, Panama works closely with the 33 countries of the region – including 16 small island developing States – with a population of about 588 million people. The office works to serve the needs of the region and its activities are integrated into the work programs approved by the United Nations Environment Assembly of UNEP (UNEA). The Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region is the second most urbanized region in the world, with ~80% of the population living in cities. Within the next two decades, this proportion is projected to reach ~85%, thereby ranking the cities of the LAC region among the fastest growing in the developing world. The rate of urban expansion is faster in small and medium-sized cities relative to mega cities. This rapid urbanization and the associated expansion of cities is degrading urban and peri-urban ecosystems – including wetlands, green spaces, and forests – that provide a wide range of ecosystem services for urban communities. To address the vulnerability of urban communities, governments in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region need to develop and implement cost-effective, low-risk solutions, such as Nature-based Solutions (NbS) by protecting, maintaining, and rehabilitating priority ecosystems in urban areas. As a result, UNEP is working with the governments of, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, Honduras Cuba, Panama, Guatemala, and Uruguay to execute a two-years, Readiness project “Nature4Cities - Increasing resilience through Nature- based Solutions in Latin-American cities” funded by the Green Climate Fund (GCF). The project is implemented in 7 countries (Cuba, Honduras, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Panama, and Uruguay) and a total of 13 cities within those countries. The aim of the project is to increase the capacity of participating countries to design and implement Nature- based urban development strategies that ensure urban resilience to climate change through five main areas of work: (1) Strengthening the knowledge base of national and local governments to assess the potential for Nature- based Adaptation and Mitigation Solutions in urban areas in the context of broader climate change strategies; (2) Reinforcing enabling policies and institutional frameworks to increase adoption of NbS in urban planning; (3) Strengthening partnerships between key actors to accelerate the adoption of NbS solutions; (4) Defining climate finance strategies through innovative public, private and blended financial mechanisms and facilitating access to climate finance for the sustained implementation of NbS; (5) Accelerating upscaling and replication through a regional Urban NBS platform. UNEP seeks to support countries in Latin America to implement the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the new Paris Agreement and the priority actions defined in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) of Latin American countries. To achieve this, UNEP is seeking a urban finance expert to support the Nature4Cities project in Uruguay. He / She will work from home, with the possibility to attend regular meetings in the UNEP Office in Montevideo, Uruguay. The consultant will be required to travel on a regular basis to the project’s targeted cities (Rivera and Durazno) in Uruguay and to attend regular meetings at the Ministry of Environment of Uruguay, as required by the project’s implementation. The incumbent will be supervised by the Regional Subprogramme Coordinator for the Climate Change Unit in UNEP LACO.

Qualifications/special skills

ACADEMIC: • Bachelor’s degree in economics, accountancy, environmental economy, local development, commercial, engineering or closely related field is required. • Master's degree in political sciences, economics, sustainable development, environmental development, urban development, environmental economy, or a closely related field is an asset. PROFESSIONAL: • A minimum of 5 years relevant work experience in economic analysis, urban projects budgeting, accounting, environmental sustainability development, or socioeconomic and Financial Evaluation is required. • Experience in performing cost benefit analysis is required, related to urban infrastructure is an asset. • Experience in financial analysis with focus on the public and private sector is desirable • Experience working with UN Agencies and/or multilateral agencies is desirable. • Experience in areas of work related to climate change adaptation and mitigation policy, plans and strategies development is an asset. • Experience in public participatory development processes associated with environment and sustainable development is an asset. • Experience in research or work on urban financing, climate change, or closely related field is an asset. • Excellent management of computer tools (Microsoft Windows operating systems) and office automation (Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Internet Explorer. • Previous work experience with Uruguay national and subnational authorities, civil society, academic sector, NGO, among others is valuable. • Previous work with UrbanInVEST, i-tree or similar tools for cost-benefit analysis is desirable. LANGUAGE: • Fluent in Spanish is required. • Confident level of English is desired. OTHERS • Be computer literate in standard software applications. • Availability to engage in online interviews with subnational authorities and technicians from Durazno and Rivera. • Availability to attend at 2 in person workshops one in Durazno and one in Rivera. • Availability to attend a national meeting for the validation of a national the pipeline. • Availability to attend in person a consultation participatory workshop for the elaboration of a national concept note. COMPETENCIES: • Professionalism: Ability to apply knowledge for various United Nations administrative, financial and human resources rules and regulations in work situations. He/she shows pride in deadlines and achieving results; shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations. Establishes and maintains productive partnerships with clients by gaining their trust and respect; identifies clients’ needs and matches them to appropriate solutions. • Planning & Organizing: Ability to get things done in a more structured way, by determination of goals, setting priorities an assessing the actions, time and resources needed to achieve those goals. • Communications: Speaks and writes clearly and effectively; listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately; asks questions to clarify and exhibits interest in having two-way communication; tailors’, language, tone, style and format to match audience; demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed.

Languages

Not available.

Additional Information

Not available.

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.

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Added 1 day ago - Updated 3 hours ago - Source: careers.un.org