UNEP Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) - Consultant, Adaptation Finance

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

Result of Service

Through these services, UNEP FI will be able to deliver: 1. The 2024 workplan of the Adaptation and Resilience Investors Collaborative (ARIC), particularly the third workstream which will help development finance institutions (DFIs) to catalyse and scale climate adaptation investments. 2. The 2024 PRB Climate Adaptation pilots, including sectoral technical papers on implementing the Target Setting guidance. Both of these projects will help to scale private financing for climate adaptation and resilience.

Work Location

Working remotely

Expected duration

6 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 overall objective of the UNEP’s Economy Division is to encourage decision makers in government, local authorities and industry to develop and adopt policies, strategies and practices and technologies that promote sustainable patterns of consumption and production, make efficient use of natural resources, ensure safe management of chemicals and contribute to making trade and environment policies mutually supportive. It promotes the development, use and transfer of policies, technologies, economic instruments, managerial practices and other tools that assist in environmentally sound decision making and the building of corresponding activities. The United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) is the strategic partnership between the United Nations and over 500 banks and insurers. For over 30 years UNEP FI has been shaping and driving the international sustainable finance agenda, setting global standards and growing a global network of leading financial institutions. Through its work-streams and regional activities, peer learning, methodology development, training and research, UNEP FI promotes sustainable finance and helps the financial industry align with and contribute to the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals. UNEP FI and Climate Adaptation Since the publication of the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures in 2017, UNEP FI has been working with banks, investors and insurers to assess the potential risks from the physical impacts of climate change. The TCFD sets out how companies, including financial institutions can identify, assess, manage and report on climate-related financial risks. Since 2017, the TCFD framework has been increasingly integrated into corporate and finance sector regulations with the aims of ensuring financial stability and providing greater transparency around climate-related risks and opportunities in financial markets. Recent surveys of UNEP FI members have shown that the main reasons for financial institutions to assess climate-related risks are compliance with these new and expanding regulations, and to respond to climate stress tests imposed by central banks and regulators. Monitoring and reporting on climate-related risks, however, does not mean that financial institutions, businesses, households, communities and economies will necessarily become more climate resilient. UNEP FI has been working to identify how financial institutions can not only identify and report on risks but also support climate adaptation in the real economy, working with banks, insurers and development finance institutions through the following projects and initiatives: • Finance sector: In early 2019, UNEP FI together with the Global Commission on Adaptation reviewed the key challenges in scaling up adaptation finance, and how policy makers and financial institutions could incentivise greater investment in adaptation. Find out more in the report Driving Finance Today for the Climate Resilient Society of Tomorrow. • Insurance can play an important role in scaling finance for adaptation and resilience by pricing and managing the risks. UNEP FI’s collaboration with the V20 group of climate vulnerable countries aims to create more climate resilient economies by supporting insurance and credit solutions for medium, small and micro enterprises through the Sustainable Insurance Facility. • Banks’ exposure to the physical impacts of climate change is set out in UNEP FI’s framing paper Adapting to a New Climate. Based on the recommendations of this report, a working group of 26 signatories to the Principles for Responsible Banking launched the world’s first Adaptation Target Setting guidance for banks. This guidance provides an overarching framework, but 2024 will see an exercise to pilot the guidance across a handful of sectors with a greater focus on implementation through physical risk assessment, impact metrics, financial mobilisation and adaptation planning. • Development finance: Climate risk mitigation will also require concessional finance – development finance institutions (DFIs) are working with UNEP FI to develop the tools necessary to scale up finance for adaptation in emerging markets and developing countries through the Adaptation & Resilience Investors Collaborative (ARIC). Adaptation & Resilience Investors Collaborative (ARIC) Established in 2021, the Adaptation & Resilience Investors Collaborative is centred around three key workstreams: (i) physical risk assessment; (ii) adaptation & resilience (A&R) impact metrics and (iii) capital mobilization. Together these workstreams aim to help DFIs to identify, measure and mobilise financing for A&R impact. The three workstream work in parallel to mutually reinforcing objective – to scale financing from DFIs and, by extension, the private sector for climate adaptation and resilience. The physical risk workstream will help DFIs and their investees to identify not only the key risk hotspots, but also the potential opportunities for investing in climate adaptation and resilience. Physical risk assessment can be a basis for originating financing opportunities. The adaptation & resilience impact metrics workstream will help DFIs, financial intermediaries and their investees to identify and to estimate the impact that a potential financing can have in building resilience across communities, ecosystems and businesses, as well as being able to measure impacts ex-post and, ideally, aggregate impacts across the investment portfolio. The third workstream will help the DFI members of the Collaborative to identify the optimum vehicles for financing resilience building measures both in existing and new investees, explore existing financing platforms or initiatives to support and develop new and innovative approaches where necessary. In the latter half of 2023, the ARIC secretariat brought DFIs into dialogue with financing platforms including (i) accelerators such as the CPI-led ClimateShot Investor Coalition (CLIC), (ii) investment funds such as Invesco’s Adaptation Fund, (iii) insurance-linked financing platforms, such as Blue Orchard’s InsuResilience Fund or the V20 Sustainable Insurance Facility. These connections can be useful and catalyse linkages between DFIs and other financial institutions, but perhaps of more use would be to explore the investment vehicle types in greater depth with leading experts and to identify how DFIs can systematically translate adaptation needs on the ground into financial solutions, building on the work of the other two workstreams on physical risk assessment and impact metrics. The 2024 workplan highlights the following aims: - The primary objective for this initial phase is to develop principles for integrating adaptation and resilience considerations in intermediated financing through banks. Working with the PRB Climate Adaptation pilot group (see below) to explore the development of adaptation and resilience-linked loans and how DFIs can work with intermediary banks to provide adaptation-linked lending where it is most needed. - There may also be the opportunity to build on initial work carried out by BII and FMO to explore collaboration with Venture Capital and Private Equity (VC/PE) on adaptation & resilience-linked financing approaches, though depending on planning this could be carried over to Q3/Q4 2024. - We will start to engage with the Climate Bonds Initiative on metrics and taxonomy issues and guidance on the use of adaptation and resilience-linked bonds may be an area for further work in 2025 which could be planned in the second half of 2024. - Ensuring cross-fertilisation of outputs from workstreams 1 and 2 to build into the origination of project pipelines and impact measurement into financial vehicles. - Continued engagement with existing financing platforms to explore opportunities for DFIs. - Support the creation of an online database of Adaptation and resilience financing platforms and initiatives, hosted on the UNEP FI website. Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB) Climate Adaptation pilot In 2022, the PRB Banking Board requested the secretariat to explore approaches to integrating climate change adaptation as an impact area. A number of banks across the world are seeing their clients and businesses affected by the impacts of climate change and are looking to positively support their clients in adapting to a warmer climate and offer appropriate products. Following the release of an initial framing paper, Adapting to a New Climate, the PRB formed a working group of 27 banks to set out the necessary steps to integrate climate adaptation into sustainable banking practices. The PRB’s Adaptation Target Setting guidance was released in November 2023 with a four-step approach to scaling finance for adaptation: 1. Understand the context, in terms of national and regional planning and policies, as well as sectoral adaptive capacity. 2. Set a baseline, use climate-related physical risks assessment and scenario planning to understand climate impacts relevant to clients and across the portfolio. This should help the bank to identify priority regions and sectors for adaptation. 3. Set targets, for banks to align finance with global goals and national plans, with a focus on interna strategies, policies and processes, covering climate risk management, client engagement and financial products 4. Develop action plans, to meet targets with a focus on implementation. In order to demonstrate that this guidance can work in practice, the PRB is organising a pilot to test the applicability of the guidance across banking portfolios with a view to demonstrating how the guidance can be implemented in practice across two sectors. Initial discussions with banks have underlined the importance of (i) client engagement, (ii) identifying opportunities including new financing tools and products, and (iii) working with stakeholders such as governments and development banks. This pilot programme will run from March to November 2024 with between 6 and 10 banks across the two identified sectors. A key area of work for this consultant will be to conceptualise possible approaches to adaptation and resilience-linked loans, supported by concessional funding such as from DFIs. Project consultant role UNEP FI is looking for a consultant to lead on the capital mobilisation workstream of the Adaptation and Resilience Investors Collaborative (ARIC) and provide input to the PRB piloting. This will include two primary tasks: 1. Leading the implementation of Workstream 3 of ARIC (80%) 2. Support to piloting the PRB Adaptation Target Setting guidance (15%) 3. Periodic engagement in non-UNEP FI initiatives relating to climate adaptation & resilience (5%) Objectives: Under the direct supervision of the UNEP FI Climate Lead, working in close coordination with UNEP FI Climate Consultant, the consultant will deliver the following project outputs for UNEP FI: 1. Finalisation of detailed ARIC project workplan for capital mobilisation (workstream 3) and timeline 2. Initial draft of technical guidance on mobilising capital for climate adaptation and resilience-linked investments. 3. Input to up to two technical papers on climate adaptation for banks, with a focus on chapters around business opportunities, including case studies. 4. Organising periodic meetings with the ARIC workstream 3 group, preferably one per month plus workshops with existing A&R financing platforms. 5. Supporting the organisation of the PRB climate adaptation technical workshops around business opportunities (up to two workshops in Q3 2024). These outputs should be complemented by support to the UNEP FI colleagues on the ARIC and PRB working groups where necessary. Specific tasks and responsibilities : Main tasks with their associated sub-tasks, covering all aspects of work to be done 1. Leading the implementation of Workstream 3 of ARIC Sub-tasks: a. Brief review of the priority workstream activities identified in the 2024 workplan. b. Detailed planning of workstream activities. c. Implementation of 2024 workplan. The workplan is still to be finalised and agreed with all members but is likely to include the activities mentioned above: - Guidance on financing around three principal approaches to financing adaptation & resilience: 1. Lending operations (priority for 2024) 2. Venture capital and private equity (possibly for second half of 2024) 3. Bonds (to be planned for 2025) 4. Insurance-backed products (exploring a collaboration with Munich Re) The culmination of this work would be a high-level guidance to help DFIs identify the most appropriate financing approaches for addressing existing and future investees’ climate adaptation and resilience-building needs. This guidance would develop out of the different approaches likely well into 2025, but methodologies, case studies, etc should be collated for inclusion in the final guidance. - Developing linkages with work across the other two workstreams as to how DFIs can originate financing opportunities and measure and monitor the impact of investments. - Engagement with existing adaptation and resilience-linked financing initiatives and platforms. - Supporting the creation of an online public database of adaptation and resilience-linked financing platforms and initiatives 2. Support to piloting the PRB Adaptation Target Setting guidance: Sub-tasks: a. Input to the business opportunities’ workshops with the PRB adaptation pilot group in July-September 2024 b. Collating case studies of climate adaptation and resilience-linked lending operations c. Contributing to the ‘business opportunities’ section of the Adaptation Target Setting technical papers for the agriculture and real estate sectors. 3. Periodic engagement in non-UNEP FI initiatives relating to climate adaptation & resilience, including: a. Race to Resilience b. OECD Climate Adaptation Investment Framework (CAIF) c. European Commission-led Climate Resilience Dialogue d. Climate Bonds Initiative The consultant shall be under the overall supervision of Head of UNEP FI and report directly to Climate Lead.

Qualifications/special skills

Education: A Master’s degree or equivalent is required in economics and/or finance, business, engineering, international relations, environmental studies, or climate change. A bachelor’s degree may also be acceptable with an additional two (2) years of relevant experience. Professional Experience: At least seven (7) year’s working experience in the financial services sector. Experience of building and managing relationships with external stakeholders. Experience of presenting and moderating conference calls and organising events/workshops. Experience of writing/editing technical reports. Desirable: Programme management experience in international organizations, NGOs or consultancies. Experience working in field of the sustainable or green finance

Languages

Languages: English is the working language of UNEP FI. Knowledge of other United Nations languages is an asset.

Additional Information

Skills & Knowledge: Proven knowledge of the field of sustainable and climate finance is required, preferably in the field of climate adaptation and resilience. Proven knowledge of investing or lending operations and structuring financial products. Skilled in convening public and private sector stakeholders to create consensus or mobilise action. Ability to juggle varied activities in an organized and timely manner. Excellent communication skills (listening, spoken and written). Strong interpersonal and relationship management skills. Ability to translate new and diverse ideas and concepts into tangible outcomes, to identify and prioritize common interests in a diverse set of points of view. The incumbent is expected to work independently with minimal supervision and must have significant latitude to be self-directed and be highly motivated. Problem solving skills are desirable. An established network of sustainable finance decision-makers, influencers and practitioners is desirable. Fluency in written and spoken English required.

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.