Environmental and Social Safeguards Consultant

The Green Climate Fund (“the Fund”) is a multilateral fund created to make a significant and ambitious contribution to the global efforts towards attaining the goals set by the international community to combat climate change.

The Fund will contribute to the achievement of the ultimate objective of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In the context of sustainable development, the Fund will promote the paradigm shift towards low-emission and climate-resilient development pathways by providing support to developing countries to limit or reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to the impacts of climate change, taking into account the needs of those developing countries particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.

The Fund is governed by a Board, composed of an equal number of members from developed and developing countries. The Fund is operated by an independent Secretariat headed by an Executive Director. The Fund pursues a country-driven approach in its operations. The fund has adopted a gender policy in 2015 which is still in operation and is guided by the united nations framework convention on climate change (UNFCCC). The Fund strives to maximize the impact of its funding for adaptation and mitigation, and seek a balance between the two, while promoting environmental, social, economic and development co-benefits and taking a gender-sensitive approach. The Fund will provide simplified and improved access to funding, including direct access, basing its activities on a country-driven approach and will encourage the involvement of relevant stakeholders, including vulnerable groups and addressing gender aspects.

The GCF is establishing a roster of environment and social safeguards, indigenous peoples and gender experts who will be providing remote work assignments to the Secretariat. The assignment will be for one year.

Role

The ESS Experts will provide technical expertise to support the APR review and provide timely and appropriate recommendations for improving project and program safeguards design and implementation. The ESS Experts will work closely with the GCF Secretariat through the Environmental Specialist and will provide substantive inputs on the environmental and social safeguards of proposed activities drawing from subject matter knowledge and experiences in various safeguards standards such as those from international financial institutions, UN agencies, and multilateral development banks and organizations. The ESS Experts will report to the Environmental Specialist and will work following the guidance from the Director of Country Programming and in close collaboration with the Gender and Social Specialist and ESS and Gender Associate Professional.

Duties and responsibilities

Under the guidance of the Environmental Specialist, the ESS Consultant will be responsible for but not limited to:

• APR Reviews for ESS:
  • Undertake expert reviews of the Annual Performance Reports of GCF funded activities for sections covering Environmental and Social Safeguards and Indigenous Peoples related matters in a timely manner as per GCF Policy requirements, agreed assessment and plans with the AE, as outlined in the Accreditation Master Agreement and the Funded Activity Agreement(s) for each approved project/program.
  • Prepare a review note/summary for each APR containing key ESS developments during the reporting period which should contain, but may not be limited, to the following:
  • Changes or new ESS risk and impacts during the reporting period that may have affected the E&S risk profile and/or ESS risk category of the project/program.
  • Key compliance issue with the ESS in the FAA and applicable national laws and regulations.
  • Subprojects that were implemented during the reporting period, including whether relevant ESS assessments/reports were provided for post-approval review and/or disclosure per the FAA.
  • Key developments/updates in the ESMP, ESAP, ESMF/ESMS, IPP/IPPF, and/or RAP implementation.
  • Confirmation that the GCF IRM was communicated to stakeholders.
  • Key stakeholder engagement activities conducted during the reporting period including key concerns raised.
  • Summary of complaints received and resolved (e.g., whether most of the complaints are related to labor, or EHS, among others) and information about unresolved complaints.
  • Any follow-up actions implemented based on items reported in the previous reporting period.

    Required experience and qualifications

    • Advanced university degree related to gender studies preferably within the development sector
    • Requires Master’s (7 years) or Bachelor’s (9 years) of relevant work experience.
    • Ideal candidates will require analytical and organizational skills, strong writing skills, adult learning techniques and be capable of working under strict timelines;
    • Practical experience/demonstrable experience in mainstreaming gender issues in projects and programs (project/program cycle)
    • Experience of establishing strong working relationships with colleagues from different functions and cultures.

      Applications from women and nationals of developing countries are strongly encouraged. Candidates of all nationalities are welcome to apply. Closing date for applications is 21 February 2025, 23:59 (KST). Applications received after the closing date may not be considered.