Senior Forest and Land Use Specialist

Grade: IS-5
Deadline: 09 July 2023 (11:59 PM KST)
Job Category: International
Salary: USD 138,750 net (plus attractive benefits), that include the following allowances (as applicable): Relocation, housing, dependency, education assistance and home country travel)

Introduction
The mission of the Green Climate Fund is to assist developing countries to respond to climate change while bringing prosperity to their people.

Established in 2010, the GCF invests in transformational climate projects in the developing world. The Fund makes an ambitious contribution to global climate action and channels significant financial resources into developing countries to help build low-emission and climate-resilient societies. It is country-driven and undertakes actions that reflect the circumstances of each country concerned and its national aspirations. The GCF is a key enabler of the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

Since its establishment, the GCF has approved 216 projects in 129 countries and has committed USD 12.0 billion in climate finance. In addition, it has built up an extensive program to support developing countries to identify their needs, in particular, those who are most vulnerable to climate change impacts.

The GCF’s diverse workforce is advancing its mission from its headquarters in South Korea. Our talented staff makes unique contributions to the Fund, enriching the institution through their combined expertise and professional commitment.

Preamble / Context
Global warming, reaching 1.5°C in the near-term, could cause unavoidable increases in multiple climate hazards and present major risks to both ecosystems and people. While forests globally absorb twice as much carbon as they emit each year, deforestation and forest degradation rates remain alarmingly high. This threatens the ability of forests to continue absorbing carbon, with just one of the three main tropical rainforests still acting as a strong carbon sink. This also increases the climate vulnerability of both forest ecosystems and the people who depend upon them for survival, especially indigenous people and local communities.

Nature-based solutions, particularly on forests and land use, can address the climate crisis, land degradation and biodiversity loss, as well as contribute to addressing a variety of social issues, such as supporting livelihoods and poverty alleviation. The recent convergence between biodiversity and climate is highlighted by the UNFCCC Sharm El Sheikh Implementation Plan as well as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, with the latter including ambitious targets of protecting 30% of the world’s lands/inland waters/coastal areas/oceans by 2030. The State of Finance for Nature report estimates that finance flows to nature-based solutions would need to more than double by 2025 to USD 384 billion and more than triple to USD 484 billion by 2030 to keep climate change to below 1.5°C, halt biodiversity loss and achieve land degradation neutrality. There is an urgent need to reorient and realign the way public finance is planned and disbursed and catalyze private finance at scale for nature and climate.

Position Objective
The Senior Forest and Land Use Specialist, reporting to the Climate Impact Area Lead, is responsible with the other GCF Senior Forest and Land Use Specialist for the expansion and evolution of GCF’s forest and land use result area.

Working closely with other senior sector specialists at DMA, as well as with climate investment managers and officers at the Private Sector Facility of the GCF, accredited entities, national designated authorities and other internal/external stakeholders, the Senior Forest and Land Use Specialist will provide thought leadership for programming the pipeline of investments in forest and land use, thus expanding the Forest and Land Use portfolio in accordance with the Updated Strategic Plan of the GCF.

Duties and Responsibilities

Purpose

• Leads the origination of strategies and policies focused on forest and land use and investment, in alignment with programming allocations and targets including adaptation/mitigation, country/regional/sectoral, and other targets dictated by the Updated Strategic Plan (USP) of the GCF;
• Expands the range of programmes and projects on forest and land use in alignment with the USP;
• Oversees the forest and land use pipeline and overall portfolio performance to ensure investment targets are met;
• Innovates knowledge products that will enable the development of transformational programming and enable /enhance access to the fund's resources.

  Engagement

  • Advocates with DMA and GCF programming leadership on forest and land use planning and development approaches, relevant methodologies, and country needs;
  • Negotiates with external stakeholders as they access the Fund’s investment resources (including scalable catalytic programmes), and provide technical advice on forest and land use-related activities in line with GCF objectives;
  • Guides, facilitates and engages in the development of internal and external networks relevant for the advancement of programming in forest and land use.

    Deliver

    • Oversees forest and land use pipeline and portfolio activities from origination to monitoring of project and programme implementation, and ensures their alignment with cycles of funding and project development;
    • Organizes knowledge management resources and tools to strengthen the quality of sectoral and country-level projects to shift the paradigm on low-emission and climate-resilient ecosystems development, and develops frameworks and processes that synthesize lessons learned and best practice following an adaptive management approach;
    • Plans resources and timeframes with anticipation of substantive, programming and political dimension;
    • Contributes to corporate and team activities such as strategic planning and programming, Board support, hiring processes, consultant selections, communications, publications, and replenishment, by providing relevant inputs, and managing consultants, interns and other GCF staff as necessary.
      

      Requirements (Education, experience, technical competencies required of the job)

      • Master’s or higher-level degree in forest science, ecology, geography, environmental science, environmental economics; natural resources management; engineering or other relevant fields; or a Bachelor’s degree and 2 additional years of professional experience.
      • 11 years or more experience in project origination, development, and management and/or financing with specific emphasis on forest and land use;
      • Specialization in the following topics: forest management/restoration/conservation, deforestation-free commodity supply chains, REDD+, natural capital accounting, forest or environmental policies, economics and/or finance; ecosystems-based adaptation, nature-positive businesses; climate change adaptation and resilience of forest ecosystems, methodologies for forest carbon accounting, others;
      • Substantive experience in developing and implementing forest and land use related investments in developing country settings is required;
      • Relevant experience in economic and financial analysis and financial structuring;
      • Relevant experience in climate finance operations in ecosystems management; familiarity with multilateral funds, including the UNFCCC framework;
      • Ability to work in a multicultural environment with diverse stakeholders at different technical and strategic levels– staff, Board, GCF’s independent bodies, and external stakeholders.
      • Unquestionable integrity and adherence to the highest ethical standards.
      • Excellent interpersonal, communication and negotiation skills required with ability to interact with multiple internal/external stakeholders and at different levels; and
      • Fluency in English is essential; knowledge of Spanish and/or French is an advantage.

        The closing date for application is 09 July 2023. Applications submitted after the deadline may not be considered.

        *The person assessed by the Selection Panel as most suitable for the position will be proposed for appointment. Selection among short-listed candidates will also take into account performance at interview, appropriate testing, and references.

        Applications from women and nationals of developing countries are strongly encouraged.