NDCP Climate Finance Expert – Papua New Guinea (Technical Specialist, Environmental)

WEC Background: 

The Water, Environment and Climate (WEC) portfolio, based in Vienna, and with offices based globally is part of the UNOPS Global Portfolio Office. The Portfolio has built strong partnerships and is effectively managing a portfolio of over 500 million USD over the last 15 years to support key initiatives with fund management, project implementation and administrative support. 

WEC effectively operationalizes partners' agendas with global approaches, as well as regional and country specific activities focused on climate action, protection and conservation of the environment. Partners profit from WEC’s ability to operationalize and/or scale up their important substantive agendas, including in support of key multilateral environmental and climate agreements, such as the Paris Agreement, the Cartagena Convention as well as the Sustainable Development Goals.

The NDC Partnership: 

The NDC Partnership is a global coalition of countries and institutions collaborating to drive transformational climate action through sustainable development. In 2015, the world endorsed the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Nations signal their commitments to the Paris Agreement through Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) - each country’s strategy to cut its own greenhouse gas emissions and build resilience against the negative effects of a changing climate. The Partnership advances the goals of the Paris Agreement by bringing together nearly 200 countries and institutions in new ways to accelerate NDC implementation and enhance ambition over time. The Partnership’s work through 120 partners supporting almost 80 countries produces many examples of impact, lessons learned and ideas for the future. The Partnership is governed by a Steering Committee, co-chaired by two country representatives. The Partnership’s work is facilitated by a Support Unit based at World Resources Institute in Washington DC and the UNFCCC Secretariat in Bonn, Germany. UNOPS supports the NDC Partnership and its Support Unit through the Water, Environment and Climate (WEC).

Country Context

Papua New Guinea (PNG) is a member of the NDC Partnership and submitted its Second NDC to UNFCCC in December 2020. PNG also launched its NDC Implementation Plan and Roadmaps for the electricity, agriculture, and Forestry and Other Land Use sector in 2021, which is used as the guiding document for implementation and resource mobilization. In early March 2025, PNG held its first national consultation for the launch of the update of NDC 2.0 for the submission of PNG NDC 3.0 later during 2025.  

PNG is one of the most vulnerable countries to the impacts of climate change, such as rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and biodiversity loss. PNG has also committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions annual emission from deforestation and forest degradation due to agriculture expansion and commercial logging is reduced by 10,000 Gg CO2 eq comparing to 2015 level, conditional on receiving adequate and predictable support from the international community. To achieve its climate goals and enhance its resilience, PNG needs to mobilize and access climate finance from various sources, both domestic and international, public and private. 

To deliver on these commitments and strengthen climate resilience, PNG must mobilize substantial climate finance from both domestic and international, public and private sources. Central to these efforts is the establishment of a national climate finance mechanism - the Climate Change and Green Growth Trust Fund - as provided for under Section 37 of the Climate Change (Management) Act 2015. This Fund will be the principal vehicle for mobilizing, managing, and disbursing climate finance in alignment with the country’s evolving policy landscape, including its NDC Implementation Plan and guided by the Climate Investment Planning and Mobilization Framework (CIPMF) - a methodology jointly developed by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the NDC Partnership to support countries in strengthening national climate finance ecosystems. 

Despite strong political commitment, PNG faces a range of structural barriers to operationalizing the Fund, including gaps in legal frameworks, institutional capacity limitations, fiduciary requirements, and limited readiness to engage private capital. The Climate Change and Development Authority (CCDA), as the national climate change focal point, seeks technical assistance to design and operationalize the Fund in line with international best practices and PNG’s policy priorities. 

1. The objective of this assignment is to support the CCDA in the design and operationalization of the Climate Change and Green Growth Trust Fund by developing a comprehensive, results-oriented White Paper and associated instruments. These will provide the technical foundation for establishing a credible, well-governed and strategically structured national climate finance vehicle that enables PNG to attract, manage and deploy climate finance at scale. The assignment is aligned with the country’s broader climate finance architecture and is informed by the guiding methodology outlined in the Climate Investment Planning and Mobilization Framework (CIPMF), developed by GCF and the NDC Partnership to help countries build robust and investable climate finance systems. 

The duration for this assignment is expected to be ten (10) months. with possibility of extension subject to performance, budget and organizational needs.

This is a Home-Based position, meaning that the incumbent will not work from UNOPS offices, work arrangements will be setup with the government and NDC Partnership Support Unit. If the selected candidate is international, please anticipate travel for at least 2 country missions to PNG. Exact dates and duration will be discussed and confirmed with the PNG Climate Change and Development Authority (CCDA) and the NDC Partnership Support Unit.  

* This is a Homebased position; the incumbent will need to use his/her own laptop and software.

** This Position is open to both nationals and international candidates. Preference will be given to candidates already residing in PNG. 

Under the overall guidance of CCDA and in supervision of NDCP Partnership Development Specialist the Climate Finance Expert will undertake the following tasks: 

• Create a work plan within the first month in agreement with the government Focal Point and the NDC Partnership Country Engagement Specialist;

• Conduct a desk review of existing documentation, including PNG’s climate strategies (NDCs, NAP, sectoral roadmaps), relevant legal instruments and the CIPMF; 

• Analyze legal and regulatory frameworks enabling the establishment and functioning of the Fund, identify legislative gaps and propose enabling reforms; 

• Assess existing institutional mandates, fiduciary capacities and operational arrangements within CCDA and related entities 

• Conduct a risk analysis for the fund’s incorporation and execution – technical, financial, market-based, and other risks, and identify potential interventions and map them to the risks.  

• Propose governance structures aligned with international standards (e.g., GCF, GEF), including Board composition, decision-making processes and oversight functions; 

• Define the fund’s capitalization pathways (e.g., domestic and international allocations, public and private, donor contributions, blended finance) and replenishment mechanisms; 

• Design fund allocation models and disbursement modalities, including co-financing principles, access modalities and performance-based payments; 

• Draft a preliminary investment strategy including funding windows/facilities aligned with PNG’s NDC and NAP priority sectors and thematic needs and other climate plans and strategies; 

• Propose fiduciary policies for financial integrity, auditing, reporting, and risk management, taking consideration as well environmental and social sustainability, gender responsiveness, and stakeholder participation of the fund.; 

• Design environmental and social safeguard frameworks aligned with international standards; 

• Develop a gender and social inclusion policy tailored to PNG’s context; 

• Propose a robust M&E framework with indicators for performance, impact and transparency, as well as lessons learned, and best practices of the fund; 

• Design feedback mechanisms to support adaptive management and iterative improvement; 

• In close collaboration with CCDA, facilitate inclusive consultations with key stakeholders across government, civil society, local communities, academia and international development partners; 

• Conduct a detailed assessment of constraints and opportunities for private sector engagement and identify instruments that could incentivize private co-financing; 

• Assess the capacity gaps – human and institutional capacity – for the fund’s operationalization, and design a capacity-building roadmap for CCDA and relevant institutions, identifying specific institutional and human resource gaps and the interventions needed to address them; 

• Develop a comprehensive, evidence-based White Paper incorporating all elements above; 

• Present draft findings for stakeholder validation and integrate feedback into final deliverables; 

Specific deliverables pertaining to these tasks will be further discussed and confirmed during the coordination meeting for the Workplan between the Consultant, NDC Partnership and CCDA.

Required

• With a Master degree, a minimum of 5 years of experience in the design, implementation, or evaluation of climate finance instruments, preferably including national or regional trust funds; 

• Demonstrated knowledge of fiduciary standards and governance systems used by international climate funds (e.g., GCF, AF, GEF, CIF); 

• Proven experience developing investment strategies, co-financing mechanisms, or blended finance structures in developing countries; 

Asset 

• Prior work with or for government agencies and/or international development organizations; experience in SIDS or Pacific countries is highly desirable; 

• Strong familiarity with climate policy frameworks and public financial management systems in the context of climate change; 

• Proficiency in English is required. 

• Please note that UNOPS does not accept unsolicited resumes.

• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.

• Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process, which involves various assessments.

• UNOPS embraces diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunity. Our workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures,  languages, races, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities. UNOPS seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce. 

• Qualified women and candidates from groups which are underrepresented in the UNOPS workforce are encouraged to apply. These include in particular candidates from racialized and/or indigenous groups, members of minority gender identities and sexual orientations, and people with disabilities.

• We would like to ensure all candidates perform at their best during the assessment process.  If you are shortlisted and require additional assistance to complete any assessment, including reasonable accommodation, please inform our human resources team when you receive an invitation.

Terms and Conditions 

• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post. 

• For retainer contracts, you must complete a few mandatory courses ( they take around 4 hours to complete)  in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS. Refreshers or new mandatory courses may be required during your contract. Please note that you will not receive any compensation for taking courses and refreshers. For more information on a retainer contract here.

• All UNOPS personnel are responsible for performing their duties in accordance with the UN Charter and UNOPS Policies and Instructions, as well as other relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, all personnel must demonstrate an understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a manner consistent with UN core values and the UN Common Agenda.

• It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential personnel. Recruitment in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.