Environmental, Social and Governance Integration Specialist

The United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) is a strategic public-private partnership between UNEP and the global financial sector. UNEP FI works with over 200 financial institutions, signatories to UNEP Statement of Commitment by Financial Institutions on Sustainable Development, and a range of partners and organizations, to embed environmental, social and governance considerations in financial decision-making. Through its industry, thematic and regional activities, UNEP FI promotes the adoption of sustainability practices by financial institutions and the finance sector at large.
UNEP Finance Initiative in collaboration with the International Finance Corporation and the World Wildlife Fund is executing a GEF funded project on enabling transactions for removing deforestation from commodity supply chains (“Good Growth Partnership”, hereinafter referred to as GGP) with a focus on palm oil in Indonesia and Liberia, and beef and soy in Brazil and Paraguay. The project is comprised of three components:

1) Support to commercial transactions

2) Support to Financial Markets & Institutions

3) Support to Governments

In a rapidly evolving operating environment that increasingly recognize the importance of forests in supporting the functioning of agricultural commodity supply chains, risks created by unsustainable deforestation present a considerable threat for the long-term value of companies producing, transforming, transporting and selling these commodities. For the financial institutions that invest in these companies, the misperception and even ignorance of these risks can result in a suboptimal allocation of the assets under their management and in imperfectly hedged and therefore not recoverable losses.

In line with the work programme agreed by the GEF and UNEP, and under the direction of UNEP FI REDD+ and Land Use Programme Officer Jonathan Gheyssens, the Consultant will work on the implementation of a UNEP FI GGP transaction child project aimed at supporting Financial Markets and Institutions on the integration of risks associated with deforestation in the ESG frameworks applied by the banking sector.

The investment community often relies on the inclusion of Environmental, Social Governance (ESG) criteria in their investment decision-making processes to identify and manage potential environmental and social risks in their positions. To date, deforestation risks have either been ignored in ESG criteria or inappropriately reflected. Starting in 2018, UNEP FI has evaluated how best to address the problem of deforestation risk integration by conducting several preliminary consultations with key stakeholders from the financial sectors to better understand their challenges and needs. This work has highlighted the existence of several new tools that have been developed to aid the finance sector in identifying and mitigating potential risks related to deforestation in their portfolios. Many of these developments have been geospatial tools such as Global Forest Watch (Commodities) developed by the World Resources Institute to monitor deforestation risk in and around mills and concession areas. Other tools have included management or decision support tools such as SPOTT, the Sustainability Policy Transparency Toolkit, an online platform supporting sustainable commodity production and trade developed by the ZSL. By tracking transparency, SPOTT incentivises the implementation of corporate best practice. While largely aimed at investors the toolkit is expanding to focus on a broader scope of financial and corporate institutions and commodities. Some of these tools have been developed through multi-stakeholder collaborations.  They were instrumental in identifying material issues related to deforestation risk such as High Conservation Value and High Carbon Stock. However, many issues persist with even simple terminology and its translation to different project sites globally. In addition to this, translating concepts such as HCV/HCS into criteria that will have salience for finance sector and different business lines within the finance sector is particularly challenging. Often data used and criteria developed is de-coupled from the manner in which the data is used by the financial institutions, this gap in understanding stresses the need for material criteria and a clear articulation of how financial institutions can exercise their leverage in different business lines.

The insights and lessons from this consultation process were summarized in a scoping report, which identified as a key intervention the need to develop a decision support framework to clarify concepts and terminology and help banks exposed to deforestation risk select their mitigation and engagement options vis a vis their clients. The framework should be supported by a tool to provide the necessary practical guidance.

In light of this diagnosis, the consultant will be responsible for the development, implementation and socialization of an ESG decision support framework and tool in the four project countries of the GGP but also globally. The work will entail consulting risk managers, credit officers, ESG and sustainability specialists at the bank as well as other key stakeholders such as government official, representatives of agribusinesses and NGOs representing the interests of civil society. A special attention should be given to effective coordination with the GGP partner institutions to ensure effective integration of activities across the program. Effective communication and outreach with external organizations active in engaging the financial sector should be promoted and nurtured to contribute to the widest adoption of the framework. More generally, the consultant should seek to organize outreach activities to sensitize stakeholders of the importance of including criteria of deforestation risk in their decision-making processes, to contribute to the project management of the inter-related components of the Program as they relate to the core area of the consultant’s work, including global coordination and management of in-country consultants and to help draft project briefs, proposals and other materials related to the overall Program as they align with the consultant’s program of work.

Specifically, the Consultant will perform the following tasks:

• Produce a report outlining the main results of the consultation process to discuss functional and technical aspects of the decision support framework.
• Draft, review and finalize the technical and functional specifications of the ESG decision support tool, informed by the insights collected during the consultation process.
• Prepare a mid-point review of progress towards the development of the decision support framework and its accompanying tool.
• Prepare, develop and carry out at least one pilot project with the objective of supporting a partnering bank in its integration of the ESG framework and tool. Pilot projects will have to be in one or several of the GGP project countries.
• Produce at least one knowledge management product to outline lessons and insights from implementing the framework in collaboration with one or several partner banks in the selected countries.
• Draft and contribute specific sections of the GGP training program on deforestation risks for the banking sector with a focus on the challenges and opportunities of identifying improved ESG criteria for financial decision-making inclusive of deforestation risks as they relate to investment in and lending to the soy, beef and palm oil sectors.
• Coordinate with GGP partners and other relevant stakeholders to highlight possible synergies and maximize rate of adoption and appropriation for the approach. In particular, work closely with WWF US
• Contribute to the project management of the inter-related components of the Program as they relate to the core area of the consultant’s work.
• Help draft project briefs, proposals and other materials related to the overall Program as they align with the consultant’s program of work.

Expected Outputs:

• Report summarizing the results of the consultation on technical and functional aspects of the decision support framework.
• Technical and functional specifications of the ESG decision support tool.
• Mid-point progress report highlighting progress made towards the tool’s development.
• At least one pilot (in GGP project countries) aimed at testing and operationalizing the approach, in collaboration with partner banks.
• At least one knowledge management product, in the form of a case study, summarizing the lessons and insights from the pilots’ implementation.
• Sections on integration of deforestation risk in ESG framework and application of the decision support tool contributed to the GGP training program on deforestation risks for the banks.

The consultant will carry out the following project tasks for UNEP FI in the context of the Transaction component of the GEF Good Growth Partnership:

• Master’s Degree in one or several of the following areas: economics, finance, business administration, international relations, development studies or environmental management.

• Bachelors’ university degree in the fields noted above accepted with an additional two (2) years of experience.

• At least five years of work experience, especially in international organisations, the financial services sector, private sector or NGOs examining the intersection between sustainability and finance

• Integration of ESG criteria for the financial sector and previous experience in assisting banks in their integration efforts. 
• Experience in contributing to initiatives assessing ESG risks, including voluntary standards, is appreciated.
• Knowledge of REDD+, zero deforestation commodity supply chains, and other landscape investments would also be an asset. 
• Experience with the Global Environment Facility, including its Integrated Approach Programs, a plus.

Contract type: Individual Contractor Agreement (ICA)
Contract level: International ICA Level 2 (ICS-10)
Contract duration: 9 months

• Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time
• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified.
• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• Work life harmonization - UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands. We have a progressive policy on work-life harmonization and offer several flexible working options. This policy applies to UNOPS personnel on all contract types
• The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.  

It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential recruits/interns.
Recruitment/internship in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.