Climate Change Specialist (Markets)

Description

Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? The World Bank is one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries; a unique global partnership of five institutions dedicated to ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity. With 189 member countries and more than 120 offices worldwide, we work with public and private sector partners, investing in groundbreaking projects and using data, research, and technology to develop solutions to the most urgent global challenges. For more information, visit www.worldbank.org.
The Sustainable Development Practice Group & the Climate Change Group
Climate change, poverty, and inequality are the defining issues of our age. The World Bank is the biggest multilateral funder of climate investments in developing countries. Over $32 billion in 2022 alone – accounting for over half of multilateral climate finance to developing countries—and over two-thirds of adaptation finance. We intend to go further in helping countries reduce poverty and rise to the challenges of climate change with our revamped mission to create a world free from poverty on a livable planet.
The Sustainable Development (SD) Practice Group (PG) helps countries tackle their most complex challenges in the areas of Agriculture and Food, Climate Change, Environment, Natural Resources & Blue Economy, Environmental and Social Framework, Urban, Disaster Risk Management, Resilience & Land, Social Sustainability and Inclusion, and Water. The Climate Change Group (CCG) resides in the SD PG and is responsible for mainstreaming climate change across the Bank and scaling climate finance.
The Climate Finance & Economics Unit
The Climate Finance & Economics Unit (SCCFE) is one of five units in the World Bank’s Climate Change Group (CCG). The mandate of the unit encompasses three workstreams:
(i) Climate analytics and diagnostics: development of climate analytics and diagnostics, including tools, instruments and flagship reports that inform climate policy, priorities and finance;
(ii) Carbon markets & finance and carbon pricing: support client countries on carbon markets and carbon pricing and drive innovation in international carbon markets infrastructure; and
(iii) Scaling up and innovation in climate finance: develop innovative climate finance instruments and business models to help the Bank scale up climate finance.
SCCFE accomplishes its mandate in close collaboration with other units within CCG and other regional teams and global practices (GPs).
About the Position:
SCCFE is seeking a highly motivated Climate Change Specialist, to advance the unit’s work in carbon markets, especially the implementation of the World Bank’s Engagement Roadmap for Carbon Markets unveiled at COP28 https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/climatechange/brief/the-world-bank-engagement-roadmap-for-carbon-markets. to unlock the potential of high integrity carbon markets, starting with catalyzing high integrity, high impact supply from its own portfolio; building the capacity of client countries to get prepared and utilize the opportunities that carbon markets bring; and working with the carbon markets ecosystem to unlock bottlenecks that have hampered growth.
The Climate Change Specialist will be based in Washington, DC and will report to SCCFE’s Practice Manager.
Duties & Accountabilities

• Support the World Bank’s dialogue and partnerships with key carbon markets stakeholders to unlock the most critical bottlenecks to shape a sound, well-functioning and trusted global carbon market, including emphasizing end-to-end environmental, social and financial integrity, and end-to-end digital infrastructure including registries and digital MRV platforms.
• Building on over two decades of World Bank’s experience with carbon markets, support technical assistance efforts in various countries to build the policy, institutional and regulatory frameworks and capacity to operationalize carbon markets as supported under the World Bank’s Partnership for Market Implementation Facility (PMIF) https://pmiclimate.org/countries
• Develop and test innovative solutions to catalyze the supply of high quality carbon credits, such as new greenhouse gases (GHG) accounting methodologies (e.g., jurisdictional or sectoral level) and carbon market infrastructure (such as digital systems for Monitoring Reporting and Verification (MRV) and globally connected carbon issuance and transaction registries) as supported through the World Bank’s Climate Warehouse (https://www.theclimatewarehouse.org/.Support the work with different Global Practices (e.g., energy, agriculture, water, environment, transport) and regional teams to mainstream carbon finance across the World Bank’s portfolio, by supporting operations to include results-based payment components and generate and monetize high integrity carbon credit, assisting with the eligibility criteria for types of projects to prioritize, developing new operating models, financial innovation, and instrument design.
• Contribute to the development of knowledge products under the technical work program of SCCFE.
• Support the delivery of the SCCFE unit tasks related to climate finance and carbon markets, including specific inputs in the development of new approaches, analytical tools and financial structures for blended finance using carbon markets, climate finance and concessional resources.
• Perform other duties and functions as assigned by the SCCFE Practice Manager or other SCCFE leads.

Selection Criteria

• A Masters’ level degree, or equivalent post-bachelor’s qualification in environmental science, natural resource management/forestry, geography, environmental law, environmental policy or environmental economics, engineering and/or other relevant area.
• At least 5 years of relevant experience in carbon markets and finance.
• Relevant work experience in developing countries is essential.
• Strong understanding of international carbon markets, in particular country policies and governance frameworks, carbon accounting methodologies and validation and verification processes; and market infrastructure including systems and technologies for generating and transacting carbon assets.
• Strong understanding of detailed technical elements related to Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, voluntary carbon markets (including the multi-stakeholder processes such as those under the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon market, the Voluntary Carbon Market Integrity initiative), and ability to explain complex concepts through simple visual representations.
• Extensive knowledge and practical experience in key sectors contributing to global decarbonization efforts such as energy transition, nature, agriculture, water and transport.
• Strong comprehension of the global climate finance landscape, including policy instruments and main avenues for mobilizing public and private finance.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English; Proficiency in other WB languages is an advantage.

World Bank Group Core Competencies

Climate Change Competencies

The World Bank Group offers comprehensive benefits, including a retirement plan; medical, life and disability insurance; and paid leave, including parental leave, as well as reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities.

We are proud to be an equal opportunity and inclusive employer with a dedicated and committed workforce, and do not discriminate based on gender, gender identity, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability.

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