UNDP Biodiversity Finance Specialist | Paid Internship || Apply Now

The Biodiversity Finance Specialist will provide input to all other national outputs, including the Policy and Institutional Review. The Biodiversity Finance Specialist will also contribute to the assessment and development of detailed feasibility studies for priority finance mechanisms in the BFP and the production of summary for Policy Makers. The specialist should provide input to the feedback on the BIOFIN methodological framework.

The specialist will collect, explore and work on national and subnational level budgeting datas and biodiversity expenditures of different organizations, agencies, ministries, NGOs and private sector actors for the production of the BER. For the Finance Needs Assessment (FNA) the consultant will produce a detailed realistic costing of key biodiversity policies and plans – generally focused on the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP).

The Biodiversity Finance Specialist will produce drafts and analyses that will be reviewed and ultimately validated by the Project Lead and the BIOFIN Global Team.

1. Lead Policy and Institutional Review (PIR):

• Advise and support the Policy expert in developing an inventory of existing Biodiversity Financing Mechanisms in the country;
• Advise and support the Policy expert in reviewing of existing economic valuation studies relevant to the BIOFIN process.

2. Ensure effective Biodiversity Expenditure Review (BER):

• Carry out a desk review to map existing studies/information/databases on biodiversity expenditures, including an overview of earlier environmental expenditure reviews;
• Develop a proposed national definition for “biodiversity expenditures”, based on the BIOFIN methodology or other methodologies;
• Establish, with the support of the Senior Finance Expert (Project Lead), a system to tag biodiversity expenses into categories (GBF targets, BIOFIN categories, NBSAP themes, etc.) and a system of coefficients/attribution to estimate the contribution of mixed actions towards biodiversity;
• Coordinate the compilation of relevant data and liaise with relevant Ministries and partners as required and complete all BIOFIN data entry sheets for the BER;

3. Lead the development of Biodiversity Finance Needs Assessment (FNA):

• Review the available methodologies, examples from other countries, the latest NBSAP and the National Biodiversity Reports to develop an initial workplan and outline for the FNA;
• Consult with the NBSAP team and government entities responsible for NBSAP implementation to obtain background information about NBSAP activities and government budgeting processes;
• Work with the Senior Finance Expert (Project Lead) to review the scope of the NBSAP, its alignment with other national policies, and identify policy areas and activities that are not covered by the existing NBSAP;
• Support the Production of the final report of the Biodiversity Finance Needs Assessment.

4. Provide administrative and logistical support to the SEMER portfolio and resource mobilization:

• Provide administrative and logistical support to the SEMER portfolio, beyond the BIOFION project Including (but not limited to) raising requisitions; preparing payments; developing terms of reference (TORs); organizing meetings and events; drafting talking points; and capturing minutes;
• Preparation of workshops, meetings, networking, and presentations as required, to complete the Biodiversity Expenditure Review, the Financial Needs Assessment and engage stakeholders;
• Guide the Project Lead in the conception and preparation of the BFP;
• Support detailed feasibility analyses on a range of financing mechanisms depending on knowledge and experience.

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

Required skills for Biodiversity Finance Specialist

• Proven experience in collaborating with international and national experts and institutions;
• Proven knowledge of key software packages (MS Office);
• Proven experience in drafting reports on environment-related policy writing;
• Demonstrated experience in working with multidisciplinary and multicultural teams.

Desired skills in addition to the competencies covered in the Competencies section:

• Proven experience in managing environmental issues or biodiversity is desirable;
• Previous experience with expenditure reviews would be an asset;
• Familiarity with the governmental institutions is strongly desired.

Required Language(s) (at working level):

• Fluency in English (oral and written) is required.

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