Papua New Guinea: Senior Climate Investment Advisor – Infrastructure Finance

INTRODUCTION TO GGGI

The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) is a treaty-based international, inter-governmental organization dedicated to supporting and promoting strong, inclusive and sustainable economic growth in developing countries and emerging economies. To learn more please visit about GGGI web page. 

Papua New Guinea (PNG) joined the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) in 2012, embarking on a partnership to foster sustainable and inclusive economic growth. GGGI’s presence in PNG, established in 2018, supports the government’s integration of climate-resilient green growth (CRGG) strategies and the execution of green growth projects through mobilization of climate finance and investments.

The GGGI PNG main office is embedded within the Climate Change Development Authority (CCDA), government of PNG, with presence in the Center of Excellence for Financial Inclusion at the Central Bank of Papua New Guinea, and at the sub-national level within Enga, New Ireland, and Milne Bay Provincial Government Administrations. GGGI PNG Program is scaling up its activities with the support from Australia, New Zealand, USA, and France for inclusive green economic growth for PNG over the next five years with a target to mobilize USD 500 million in climate investments and scale up climate resilience and green growth planning at national and subnational levels. 

GGGI PNG currently has seven national and five regional active projects, with the four-year AUD 20 million Australian DFAT-funded Climate FIRST project as its flagship initiative. Launched in March 2024 and concluding in February 2028, Climate FIRST is poised to expand PNG’s access to climate finance. It focuses on engaging seven provinces sub-nationally and bolstering the institutional capacity and coordination necessary for mobilizing climate finance. The project aspires to scale up PNG’s access to climate finance through global climate funds, innovative financing mechanisms, increased private sector climate financing and investments, and the development of MSMEs in green businesses.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Senior Climate Investment Advisor – Infrastructure Finance, under the guidance of GGGI PNG Country Representative and the Climate FIRST Project Manager, leads the origination, design and development of green investment and climate finance projects in line with the Government of PNG’s priorities and GGGI thematic areas for climate change mitigation, adaptation and loss and damage. S/he will support the development of bankable business cases, financial models, financial instruments, analysis of strengths and weaknesses of the project, concept notes and full proposals to attract funding from various funding institutions and agencies including private sector funding.  

PURPOSE

The Senior Climate Investment Advisor – Infrastructure Finance as part of the PNG Country Program will work in close collaboration with relevant stakeholders to access international and domestic sources of public and private finance for climate adaptation and mitigation projects to support the implementation of PNG’s NDC and climate targets. S/he is expected to identify project opportunities and perform all required analysis and assessments for the (1) development of project concept, (2) design of financing mechanism and instruments, (3) identification and engagement of potential financiers, and (4) concept note and full proposal development for submission to funders/financiers.

The Senior Climate Finance Advisor – Infrastructure Finance will perform the following tasks and duties:

• Originate green investment project pipelines that can support the country’s green growth and climate policy targets by conducting an analysis of existing and potential investment opportunities.
• Responsible for identifying investment options and structures, innovative financing mechanisms, financial instruments, and/or de-risking mechanisms to overcome financial, regulatory and institutional barriers for green investment and climate finance in adaptation and resilience building.
• Prepare investment documentation for identified projects, including investment briefs, memorandum, presentations, financial models, and scenarios analysis for potential public and private investors.
• Write, revise, and edit project concept notes and funding proposals.

ENGAGEMENT

The Senior Climate Finance Advisor – Infrastructure Finance provides clear analysis to support green investment projects in multiple sectors, contributing to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and/or enhancing adaptation and resilience building for PNG, through collaboration with the project team, GGGI in-house experts at regional and global levels, and external experts/organization. The incumbent provides technical advice and guidance on green investment opportunities, prepares analytical inputs for capacity building of government staff in green investment/climate finance project design, preparation, and implementation. S/he plays a critical role in building, maintaining, and strengthening partnerships with government counterparts and international/local stakeholders in the public and private sectors such as relevant GoPNG departments, private companies, development partners, funding institutions, universities, NGOs, and communities.

The Senior Climate Finance Advisor – Infrastructure Finance reports to GGGI PNG Country Representative and collaborates with the Green Investment Service Lead for the Pacific Region (based in Fiji) and the Investment and Policy Solutions Division (IPSD) at GGGI Headquarters for the development of business case and investment documentation.

DELIVERY

The Senior Climate Finance Advisor – Infrastructure Finance supports the Climate FIRST project team and PNG Country Program to manage and deliver on green investment projects aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emission and/or build adaptive capacity and climate resilience of the people of PNG. Specifically, s/he shall, among others:

• Conduct all required analysis for the successful development of new green investment/climate finance projects, drawn from PNG’s climate and green growth policies, based on needs, gaps, and strengths.
• Identify relevant funding sources including public and private sources at international and domestic level and develop relevant financing mechanism and risk reduction instruments for identified projects including preparation of financial models and financial structures as needed to support the business case.
• Conduct fact finding, scoping, (pre) feasibility assessment and technical assessments of green investment/infrastructure projects engaging all relevant stakeholders.
• Perform socio-economic, environmental, financial, and regulatory analysis throughout project concept and design stages in collaboration with the GGGI PNG team and government counterparts.
• Lead development and submission of high-quality climate funding proposals, including by navigating the range of financing sources, engaging stakeholders to fulfil funding proposal requirements, and assessing financial instruments to structure investments to ensure that projects progress to financing/implementation stage.
• Coordinate with government counterparts especially the National Designated Authority and with international, regional, or national accredited entities to submit climate finance concept notes and/or funding proposals.
• Initiate, maintain and strengthen relationships with senior officials in government and international/local stakeholders and institutions (i.e., multilateral development banks, development agencies, accredited entities) in the public and private sectors; constantly build new collaborations with partners (country of global level).

REQUIREMENTS

QUALIFICATIONS 

• A master’s degree in environmental or climate finance, environmental science, environmental management, engineering, sustainable development, economics, or other related fields.
• Substantive relevant experience (a minimum of 7 years) in climate change mitigation and/or adaptation, environmental protection, disaster risk management, or loss and damage with sound understanding of green and climate finance landscape.
• At least one year of international multi-country experience – living and working outside of home country. Studying and short-term training visits will not be considered.
• Proven experience working in developing and/or small island developing state (SIDS) countries, especially in the Pacific region in climate change or development issues related to climate change mitigation and adaptation is an advantage.
• Sectoral expertise in agriculture, forestry, energy, infrastructure, transportation, health, blue economy, or waste management is an advantage.
• Experience with international climate finance institutions, especially multilateral climate funds such as GCF, Adaptation Fund, Global Environmental Facility, Climate Investment Fund and etc, or multilateral development banks is an advantage.
• Experience accessing and structuring project finance for climate investments is desirable.
• Ability to efficiently manage a large number of activities simultaneously and to navigate through complex and challenging environments.
• Fluency in written and spoken English.

FUNCTIONAL

• Demonstrated ability to formulate concept notes and project proposals in compliance with requirements of various climate finance funds, multilateral development banks, donors and financiers from private sector. 
• Experience in at least one of the following areas of project financing: agriculture, forestry, energy, infrastructure, transportation, health, waste management.
• Demonstrated relationship-building and facilitation skills.
• Resourceful and able to develop and operationalize strategies to achieve outputs and outcomes.
• Understanding of financial instruments, project development/assessment/finance, economic/financial analysis, gender inclusion and poverty analysis of investment projects
• Experience with climate finance and investment banking is a huge plus.  
• Knowledge of and experience in adhering to internationally agreed environmental and social safeguards (ESS) and gender-sensitive design requirements.
• Strong analytical and modeling skills with full knowledge of excel functions is a plus.
• Willingness and ability to commit to in-country travel as required and where possible.

CORPORATE

• Project management: Proven ability to independently plan, manage and complete projects that deliver quality outcomes in a timely and inclusive manner.
• Communication: Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to deliver products or presentations that are concise, easy to understand and influential.
• Influencing change: Track record of engaging effectively to secure buy in, underpinned by strong listening, trust building, influencing, facilitation and negotiation skills.
• Team player: Capacity to be selfless team member, to operate across organizational boundaries, and maintain a resilient, positive and results-focused mindset in a dynamic environment.
• Promotes an organizational culture of trust, transparency, respect and partnership.

WORKING CONDITIONS

The Senior Climate Investment Advisor – Infrastructure Finance is an X9 international grade level in GGGI’s salary scale. For X9 International grade, the base salary starts from USD 77,904. Determination of base salary is subject to candidate’s experience, academic background, and internal equity. GGGI provides 15% of base salary towards retirement plan/long-term savings, 27 days of annual leave, and private health insurance that covers dental and vision. In addition, GGGI provides expatriate benefits such as expatriate allowance, educational allowance, hardship allowance, relocation allowance, and security allowance (terms and conditions are to be reviewed in a case-by-case situation).

GGGI is committed to providing a work environment that is sufficiently flexible to accommodate diverse life-cycle challenges and assist Staff members to achieve a better balance between work and personal/family commitments, thus ensuring high performance, long-term productivity, and well-being of Staff members.