Nature and Climate Change Specialist

Details

Mission and objectives

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) works in approximately 170 countries and territories, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty and the reduction of inequality and exclusion. The program helps countries to developing policies, leadership skills, partnership skills, institutional capacities, and to building resilience to sustainable development results.
UNDP implements several projects in different areas, offering its partners technical, operational and management assistance through access to methodologies, specialized knowledge, specialized advice and a wide international network of technical cooperation.
To contribute to human development, poverty reduction and the country’s growth in priority areas, UNDP Brazil has a constant mission to align its services with the needs of a dynamic, multifaceted and diverse country. The projects are carried out in partnership with the Brazilian government, international financial institutions, the private sector and civil society.

Context

UNDP aims to support developing countries in the development and implementation of climate policies within the scope of the Paris Agreement, including the ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions, with climate change mitigation and adaptation interventions fully incorporated into national development plans and budgetary processes. Several initiatives for reducing deforestation and forest degradation, conserving and sustainably managing forests, in line with UNFCCC requirements, so that reductions and removals of GHG emissions are recognized and rewarded are critical for Brazil.
Climate change-resilient development that integrates adaptation and mitigation to promote sustainable development for all, may be possible through increased international cooperation, including better access to adequate financial resources, especially for regions, sectors and vulnerable groups, combined with inclusive governance and coordinated policies. International negotiations within the scope of the UNFCCC have increasingly critical importance. As recorded at the end of the 28th COP held in Dubai in 2023, the pathway to COP30 will be especially decisive as governments must not only set a new climate finance target that reflects the scale and urgency of the climate challenge, but also to present new nationally determined contributions that cover the entire economy, all greenhouse gases and are fully aligned with the 1.5°C temperature limit.
The Environmentally Sustainable Development team is clustered into the larger Programme Team and works in an integrated manner with the Governance and Inclusive Socio-Economic Development teams in anchoring UNDP’s Programme portfolio in Environmental and Sustainable Development areas by providing thought leadership and enabling innovation and cross-cutting development solutions that are amplified by UNDP knowledge, research, and stand-out policy advice.
The UN Volunteer will be responsible for providing technical advice, managing the implementation and monitoring projects. Thus, the UN Volunteer will be responsible for supporting management activities related to project implementation, ensuring the fluid execution, consistency and compliance with UNDP and donors’ rules and regulations, in addition to providing substantive technical contributions in strategic areas, contributing to the positioning and expansion of UNDP’s activities in the reference themes.

Task description

Under the direct supervision of the Environmentally Sustainable Development Team Leader, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:
Support implementation of projects under Nature for Climate portfolio
• Participate in the development, implementation and evaluation of assigned pro-grammes/projects.
• Design of Project Documents (PRODOC), technical notes, proposals, concept pa-pers, work plans, budgets, executive summaries, and providing any other relevant in-puts for the development of projects, in collaboration with partner institutions.
• Monitor and analyse programme/project development and implementation; review relevant documents and reports; identify problems and issues to be addressed and propose corrective actions; liaise with relevant parties; identify and track follow-up ac-tions.
• Analysis and research of information on donors, preparation of substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation, identification of opportunities for initiation of new pro-jects, active contribution to the overall office effort in resource mobilization.
• Preparation of inputs for reporting, including donor reporting.
• Support technical discussions and prepare minutes of the meetings with partners.
• Assist in policy development, review and analysis of issues and trends, preparation of impact evaluation or equivalent studies.
• Research, analyse and present information gathered from diverse sources;
• Undertake survey initiatives; reviews, analyse and interpret responses, identify prob-lems or issues and prepare conclusions.
• Prepare various written outputs, like draft background papers, briefings, analysis, sec-tions of reports and studies, inputs to publications.
• Provide support to consultative and other meetings, conferences to include proposing agenda topics, identifying participants, preparation of document, presentations and fi-nal notes.
• Support the organization and holding of events, meetings, seminars, conferences, training, technical meetings and workshops within the scope of the Project.
• Provide support to local teams on climate change issues, biodiversity, deforestation prevention and reduction strategies.
• Collaborate in defining internal workflows for improved support for the Project and co-ordination of data collection processes that result in publications.
• Provide technical assistance and support in the preparation and execution of the Bra-zilian presidency of COP30 and the Brazilian negotiating delegation on related issues.
• Other activities and results can be requested as required.
Establishment of a Work Plan
During the first month of the assignment, the UN Volunteer will work jointly with his/her direct supervisor to finalize an agreed upon work plan. It will include regular meetings with the supervisor for feedback on performance against the work plan. The final work plan will be discussed and mutually agreed to by the UN Volunteer his/her supervisor.