Description of Team

The British High Commission (BHC) Port Louis is a dynamic place to work, blending traditional bilateral activity and wider regional engagement. This is a fascinating and professionally enriching time to be working in Mauritius on behalf of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

The FCDO is committed to tackling climate change and biodiversity loss. Accelerating access to climate finance is a crucial enabler of this work. As a climate vulnerable country Mauritius urgently needs access to finance to adapt to climate change, restore nature and adopt green growth pathways.

About the Taskforce

The Taskforce on Access to Climate Finance (‘the Taskforce’) is an initiative established under the UK’s COP26 Presidency to make the climate finance system more accessible and effective.

The Taskforce was designed to test and demonstrate a ‘new approach’ to climate finance access. The Taskforce in Mauritius is one of seven pioneer countries. The objective is to transform the current system of climate finance through a new programmatic approach based on countries’ own national climate action plans and priorities, supported by coherent, programmatic finance from private sector, multilateral and bilateral partners.

The Taskforce aims to mobilise significant flows of climate finance by supporting the Government of Mauritius to strengthen its climate policy, build capacity and establish an inclusive coordination platform. The Taskforce has seconded a Senior Technical Cooperation Adviser and a Programme Implementation Lead to the Ministry of Finance to lead this work and now seeks a Climate Finance Officer to deliver and progress programme outputs.

The programme sits within the Energy, Climate and Environment Directorate (ECED) with an HQ in London and a network of overseas climate experts across the world. ECED leads FCDO’s policy and spend on climate: to reduce damaging emissions, phase out coal power, protect forests, oceans and biodiversity, work towards more sustainable land use, build resilience to climate shocks and stresses, and support vulnerable populations to plan, pay for and adapt to current and future climate change impacts.

Purpose of Job

The post holder will be responsible for delivery of specific programmatic objectives, outputs and outcomes for the delivery of the Taskforce trial. This will require strong working knowledge of or an ability to rapidly learn programme delivery including financial management, risk management, due diligence, safeguarding, procurement and working with suppliers. The post holder will report to the Programme Implementation Lead who is in post until December 2025 and work closely with BHC policy leads and the Access to Finance Team in the UK. The post holder will divide their time between the Ministry of Finance, liaison with the private sector and the BHC. The Climate Finance Policy Officer will play an important role in implementing the Mauritius Climate Finance Roadmap.

With the Programme Implementation Lead’s departure at the end of the year, the post holder will be trained and supported to take on the key components of their role.

Programme Management (80%)

• Delivery of programme management outputs e.g. financial management, risk management and programme workplan
• Scoping programme design, leading procurement and managing suppliers and contracts
• Fund management including developing assurance frameworks and agreements, and overseeing funding that is channelled to multiple smaller implementers
• Other work to improve the quality of programme design and delivery, including oversight of monitoring, evaluation and learning activities
• Supporting the establishment of an inclusive coordination platform by leveraging strong relationships across Government Development Partners, civil society and academia
• Influencing external stakeholders by subject matter experts, or related capacity building in support of influencing objectives
• Brokering peer to peer relationships between experts in other parts of HMG and overseas counterparts.
• Ensuring coherence between programme delivery partners, or between thematic and geographic priorities in FCDO.

Learning, development and knowledge sharing (20%)

• Capture and disseminate learning for FCDO and other stakeholders to better understand programme effectiveness
• Opportunity to enhance knowledge and skills in climate diplomacy, climate finance and climate change as well as gaining knowledge and experience of the Indian Ocean and its regional geopolitics

• Programme/Project Management experience
• Financial processing experience, including budget management
• Self-starter with ability to work independently
• Understanding of Mauritius’ public and private sector systems and processes
• Excellent interpersonal and written communication skills, with an ability to tailor messaging towards specific audiences
• Stakeholder management experience with an ability to build strong relationships