Result of Service

• Organise multistakeholder consultation, exchange session(or workshop(to inform the development of the Baseline Analysis. • Develop a detailed Baseline Analysis on current initiatives, practices and barriers in circular textile financing, and providing recommendations for the future development of activities in the One UNEP Textile Initiative to unlock sustainable and just circular finance in the textile sector at global level. • Develop a concept note, stakeholder engagement strategy and work plan including proposals to implement in the ONE UNEP Textile Initiative the activities identified and recommended in the Baseline analysis. • Expert inputs are provided as needed to UNEP’s textile work with a focus on financing and to UNEP FI’s work with a focus on textile.

Work Location

Working remotely

Expected duration

5 months

Duties and Responsibilities

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEis the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment. The overall objective of the UNEP’s Economy Division is to encourage decision makers in government, local authorities and industry to develop and adopt policies, strategies and practices and technologies that promote sustainable patterns of consumption and production, make efficient use of natural resources, ensure safe management of chemicals and contribute to making trade and environment policies mutually supportive. It promotes the development, use and transfer of policies, technologies, economic instruments, managerial practices and other tools that assist in environmentally sound decision making and the building of corresponding activities. The United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP Fis the strategic partnership between the United Nations and over 500 banks, insurers and investors. For 30 years UNEP FI has been shaping and driving the international sustainable finance agenda, setting global standards and growing a global network of leading financial institutions. Through its workstreams and regional activities, peer learning, methodology development, training and research, UNEP FI carries out its mission to help the financial industry align with and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals and with that take on the crucial role it must play in achieving a sustainable future. UNEP FI convenes the Principles for Responsible Banking (PR, a unique framework for ensuring that signatory banks’ strategy and practice align with the vision society has set out for its future in the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement. Over 330 banks representing close to half of global banking assets have now joined this movement for change, leading the way towards a future in which the banking community makes the kind of positive contribution to people and the planet that society expects. Most PRB Signatories have identified climate change as one of their significant impact areas, for which they are committed to set and implement targets to improve their impact on people and planet, and publicly report on progress, yet fewer banks have identified their pollution impacts. Yet these are issues of similar magnitude and importance for the banking sector, warranting targetsetting and action on a comparable scale. UNEP FI has recently established a thematic area focusing on Pollution and Circular Economy. This workstream will continue to build support on circular economy technical capabilities and help financial institutions address pollution risks such as plastics and chemical pollution. UNEP FI published a global updated guidance for banks on resource efficiency and circular economy target setting in 2023 and, in July 2024, a series of guidance documents ‘Circular Economy as an Enabler for Responsible Banking’, on the nexus between circular economy, climate, nature, pollution and healthy and inclusive economies. UNEP FI also works on regional initiatives to catalyze circular economy finance. UNEP FI will execute the finance component of sectoral projects led by UNEP to trigger systems change to accelerate the transition to a circular economy in high impact sectors, inter alia in the textile sector through the One UNEP Textile Initiative. The One UNEP Textile Initiative provides strategic leadership and encourages sectorwide collaboration to accelerate a just transition towards a sustainable and circular textile value chain. It has outlined the imperative for the fashion sector to become radically and rapidly transformed to become circular and encapsulates and aligns all UNEP work on textiles to do so. Within it, UNEP wants to ensure that in five years at least 20 financial institutions have taken action to support circular textiles. UNEP FI will lead the work on the finance component of the One UNEP Textile Initiative. In this perspective, UNEP FI seeks to run a baseline analysis of initiatives to promote financing of circular textiles, barriers faced by financial institutions and by the industry, and recommendations to overcome identified barriers through activities to be developed under the One UNEP Textile Initiative. UNEP FI does not currently have the required capacity to develop this work and needs a consultant to run this initiative. The consultant will develop a baseline analysis including recommendations for possible One UNEP Textile Initiative activities. The consultant will work in close collaboration with UNEP FI Pollution and Circular Economy team and with other relevant UNEP and UNEP FI teams. The consultant will also actively engage with relevant experts and stakeholders. The Consultant is required to develop a Baseline Analysis of financing of circular textiles including a mapping of existing initiatives to promote financing of circular textiles, analyzing current practices and identifying barriers faced by financial institutions and by the industry to finance circular activities in the textile sector, and recommendations to overcome such barriers and to foster the financing of a transition towards a sustainable, pollution free and just circular textile sector. On this basis, the Baseline Analysis will develop recommendations of activities to be undertaken in the One UNEP Textile Initiative to accelerate and scale up financing of circular projects in the textile sector, which contribute to a just transition in the sector and to preventing and reducing climate change, nature loss and pollution in the sector. The Baseline Analysis will also develop recommendations of possible partners to implement the recommended activities. The consultant is also required to provide expert inputs as needed to UNEP’s textile work with a focus on financing and to UNEP FI’s work with a focus on textile, especially related to circular economy, pollution and related topics. In order to inform the development of the Baseline Analysis, the Consultant will run desktop research on the current status of financing of circular activities along the textile value chain, and on existing initiatives to advance a just circular finance in the sector. The Consultant will engage with financial institutions, including UNEP FI members and development banks, with policymakers, with relevant UNEP and UNEP FI teams, and with relevant experts and stakeholders. The Consultant will also run consultations that can take the form of interviews, workshops, or exchange sessions. The consultant should build on the work already developed at global and regional level by UNEP FI, including the Pollution and Circular Economy team, to accelerate the transition towards a circular economy across sectors and value chains. This includes the work on the nexus between circular economy and the climate, nature, pollution and social agenda, as well as regional initiatives to catalyze circular economy finance. This also includes the work undertaken to support the development process of the future international treaty to end plastic pollution currently under negotiation, and the implementation of the Global Framework on Chemicals within the finance sector. The consultant should align the development of the Baseline Analysis to the objectives of the One UNEP Textile Initiative and to UNEP’s MediumTerm Strategy priorities. Specific tasks and responsibilities : The consultant’s role covers both coordination and substantive delivery of the activities to be undertaken to develop the Baseline Analysis and define possible activities for the finance component of the One UNEP Textile Initiative, as well as a proposed stakeholder engagement strategy and work plan. This will include the following: • Run the Project Management for the development of the Baseline Analysis and related activities, including the definition of a stakeholder engagement strategy and work plan. • Lead the development of a Baseline Analysis on how to accelerate and scale up circular textiles financing. This will include the following: 1) Run desktop research on the finance landscape across the textile value chain, i.e. financial flows across the textile value chain, financial needs to support circular projects and activities along the textile value chain, mapping of existing initiatives to promote financing of circular textiles, analysis of current practices and of barriers faced by financial institutions and by the industry to finance circular activities in the textile sector, and recommendations of possible ways to address them. This will include exploring synergies and cobenefits with the climate, nature, pollution and social agendas. 2) Prepare and hold consultations and/or interviews with various stakeholders, including financial institutions, especially UNEP FI members, development banks, policymakers, businesses across the textile value chain, and relevant experts, whose input will inform the development of the Baseline Analysis. 3) Liaise as needed with UNEP FI and UNEP teams working on circular economy or on textile, or on other related topics, and incorporate their input in the development of the Baseline Analysis. 4) Draft the Baseline Analysis, submit it to financial institutions, experts, policymakers, industry and peer review and finalise it. 5) The Baseline Analysis will build on previous work of UNEP FI and UNEP to identify concrete actions to take to support the acceleration and scaling up of financing of circular solutions and models, taking inspiration from best practices to support the implementation of Multilateral Environmental Agreements, as well as best practices related to the financing of solutions to end plastic pollution. • Prepare and hold multistakeholder exchange session(to foster dialogue between the industry, the finance community and public actors on identified recommendations to advance sustainable and just circular finance across the textile value chain. • Develop a concept note to support the implementation in the ONE UNEP Textile Initiative of the activities identified and recommended in the Baseline Analysis. This will include: 1) Developing a concept note for the project. 2) Defining a proposed stakeholder engagement strategy, work plan and budget for undertaking the recommended activities. 3) Building on the recommendations in the Baseline Analysis. 4) Liaising as needed with relevant UNEP / UNEP FI teams and relevant experts, partners and stakeholders. • Ensure to incorporate findings and learnings from recent and current negotiation processes and /or support to implementation of Multilateral Environmental Agreements, such as the KunmingMontreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the Global Framework on Chemicals and the future international legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution. • Make best use of the work developed amongst others by UNEP FI on the circular economy and its financing, on the nexus between the circular economy and the broader sustainability agenda, especially in the series of guidance documents on ‘Circular Economy as an Enabler for Responsible Banking’ launched in July 2024, as well as on pollution and on policy and sustainable finance regulation including sustainable finance taxonomies and circular economy categorisation systems and metrics, at global and regional level; by UNEP under the One UNEP Textile Initiative and other initiatives aiming at accelerating a just transition towards sustainable, pollution free and circular textile value chain. • Mobilise experts as needed to provide input, feedback and comments and to share examples of best practices that are replicable and/or scalable. Output expectations: • The current state of circular textiles financing is well understood. • An active dialogue between financial institutions, industry and public actors is facilitated through multistakeholder exchange session(. • Actionoriented recommendations to unlock sustainable and just circular finance in the textiles value chain are provided. • Possible activities to be developed in the One UNEP Textile Initiative, at global and regional level, and possible partners for such activities, are identified. • Proposal of a stakeholder engagement strategy and multiyear work plan for the finance component of the One UNEP Textile Initiative is developed. The consultant shall be under the overall supervision of the Head of UNEP FI and report directly to Programme Management Officer, working in close coordination with the Pollution and Circular Economy Lead.

Qualifications/special skills

Education: Advanced university degree or equivalent in business, finance, environment, sustainability, administration, social studies, science, agriculture or or related field. A firstlevel university degree in combination with seven (7) relevant work experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree. Professional Experience: A minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible work experience related to banking, financial services and/or circular economy and/or in the textile sector. Experience working in/with banks, insurers and/or investment firms is an advantage, as well as experience working in international contexts. Furthermore, the candidate should have a track record of delivering consistently highquality outputs on time and on budget. The candidate should have successfully managed complex, ideally multistakeholder, research projects or studies. Experience of stakeholder engagement is a plus.

Languages

Language: English is the working language of UNEP FI. Other United Nations languages are an asset.

Additional Information

Special skills/knowledge: The consultant should have excellent proven conceptual, analytical, research, interviewing, writing and editing skills. The consultant should have strong project management, stakeholder engagement and consultation competencies. The candidate should be able to work independently in an organized and timely manner. He or she should have an understanding of financial services (banking, insurance and/or investmenand knowledge of the topic of circular economy and textile value chains. Strong technical skills will be an advantage, as well as a good understanding of life cycle approaches, especially in the textile value chains. Knowledge of sustainable finance and/or banking is desirable.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAININ. THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.