Result of Service

The ultimate objective of the services is to build net zero institutional capacity for the financial services sector in North America and support banks and other financial institutions in the design and implementation of their climate mitigation journey. With that objective, the consultant will work directly with the UNEP FI climate and regional teams to conduct regional / country analysis of existing net zero capabilities to identify gaps and opportunities, scope and prioritize regional and country-specific net zero capacity-building needs, and plan and facilitate the delivery of net zero capacity-building activities by engaging and leveraging the capabilities of relevant UNEP FI and other strategic partners’ teams in line with the regional and country-specific capacity-building plan. The consultant will work closely with UNEP FI’s global Climate Team, Banking Team and the North America Regional Lead as well as other strategic partners.

Work Location

Working remotely

Expected duration

12 months

Duties and Responsibilities

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is 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 Industry and 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 FI) works with its network of more than 500 financial institutions to help shape the international sustainable finance agenda, setting global norms and contributing to changing the financial system. Through its work-streams and regional activities, peer learning, methodology development, training and research, UNEP FI promotes sustainable finance and helps the financial industry align with and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals and other international agreements, such as the Paris Agreement and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. UNEP FI supports the development and implementation of sustainability frameworks including the Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB), now committed to by more than 310 banks collectively holding USD 89 trillion in assets, representing almost half of global banking assets, and the Principles for Sustainable Insurance (PSI), established 2012 by UNEP FI and today applied by one-quarter of the world’s insurers (25% of world premium). The industry-led, UN-convened Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) brings together a global group of banks, currently representing over 40% of global banking assets, which are committed to aligning their lending and investment portfolios with net-zero emissions by 2050. Combining near-term action with accountability, this ambitious commitment sees signatory banks setting intermediate targets for 2030 or sooner using robust, science-based guidelines. NZBA is the flagship climate initiative under the Principles for Responsible Banking to accelerate science-based climate target setting and develop common practice. As the banking alliance within the global efforts on net zero across the finance industry brought together under GFANZ, the NZBA is open to all banks globally, including banks that are not UNEP FI members and Principles for Responsible Banking signatories. Similar UN-convened initiatives exist for asset owners (Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance (NZAOA). UNEP FI needs a consultant who will work with both UNEP FI climate and regional teams to scale up and further develop climate mitigation initiatives for commercial banks, insurers, and asset owners in North America (Canada and the United States). Objectives The consultant will conduct regional / country analysis of existing net zero capabilities to identify gaps and opportunities, scope and prioritize regional and country-specific net zero capacity-building needs, and plan and facilitate the delivery of net zero capacity-building activities by engaging and leveraging the capabilities of relevant UNEP FI, and other strategic partners’ teams in line with the regional and country-specific capacity-building plan. The consultant will work closely with UNEP FI’s global Climate Team, Banking Team and Regional Teams as well as with other strategic partners. Specific tasks and responsibilities The consultant will work directly with UNEP FI Climate, Banking and Regional teams to perform the following tasks: ● Drive bilateral and collective engagement with banks, to raise awareness and build capacity across the climate mitigation journey, by engaging and leveraging existing capabilities of relevant UNEP FI, and other strategic partners. ● Conduct regional / country (Canada and US) analysis of existing net zero capabilities to identify gaps and opportunities to advance institutional capacity across the different areas of financial decarbonization. ● Scope and prioritize net zero capacity-building needs in chosen region / jurisdictions. ● Build net-zero capacity-building plan by considering UNEP FI’s, GFANZ’s, relevant regulatory regimes / approaches and other strategic partners’ capabilities and resources. ● Design and prepare regional / country-specific training materials. ● Design and deliver capacity-building work in various forms to support FIs to advance their climate mitigation journey (all the way from impact analysis and climate risk management to Paris Alignment and transition planning). ● Engage with relevant parties to deliver net-zero capacity-building activities for banks, insurers, and asset owners in line with the plan to build institutional capacity across the stage of climate mitigation journey. ● Deliver learning activities on financial decarbonisation in line with the plan. ● Drive engagement with FIs on climate mitigation with support by global teams. ● Organize and deliver events for the acceleration of financial sector decarbonization, by leveraging UNEP FI, and other partner capabilities. ● Map local stakeholders and engage them in collaboration with the Regional Lead to create an enabling environment for banks’ climate journey, establish specific channels of collaboration towards the acceleration of banking (financial sector) decarbonization. ● Conduct maturity analysis of emissions data capabilities and explore opportunities to advance those, including the possibility for NZDPU to be used in that respect. ● Prepare reporting materials: evaluations of strengths and weaknesses and insights for planning 2025. Outputs and Deliverables: ● Regional / Country Analyses (as per the stages of the journey). ● Regional Net Zero Capacity-Building Plan (as per the stages of the journey). ● Country-Tailored Capacity-Building (as per the stages of the journey) workshops and other forms of capacity-building and technical assistance. ● Country-Tailored Training Materials (as per the stages of the journey). ● Country Emissions Data Gap Analysis & Proposed Approach. The consultant shall be under the overall supervision of Head of UNEP FI, and report directly to UNEP-FI’s climate lead and North America regional lead; and aligned with the internal governance where workplans and activities are approved.

Qualifications/special skills

Education: A first level university degree or equivalent in finance, banking, economic development, sustainable finance, climate finance, climate technologies, sustainable development, international relations, political sciences, or a related field. Professional Experience: At least six (6) years of working experience with financial institutions in net zero, sustainable finance, climate finance and/or in relevant capacity building/training work.

Languages

Languages: English is the working language of UNEP FI; knowledge of other languages is desirable.

Skills & Knowledge: ● Thorough knowledge of the climate mitigation agenda for the financial services sector, including emerging trends and best practices on net zero for commercial banks and financial institutions more broadly. ● Deep understanding of climate mitigation concepts for the financial services sector, including physical and transition risks for financial institutions, carbon accounting, climate commitment frameworks, portfolio alignment approaches, international sustainable finance taxonomies, target-setting methodologies, climate scenarios, sectoral reduction trajectories and transition planning. ● Knowledgeable in voluntary and regulatory sustainability disclosure and reporting frameworks, including, but not limited to, ISSB, SEC Climate Disclosure, Canadian Sustainability Disclosure Standards (CSDS), OSFI’s B-15 and preferably CSRD/ESRS. ● In-depth understanding of the evolving landscape related to financial services and regulations and knowledge of anti-ESG sentiment. ● Familiarity with regional climate mitigation pathways and policy including NDCs, priority sectors, and national legislation, tools, frameworks, and resources available for financial institutions in the region. ● Familiarity with UNEP FI’s climate mitigation initiatives, tools and frameworks including the Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB), the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), GFANZ guidelines on Transition Planning for financial institutions and SBTi financial institutions net-zero (FINZ) standard. ● Experience in developing and delivering technical support / training and capacity-building activities, ideally with banks or with other financial institutions. ● Strong stakeholder management skills and ability to engage with a variety of stakeholders including NGOs, international and domestic organizations, and authorities to foster partnerships. ● Strong interpersonal and communications skills. ● Experience in project planning and management.