Background

The World Green Economy Organization (WGEO) is a multi-stakeholder organization which aims to promote the widespread adoption of green economy principles and practices within the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication, with the primary focus being sustaining economic growth, enhancing social inclusion, improving human welfare and creating employment opportunities while maintaining and nurturing the planet’s ecosystems and mitigating the damaging impacts of environmental degradation on human health and welfare.

The Global Alliance on Green Economy (GAGE) was launched during the Ministerial Roundtable on Green Economy at the World Green Economy Summit 2022 in Dubai, UAE. The Global Alliance on Green Economy, spearheaded by the UAE Government and the World Green Economy Organization (WGEO), aims to build countries’ capacities in transitioning to a green economy through technical and technological assistance, establish a support platform for matchmaking, and enhance country exchanges.

To fulfill those objectives, GAGE offers a range of programs which tackle sectoral climate action for Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategies (LT-LEDS), climate finance enablers, the just energy transition, and Article 6 capacity-building.

The Regional Collaboration Centres (RCCs) support national climate action through capacity-building, technical assistance, and strategic networking – sourcing know-how and resources to drive clean development. They were established to spread the benefits of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which spurs investment in sustainable development by rewarding projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Since the adoption of the Paris Climate Change Agreement in December 2015, the RCCs have had the broader task of supporting implementation of countries’ NDCs under the agreement.

Location and Duration

The assignment is for the period of 3 months, deliverables based, with the potential for extension if deemed necessary. Travel may be needed as deemed necessary to deliver the outputs.

Supervision

The consultant will work closely with Director General, WGEO, and Global Team Lead, RCCs for related deliverables. The consultant will be contracted by the World Green Economy Organization (WGEO).

Objectives of the Assignment

The consultancy aims at supporting the work of the WGEO with regard to its capacity building portfolio and country level engagement, on promoting climate action in the region.

To date, 84 countries have joined the Global Alliance on Green Economy (GAGE), of which 44 are African countries. This consultancy aims to focus on supporting the existing GAGE African countries, as well as potential GAGE countries, especially on mitigation-related work (NDCs, LT-LEDS, Just Energy Transition and Article 6).

Throughout this consultancy, the consultant will also engage with the RCCs on the different outputs, as per their 2024-2025 priorities and workplans.

Scope of Role

• Facilitate WGEO country level engagement in relation to mitigation-related capacity building for African countries (including African countries that have joined GAGE).
• Provide guidance to RCCs on enhancing climate mitigation implementation in Africa.

Deliverables

The deliverables that correspond to the consultancy’s scope of role are:

• WGEO: Develop a regional engagement strategy for WGEO, which includes designing climate action initiatives aimed at promoting capacity building and technical assistance in Africa for NDC preparation and implementation. This includes recommendations on potential partnership opportunities with countries and development organizations, including in the context of GAGE. For this deliverable, it is anticipated that the consultant will have regular interactions with country representatives and will explore opportunities to facilitate coordination and relationships with development organizations.
• RCCs: Advise on engagement opportunities with implementing partners with presence and interest in the region to generate alliances and identify and leverage opportunities for peer-to-peer exchanges among African countries. This includes recommendations on potential avenues for support and finance aimed at developing net-zero commitments in Africa through matchmaking opportunities between development organizations and MDBs and African countries, as well as between African countries for peer-to-peer exchanges.

Any other deliverables in the context of this consultancy and their timeline will be agreed in consultation with the supervisors.

Required Qualifications

Education background

Required: Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) degree in Environmental Studies, Environmental engineering/management, Environmental policy, and management, and/or related fields is required. A bachelor’s degree in addition to master’s degree. A first-level university degree in combination with additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience

Required: At least (15) years progressively responsible professional experience supporting research-related work, development work coordination, sustainable development, climate change and developing strategies.

Language skills

Excellent proficiency in written and spoken English, including the ability to write summaries, notes, and drafts. Knowledge of other languages is an asset. A working knowledge of other UN languages e.g., French, is desirable.