Work LocationWorking remotely in Europe
Expected duration2.5 months
Duties andResponsibilities
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 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) is 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 work-streams 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 launched the Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB) in 2019 to guide the transition towards a sustainable global banking industry that takes on a key role in helping society to achieve its goals for a sustainable future. With these Principles, banks commit to strategically align their business with and scale up their contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals and the objectives of the Paris Agreement on Climate. A strong implementation framework defines clear accountabilities and requires each bank to set, publish and work towards ambitious targets and report publicly on their positive and negative impacts and progress in implementing their commitments. More than 50% of UNEP FI’s members are based in Europe. However, the region has diversity in terms of PRB implementation across members and alignment of sustainability integration and regulatory developments per sub-region / country. The consultant will assist the implementation of UNEP FI’s European Strategy and workplan, that supports UNEP FI’s global strategy 2022-2025 with concrete actions enabling the delivery of our core strategic areas of engagement (inward- and outward-looking), focusing on the following elements: – Focus on members’ implementation: Support implementation of UNEP FI programs and initiatives (PRB and related initiatives Net Zero Banking Alliance , etc.) to raise awareness, build capacity within banks and policy alignment. – Global programs, regional delivery: Rationalise global collective developments with regional implementation support – Sustainability technical capabilities: Strengthen offering of technical capabilities to members via the delivery frameworks (PRB, PSI, TCFD, etc.) – Supporting leveraging supporting institutions, endorsers and other stakeholders to institutionalise capacity building of banks more effectively. The consultant will ensure linkages between the core focus of the Banking team at UNEP FI, the European strategic focus of our membership and implementation support are delivered in the context of EU policy developments, including ensuring linkages between PRB implementation and emerging requirements such as the application of the EU taxonomy. The consultant will also support Banking activities: – Support the PRB Academy implementation, – Lead the membership Journey, including assessment calls, onboarding process, criteria for new joiners and alignment with the Regional Teams (service model) – Holding the relationship with the Impact team & supporting Impact workshops. UNEP FI currently does not have the expertise in-house to undertake the above and below mentioned tasks, therefore it requires the assistance of a consultant. In particular, UNEP FI requires a consultant to support its banking members in the implementation of the PRB and NZBA commitments, while connecting these actions with the core regulatory mandates stemming from the European regulatory acquis. The incumbent is expected to be a motivated self-starter who enjoys working in a collaborative and international environment, and is able to work independently with minimal supervision, with a personal commitment to the goals of the United Nations. The consultant will be responsible for engaging and communicating with UNEP FI’s European members in order to support their implementation of the relevant sustainability targets they have subscribed to, namely support European banks with their implementation of the PRB, with a specific focus on supporting their impact analysis and target-setting processes – combining a European approach with a good grasp of the technical details of the PRB. The successful candidate will work with the Regional and banking teams, supporting the implementation of the Principles for Responsible Banking in Europe; the member’s journey and service model for all regions and the PRB Academy. The result of the consultant’s work will be the successful high-quality outputs: As an overall objective we aim to ensure that Sustainable Finance is properly understood by our signatories and that the principles and alliances our members commit to are properly implemented, mobilizing European institutions to adequately commit to responsible banking and ensure appropriate impact analysis and target-setting. More concretely we aim to, as reflected in the UNEP FI 2023 strategy and work priorities: • Focus on members’ implementation: Prioritize implementation of UNEP FI programs and initiatives (PRB, PSI, NZ AOA/IA/BA, etc.) to deliver more value to members and deepen industry influence. • Global programs, regional delivery: Rationalise global collective developments with regional implementation support. Sustainability technical capabilities: Ensuring technical capabilities support is sustained and expanded from the concrete work on the PRB, TCFD, NZ Alliances and also via European-specific tools. Specific tasks and responsibilities: The consultant will be responsible for the following: Core Responsibilities • Supporting members in the implementation of their commitments as needed for the Principles for Responsible Banking and related commitments, with a focus on banking. • Inform banks in identifying baselines in relevant areas to set specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound (SMART) targets and leverage UNEP FI’s global guidance for banks on target setting and contribute to shaping market practice to build capacity. • Deliver technical capacity building in Europe: i. Develop regional programme to support banks in Europe on PRB implementation, focusing on setting and implementing targets. ii. Ensure capacity building materials take account of regional /sub-regional context, and potential links to PRB implementation (e.g. EU Taxonomy Regulation). Leverage the European positioning as a leading bloc in sustainability globally (both EU & UK) to compound the global programme and consensus-building as well as the concrete regional delivery on issues impacting members directly. Identify connections between European specific approaches such as those stemming from the EU regulatory package and in achieving portfolio targets, banks client data management systems to comply with EU requirements and links to PRB impact and performance measurement systems. iii. Create case studies of leading practices in PRB implementation in Europe. iv. Organise technical workshops with banks, key stakeholders’ banks and key stakeholders on impact analysis and target setting and implementation to in Europe, focusing on topics covered by PRB guidance, e.g. climate, financial health and inclusion, resource efficiency, biodiversity. Manage pre assessment, post assessment, confirm participation, logistics, implement workshops and evaluate progress of members. v. Engage and invite banks for the workshops and technical assistance vi. Prioritize materials for translation, organize and check translations. • Monitor setting and implementation of targets resulting from workshop participants. • Evaluate Europe capacity building programme to improve regional strategy. • Identify potential partners to scale up capacity building in the region. Engagement with UNEP FI members, supporters, PRB endorsers and other key stakeholders that can contribute to capacity building in the industry. • Share knowledge and best practice to inform target implementation, through strategies such as engagement with clients and customers in specific economic sectors and product development to contribute to aligning portfolios with the SDGs. • Support adoption and implementation of ambitious target setting and promote strategic and operational leadership on sustainable finance in Europe. • Identify knowledge gaps and information needs, cooperating with the training & capacity building teams. • Support the PRB member’s journey in all regions: PRB assessment calls and onboarding process • Review and propose the criteria for new PRB joiners aligned with UNEP FI secretariat • Propose a service model between the banking team and regional coordination • Develop procedures for the membership journey • Support the PRB Academy implementation: strategy and topics • Align the PRB Academy and the Capacity Building Programme The consultant shall be under the overall supervision of the Head UNEP FI and report directly to the Membership and Regional Coordination Manager of UNEP FI. The consultant will work closely with UNEP FI’s Regional Coordination team in Europe (especially with the Regional Coordinator for Europe), Banking, and Communications teams and other members of the Secretariat as needed.
Qualifications/special skillsEducation: Advanced university degree in banking, business, economics, finance, sustainable development, environmental management, sociology or an environmental field or equivalent work experience. A First degree could be taken in lieu of advanced degree provided the selected candidate has 9 years of relevant experience. Professional Experience: Required: At least 7 years’ experience of working with the financial services sector and experience in sustainability standards implementation. Experience of delivering workshops (physical & virtual). Desirable: Experience working on the implementation of sustainability targets and goals in a financial institution, or a related field such as corporate responsibility/disclosure/data analysis; event/workshop moderation/public speaking; experience of developing technical presentations/case studies, experience of providing training/capacity building in the banking industry.
LanguagesLanguage: English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this post, professional English, writing and editing skills are required. Fluency in other European languages is an asset.
Additional InformationSpecial skills/knowledge: Required: Proven knowledge of the field of sustainable finance; understanding of sustainable finance policy and market practice in Europe, with a special focus on sustainability integration and implementation; project management skills; strong understanding of the banking industry, banking business operations and products, outstanding negotiating, analytical and communication skills (listening, spoken and written); strong interpersonal and relationship management skills. Desirable: Ability to translate new and diverse ideas and concepts into tangible outcomes, to identify and prioritize common interests in a diverse set of point of views; problem-solving ability; established network of sustainable finance practitioners in Europe; ability to work with finance professionals at a deep technical implementation level; ability to initiate and implement multiple projects and activities in an organized and timely manner.
No FeeTHE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.