Principal Climate Change and Green Growth Officer at African Development Bank - AfDB

Reference: ADB/17/224
Location: Côte d’Ivoire
Grade: PL4
Position N°: 50093788 / 50093696 / 50093708 / 50093712

The Complex

• The Vice Presidency for ‘Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth’ is a Sector Complex focusing on the Bank’s Ten Years Strategy, High 5s priority of “Light up and Power Africa”.
• The complex’s objectives are (i) to develop policy and strategy; (ii) to provide deep sector technical expertise to the Regions by gathering pool of experienced individuals who can be consulted for their expertise on complicated transactions; (iii) to develop new financing instruments; (iv) to act as spokesperson to represent the Bank with external stakeholders on all aspects of “Light Up and Power Africa”.
• The Complex will focus on areas of Power systems, policy and regulation, renewable energy; and, Climate and Green Growth.

The Department

• The Climate Change and Green Growth Department has broad objectives of: i) mainstreaming climate change and green growth into Bank’s High 5s’ operations; ii) implementing the Bank’s climate change interventions through the Bank’s Climate Change Action Plan and the Bank’s Green Growth Framework; iii) managing access to the growing number of sources of Green and Climate Finance for all Operational Vice Presidencies within the Bank; iv) driving towards achieving universal energy access through the greenest solutions possible; and v) leading all efforts within the Bank focused on minimizing and reversing the effects of Climate Change on the continent.
• The Department consists of two divisions, Climate and Green Growth Division, and Climate Finance Division.

The Hiring Division

• The Climate and Green Growth Division is responsible for ensuring that all efforts within the Bank are focused on minimizing and reversing the effects of Climate Change on the continent, including advising Regional Member Countries on climate and green growth policies and strategies, mainstreaming climate change and green growth in Bank-wide implementation activities and providing support to the New Deal on Energy Flagships to meet their objectives.

The Position

• The Principal Climate Change and Green Growth Officer will be responsible for supporting the implementation of the Climate Change Action Plan and Green Growth Framework and related policies, procedures, and guidelines into the Bank’s operations for private and public sectors.
• The incumbent will support the Operational Complexes in order to ensure that climate change and green growth considerations are mainstreamed in all operations (strategies, policies, plans, programmes and projects).

Duties and Responsibilities
Under the overall supervision and general guidance of the Division Manager, Climate and Green Growth,   the Principal Climate Change and Green Growth Officer will perform the following:

Climate change and green growth policy and advocacy:

• Provide technical support to the preparation of climate change/green growth  action plans, documents, reports, operational guidelines, tools as requested by senior management, taking into account Regional Member Countries and Bank’s commitments including the implementation of the Paris Agreement and  Sustainable Development Goals ; 
• Provide technical support to monitoring and reporting on the implementation of the Climate Change Action Plan and the Green Growth Framework and related policies and strategies;
• Assist and advise Regional Member Countries on preparation  and implementation of climate change and green growth strategies, policies and measures taking into account commitments to achieve Nationally Determined Contributions;
• Provide technical support to the tracking and reporting on climate finance;
• Provide technical support to Bank’s engagement with United Nations Fund for Climate Change processes (including – preparation of the Bank’s participation, related Economic and Sector Works   Board Information Notes and presentations, side events, meetings);
• Provide technical support to updating of operational documents (operational manual, Results Based Framework,  Readiness Review Procedures, Country Strategy Papers / Regional Integration Strategy Papers and project templates to reflect the mainstreaming of climate change and green growth;
• Provide technical support for the implementation of global and continental initiatives arising from the multilateral and regional negotiations relating to climate change, including among others, the regional flagship programmes, the Africa Adaptation and Loss and Damage Initiative, the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative, the Nationally Determined Contributions Partnership, as well as other climate change and green growth partnership initiatives by the United Nations Fund for Climate Change Secretariat, the Global Green Growth Initiative,  the Multilateral Development Banks and bilateral development agencies;
• Provide technical support to the Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change, African Ministerial Conference on the Environment and the African Group of Negotiators and other relevant continental initiatives for effective consideration of Africa’s priorities and concerns into global frameworks.

Mainstreaming climate change and green growth in operations:

• Provide technical assistance on climate change and green growth to the regions, by supporting Bank’s sector and regional operations through advisory services on climate change and green growth mainstreaming;
• Provide technical support  to task teams  to access climate finance, from both internal and external trust funds, in close collaboration with Climate Change and Green Growth officers in the regions  and Climate Finance Officers, including participation in Trust Fund cluster meetings;
• Support the development of relevant adaptation, mitigation and green growth tools and instruments that support climate-resilient and low-carbon development trajectories in Africa.
• Support the mainstreaming, implementation and monitoring of climate change and green growth considerations/elements in Bank’s operations during the identification, preparation, appraisal, supervision and project completion stages as appropriate;
• Support preparation of  the climate change technical sections required in the Project Concept Notes  and the Project Appraisal Reports and any other project related reports as appropriate in close collaboration with project teams;
• Support the implementation of the climate risk screening and the Adaptation Review and Evaluation Procedures functions of the Climate  Safeguards System and the Green House Gas Accounting tool for projects;  

Capacity building and Knowledge Management:

• Identify, assess Bank wide capacity building needs on climate change and green growth (e.g. needs assessments);
• Provide technical support to the design and implementation of training programmes  for Bank staff and their counterparts in Regional Member Countries;
• Coordinate/Support  annual and mid-term reporting on the mainstreaming of climate change into CSPs and RISPs in collaboration with Climate Change and Green  Growth Officers in the regions;
• Coordinate/Support annual and mid-term reporting on the implementation of the CCAP and GGF;
• Perform any other duty assigned by the Division manager or Director

Selection Criteria
Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience:

• Hold at least a Master's Degree in Climate, Environment and Natural Resource Management, Energy Policy,  International Development, Economics, or a related field;
• Have a minimum of six (06) years of experience in a combination of related fields such as national and international climate policies and measures including the United Nations Fund for Climate Change negotiations; climate and green growth; energy and project management; climate or green finance; trust fund management; multilateral development bank; public or private financial institutions; and development or related fields.
• Knowledge of climate change and green growth, and of multilateral climate governance framework and global climate finance architecture.
• Understanding of climate change and green growth issues, challenges and practices relating to Africa.
• Experience in the area of mainstreaming climate change adaptation and mitigation measures into development interventions, or field operations involving climate change and green growth matters.
• Proven track record on policy dialogue and cross-institutional collaboration at the highest level, including with representatives of government and non-government partners.
• Results-oriented, team player, articulate analyst with attention to details, persuasive communicator and good writer
• Client orientation - Proposes effective services and solutions to staff beyond presenting issues and past challenges and gains respect through the depth of expertise demonstrated in effectively managing diverse clients and country situations
• Innovation and Change - Consistently seeks more effective and practical ways for the Departmental delivery of services, products, and processes and proposes new ways to improve the quality and relevance of products and services
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in a multicultural environment and build effective working relations with clients and colleagues.
• Excellent technical and analytical skills and established track record in operational and policy work on climate change, green growth and climate finance matters;
• Strong Knowledge in supporting the mainstreaming of climate change and green growth into major development investments within the Continent;
• Knowledge of climate change and climate finance issues facing regional member countries;
• Strong practical experience in applying tools and instruments for mainstreaming climate change, green growth and climate finance into development concerns in Bank operations.
• Ability to communicate orally and in writing effectively in French or English, with a good working knowledge of the other language.
• Competence in the use of standard Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint).