Overview
The consultant will support UNEP FI's strategic objectives to integrate nature into financial institutions' decision-making processes. This involves applying the ENCORE tool, developing frameworks, and conducting capacity building for banks in South Africa.
Key Responsibilities
- Develop a structured framework to aggregate and interpret ENCORE analysis across portfolios, business lines, and agricultural sub-sectors.
- Collaborate with the ENCORE partnership to share technical feedback and improve contextual application for South African and African agriculture portfolios.
- Support portfolio-wide nature assessments and guide banks in identifying priority sectors and sub-sectors.
- Support the integration of nature considerations into customer risk assessments for B&C Agriculture and facilitate board awareness-raising sessions.
- Support the integration of nature into risk management frameworks, sector policies, and engagement strategies for agriculture portfolios.
- Support at least one test case integrating ENCORE into bank systems and compile a replication-focused case study.
- Lead training, deep-dive sessions, and knowledge-sharing activities for banks, boards, and the wider financial sector.
- Provide regular coordination and updates with UNEP FI and the ENCORE partnership.
Required Experience
- At least eight (8) years of progressively responsible work experience related to financial sector, biodiversity, and natural capital is required.
- Demonstrated credibility in working with senior professionals on environmental and nature-related risk assessments for the private sector, with a strong preference for experience in agriculture and related value chains.
- Experience in providing technical assistance to financial institutions, with a background in designing and delivering strategic projects.
- Experience in ESG risk assessments and due diligence processes within financial institutions, including credit risk, customer risk assessments, and scenario analysis, with demonstrated ability to work with large datasets.
- Proven experience in capacity building, training delivery, or development of learning materials; regional experience living or working in South Africa is preferred.
Qualifications
A master’s degree in natural sciences, environmental engineering, business, finance or a related discipline is required. A bachelor’s degree could be taken in lieu of master’s degree provided the selected candidate has 10 years of relevant experience.
