USA: Consultant, Climate Change and Conflict Specialist

Jul 10, 2022 | World Bank
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The World Bank Group is the biggest multilateral funder of climate investments in developing countries. They intend to go further in helping countries reduce poverty and rise to the challenges of climate change.

Developing countries face an increasingly complex risk landscape, marked by interconnected hazards that threaten to roll back the development gains of recent decades and undermine efforts to end extreme poverty by 2030. In 2018, the WBG’s Board of Executive Directors endorsed the management’s proposals to fully operationalize the Global Crisis Risk Platform (GCRP). The GCRP seeks to: (i) promote risk-informed investments in crisis prevention and preparedness; and (ii) strengthen institutional capacity for early response, especially where a combination of shocks amplifies impacts or spills across borders.

Housed within the World Bank’s Fragility, Conflict and Violence (FCV) Group, the GCRP Secretariat provides analytical and convening services focusing on the interaction of various risk dimensions, including climate-related hazards, conflict and violence, food insecurity, health outbreaks, and macro-financial shocks. It works closely with the World Bank’s Global Practices (GPs) to support innovation and leverage knowledge and best practices to strengthen the way the Bank identifies, monitors, and manages risks.

Key Duties and Accountabilities:

The GCRP Secretariat is seeking an Analyst with expertise in climate change adaptation (CCA) and fragility, conflict and violence (FCV) to support the FCV Group and GCRP program of work on adaptation in contexts affected by fragility and conflict. In particular, the analyst will to support the TTL in developing a toolkit for deepening GCRP and FCV Group understanding of the interactions between climate change and FCV as well as support teams in integrating CCA/FCV considerations in Country Climate Diagnostic Reports (CCDRs) and other relevant WBG diagnostics. CCDRs capture the interplay between development, climate change and climate policies by investigating: (i) how climate change and global decarbonization may impact a country’s development path and priorities; and (ii) potential areas for country action in resilience, adaptation and mitigation to improve development outcomes.

Under the guidance of the TTL, the Analyst will support the following activities:

1. Draft a background note on the interactions between climate change and fragility (25 days)

  • Draft a background note (~15-20 pg) outlining core interactions between climate change and FCV. In particular, the analysis will develop a conceptual framework for unpacking intersections between the impacts of climate change, climate-related actions (including adaptation ad mitigation interventions) and drivers of FCV. The conceptual framework will draw on relevant literature (academic and grey), interviews with WBG and external experts, and the GCRP webinar series on climate change adaptation in FCV settings.
  • The note will distinguish between CCA interactions across different FCV environments, including: high-intensity conflict, medium-intensity conflict, institutional fragility, as well as sub-national FCV challenges and priorities facing Small Island Developing States. The note will also highlight how climate mitigation and adaptation intervention may interact with pathways for addressing FCV challenges, identifying action and safeguards to promote closer alignment between the two policy priorities.

2. Produce a FCV guidance note for CCDRs analytics (25 days)

  • Draft a FCV guidance note (~4-5 pg) targeted at informing CCDR analytics. The note will provide overall guidance and key questions (in the form of a check list) that can help CCDR teams to integrate core FCV considerations.
  • The note will draw on the Climate Change/ FCV note, including distinctions between different types of FCV environments, and be informed by consultations with members of the FCV Group and CCDR team members.
  • The draft FCV guidance note will be subject to a decision review meeting chaired by GTFS1 PM. The consultant will finalize the note as per the guidance of the decision meeting.
  • Translate the guidance note into a PPT slide-deck to support communication and outreach.

Selection Criteria:

  • Advanced university degree (Masters or PhD) in a related field (e.g., Economics, Natural Resource Management, Risk Management, Climate Science/Policy, Political Science, Security Studies).
  • Minimum of 5 years of professional working experience and knowledge around issues related to climate change, conflict, risk management or environmental policy.
  • Knowledge, interest, and experience working on adaptation in FCV settings, environmental security or climate security desirable.
  • Proven ability to carry-out independent policy-relevant research, translate theory into practical applications, and adapt professional knowledge and technical skills to analyze, diagnose and propose solutions to policy issues and challenges related to climate change and FCV.
  • Capacity to develop and apply conceptual and strategic frameworks, compile policy-relevant checklists, and carry-out data analysis.
  • Candidates who bring direct personal and professional experience and background from diverse FCV or forced displacement affected backgrounds preferred
  • Excellent interpersonal, problem-solving, and team skills, and ability to think innovatively and strategically to find balanced solutions to complex development problems, with a strong client focus.
  • Ability to work independently with minimum supervision and to meet tight deadlines.
  • Excellent oral and written fluency in English is required.

How to apply

Please send CV & Letter of Interest to ljones12@worldbank.org by 18th July 2022