Work Location
Home Based
Expected duration
From 1 August to 31 December 2021
Duties and Responsibilities
Under the general supervision of the project officers of ESCAP’s Macroeconomic Policy and Financing for Development Division (MPFD) and the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat (PIFS), the consultant will prepare a study based on the following guidelines:
• The consultant will examine the use of debt for climate swaps as an innovative financing instrument to provide emergency response funds to vulnerable and marginalized groups in the Pacific and support a greener COVID-19 pandemic recovery. The study will assess the feasibility of the transaction from both supply and demand side.
• The study will include the following elements:
o Assess the current situation, including the debt and budget situation in SIDS that makes the instrument more favorable. Examine the key stakeholders for the transaction and whether the COVID-19 pandemic will impact the situation.
o Propose a suitable framework for developing and operationalizing a debt for climate swap in the Asia-Pacific SIDS, including all critical governance structure and operational issues. For example, should it be a multilateral, sub-regional, or national level framework, and why.
o Identify possible costs, benefits, and challenges of the proposed mechanism, including beneficiaries from the swap mechanism and whether the swap can contribute to building resilience in SIDS to external shocks, such as the pandemic. In addition, what are the advantages and disadvantages for donor countries and MDBs engaging with the proposed swap mechanism, and how the swap contributes to demands for climate adaptation and mitigation projects in the SIDS.
o Analyze similar debt for climate swap structures in SIDS or in other countries to identify international best practice and lessons learnt from similar experiences.
o Evaluate the feasibility of debt for climate swap structures in SIDS and outline the steps forward, the conditions required, such as governance and legal structures. Together with how SIDS can move forward with the proposal and the role of the UN ESCAP. Alternatively, outline the reasons why a debt for climate swap is not feasible for PSIDS and the reasons why.
o Assess the appetite for debt-for-climate swaps from the donor side through, for instance, interviews with key donors and global climate funds, and draw out any experiences from a donor that has already piloted this.
• Based on the complete diagnostic of the situation, the consultant will consider the feasibility of debt for climate swaps in the Asia-Pacific SIDS as modality for resource mobilization for sustainable development, and for overcoming the challenges of remoteness and recovering from the pandemic.
Qualifications/special skills
Academic Qualifications: Advanced university degree in international economics, finance, environment law or related fields.
Experience: Experience in climate finance, green fiscal policy, or debt management is desired.
Language: Fluency in English is required.
How to apply:
Apply now: https://www.unescap.org/jobs