Carbon Pricing Officer

INTRODUCTION TO GGGI

The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) is a treaty-based international, inter-governmental organization dedicated to supporting and promoting strong, inclusive and sustainable economic growth in developing countries and emerging economies. To learn more please visit about GGGI web page. 

The Paris Agreement provides a comprehensive framework for signatory Parties to reach an ambitious commitment to limit the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C, and to pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C in a cooperative manner. This framework covers a number of instruments including cooperative approaches under Article 6 which allows for the potential development of international carbon transactions.

The Carbon Pricing Unit (CPU) of GGGI is implementing several programs related to scaling up international carbon trading. By opening up these markets and the resultant flow of transactions it is envisaged a robust and reliable global price for carbon can be establish, something many areas of the private sector have long called for as a way to motivate the transformational change needed to achieve the ambitious goals of Paris. GGGI’s Article 6 programs provide technical assistance and capacity building to government counterparts to improve their readiness for Article 6 engagement. They also support the design of projects and policies for pilot transactions and strengthening of institutional frameworks required for their implementation. By early 2024, GGGI's Carbon Pricing Unit will be delivering its program in over 14 countries, making it a leader in Article 6 technical support and piloting.

As the need for support has accelerated GGGI sought to find the best way to address this increased need from its members. A 2022 survey of GGGI members and partners found that although the vast majority of its members wished to participate in Article 6 markets, they not only felt that they did not have sufficient capacity to do so, but that the bargaining table was uneven: buyers generally having better capacity – more access to information and more support available to them than sellers. To address these issues, GGGI has created the Carbon Transaction Facility (CTF), a collection of funds providing technical assistance and purchasing mitigation outcomes (carbon credits), aligned with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. The CTF is expected to be operational with the first tranche of funding by mid-2024.

In addition, GGGI country programs are increasingly incorporating carbon related technical support into wider programs they are developing, perhaps as part of climate and carbon finance program, or within an NDC enhancement program. This creates the need for careful coordination between the Carbon Pricing Unit and the GGGI Country offices, offering support to in country program managers and implementers, by way of capacity building and knowledge sharing. This supports the GGGI learning approach and allows Article 6 expertise to grow across a wider range of geographies in the organisation.  

As the Carbon Pricing Unit programs have matured, commonalities have developed across the different country activities. These range from the initial readiness and needs assessments, the need to set up legal regulation and operational processes to govern carbon trading, along to the identification of project pipelines. GGGI has been able to take this wide range of hands-on experience and share this with the wider market through knowledge products – something we aim to continue to grow through the CTF Readiness Facility. 

POSITION SUMMARY

The role of the Carbon Pricing Officer is to help address the growing demand for carbon pricing and support to access Article 6 markets by GGGI members by working across the matrix of services – both to different country teams as part of a specific technical assistance package, as well as on global knowledge sharing or analysis as part of the delivery of the CTF Readiness Facility offering.

The officer will need to be able to engage with other members of CPU team, or directly with GGGI country teams at the early stage of resource mobilization, helping to shape the most appropriate offering for a country. Further to implementation, by supporting capacity building, governance frameworks/institutional strengthening and potentially project pipeline development. This would need to be executed with the use of in-house project teams and experts and/or external consultants. Where appropriate, this may then require transactional support through the CTF where appropriate mitigation activities are successfully matched with buyers through carbon trust funds.

The ideal candidate will have a good understanding of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement and carbon trading mechanisms such as the Clean Development Mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol or voluntary carbon markets. They must be curious, quick learners and have a passion to understand the deeper detail of this emerging space. They will understand project management, and the mechanisms around engaging and managing external consultants and expert firms. Knowledge or experience of contract negotiations and/or trading will be valuable.

PURPOSE

The Carbon Pricing Officer will be part of the Carbon Pricing Unit (CPU) team, which supports key stakeholders in GGGI’s member and partner countries to access Article 6 carbon markets. Through his / her contributions to technical assistance and project pipeline development, it is hoped that trades will be completed through the CTF; and thus developing country and emerging economy members and partners of GGGI will see an increased inflow of funding to support their green growth pathway and thus delivery of GGGI strategic outcomes. 

ENGAGEMENT

The Carbon Pricing Officer shall report to the deputy Head of the Carbon Pricing Unit, also based in our HQ in Seoul. S/He will provide technical advice on carbon to support member and partner governments in the generation of enabling environments to allow for, and support, the development of carbon mitigation projects, programs and policy approaches in various economic sectors in their countries.  

DELIVERY

The Carbon Pricing Officer is expected to be a key technical expert in the Carbon Pricing Unit, offering support to countries directly or via GGGI project teams to enable them to access carbon trading under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. The Carbon Pricing Officer will work closely with CPU team members, GGGI country teams, and relevant stakeholders to contribute to specific work streams including but not limited to:

• Providing initial support to GGGI member and partner countries through brief virtual awareness raising presentations or written reports.
• Work with CPU team members and/or GGGI country teams to craft resource mobilizing outputs, Project Idea Notes (PINs) or other proposal structures as required, using logical frameworks, narratives and Excel based budget structures.
• Lead technical work such as Readiness and Needs Assessments, legal advisory, operational manual design and /or transactional understanding capacity building – either directly or through country-based project teams.
• Support hiring and management of external expert consultants where required by completing Terms of Reference, coordinating with team members to identify potential bidders and holding procurement information sessions if needed, supporting procurement on evaluation and selection process, including raising any issues on contracting. Further, manage the delivery under the contracts ensuring outputs are delivered on time and meet quality standard expectations.
• Lead the synthesis of learnings gathered from GGGI technical assistance work in countries to generate knowledge products to be published as GGGI guidance papers or to contribute to publications in partnership with other organisations.
• Generate learning material through PowerPoint or similar for capacity building and knowledge sharing efforts to be led by the officer or other CPU team members.
• Investigate and gather learnings and guidance on emerging areas related to the Article 6 carbon trading body of work for the CPU team such as registry configuration options and agreed electronic format (AEF) reporting requirements.
• Coordinate with different teams within GGGI to understand the potential for incorporation of Article 6 understanding within their work or implications of their work within Carbon Pricing Unit’s work.
• Work with CPU team members on the support of transactions under the CTF, from bilateral agreements to contractual sale of mitigation outcomes.   
• Support the coordination of work carried out in GGGI member and partner countries on Article 6 to with the emerging reporting and processes to be established for the CTF. Inform the creation of such frameworks to ensure effective and efficient processing of readiness support and transaction completion.      
• Participating and representing GGGI in internal planning and discussion meetings, and external conferences, seminars, capacity building, and knowledge sharing programs.

REQUIREMENTS

QUALIFICATIONS

• Advanced degree (master's) relevant to climate action and/or green investment or equivalent post graduate professional work experience
• At a minimum two years of international experience (living and working outside of home country. Candidates that do not have this experience may be considered for a national grade position.
• Understanding of the climate change space a requirement
• Preferably 5-7 years of experience in carbon markets (CDM, VCM, or similar).
• Experience in delivering technical assistance, capacity building or similar preferred.

FUNCTIONAL

• Understanding of, and a passion for, the international carbon markets, differences between domestic and international markets, as well as compliance and voluntary markets.
• Understanding of scaled up mitigation approaches, Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) or Program of Activities is an asset.
• Understanding of international climate policy negotiations and related agreements (Kyoto Protocol, Paris Agreement, Nationally Determined Contributions, CORSIA) and related concepts (additionality, environmental integrity, carbon budgets).
• Ability to review, synthesize information and produce high quality written reports (in English).
• Independent, with ability to establish priorities in a time-sensitive environment and meet deadlines with strong attention to detail.
• Strong written and oral communication and presentation skills in English, to prepare knowledge products (papers) and material for the governments both in written format and in person. 
• Experience in international organizations and/or in government sector, working with developing countries is a strong advantage. Record on participation on projects delivering analytical and technical advisory services on design / implementation of projects / policies aiming to incentivize reductions of GHG emissions to developing countries is a plus, though not a key requirement.
• Calm, diplomatic, positive, able to effectively work under pressure in a challenging context with a diverse and dispersed set of stakeholders.

CORPORATE

• Project management: Proven ability to independently plan and complete projects that deliver quality outcomes in a timely and inclusive manner.
• Communication: Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to deliver products or presentations that are concise, easy to understand and influential.
• Innovative: Ability to apply knowledge and experience in new contexts and environments.
• Influencing change: Track record of engaging effectively to secure buy in, underpinned by strong listening, trust building, influencing, facilitation and negotiation skills.
• Team player: Capacity to be selfless team member, to operate across organizational boundaries, and maintain a resilient, positive, and results-focused mindset in a dynamic environment.
• Promotes an organizational culture of trust, transparency, respect, and partnership

WORKING CONDITIONS

Determination of base salary is subject to candidate's experience, academic background and internal equity. GGGI provides 15% of base salary towards retirement plan/long-term savings, 27 days of annual leave, and private health insurance that covers dental and vision.

GGGI is committed to providing a work environment that is sufficiently flexible to accommodate diverse life-cycle challenges and assist Staff members to achieve a better balance between work and personal/family commitments, thus ensuring high performance, long-term productivity, and well-being of Staff members.