Consultor/a Especialista en Finanzas Climáticas y Urbanas

The consultancy involves developing components and products for the project to improve urban resilience and infrastructure in Costa Rica through the development of a climate adaptation building code. The consultant will work collaboratively with other specialists to ensure coherence, standardization, and technical quality of the final integrated product.

Responsibilities

• Develop products linked to the project "Improvement of urban resilience and infrastructure in Costa Rica through the development of a climate adaptation building code."
• Organize and facilitate workshops, meetings, and training sessions with key stakeholders including public and private institutions to validate proposed approaches and gather inputs.
• Participate in project team meetings for internal coordination and information sharing with institutions and stakeholders, and follow up on agreements.
• Prepare substantive documents, presentations, and intermediate and final reports for assigned products, individually or collaboratively.
• Ensure timely and quality delivery of project products by identifying and mitigating risks, challenges, omissions, or improvement needs during validation processes.
• Perform other tasks requested by the Head of the UN-Habitat Office for Mesoamerica and the Planning, Finance and Economics Section Officer within the consultancy framework.
• Review the document on gaps and opportunities in Costa Rica's legal framework on climate adaptation in infrastructure as a starting point for financing strategy analysis.
• Lead the development of an analysis of financing and insurance strategies for climate-resilient infrastructure, including identification and recommendations for viable business models, public and private mechanisms, and public-private partnerships at national and municipal levels (Green Bonds).
• Define obstacles and facilitating factors for implementation of each mechanism, business model, and partnership, incorporating capacity gaps of potential implementers.
• Include insurance aspects by reviewing coverage gaps against climate risks in infrastructure and recommend product and regulatory framework development linking insurance with resilient construction standards, considering the role of SUGESE and its articulation with the financial ecosystem.
• Make recommendations to ensure transparency in viable financing strategies and implementation of robust financial monitoring systems to prevent illicit financial activities.
• Analyze the effectiveness and integration of gender and vulnerable groups approaches in financing climate-resilient infrastructure in Costa Rica and recommend best practices.
• Develop and document a small workshop and conduct at least five interviews with experts in climate finance, disaster risk reduction, and financing mechanisms for critical infrastructure to gather inputs for the analysis.
• Conduct a small workshop with at least five specialists (preferably economists) experienced in sustainability to validate consultancy proposals.

Requirements

• Demonstrate with a simple copy a university degree and postgraduate degree in finance, economics or related fields.
• If possessing published bibliographic material on the mentioned topics, indicate it in the application for positive consideration.
• Be incorporated into the corresponding professional college or manage to obtain temporary membership.
• Demonstrate at least 5 years of experience in the development and/or analysis of strategies in Costa Rica related to climate finance and infrastructure projects/programs.
• Knowledge of the local context is indispensable for this consultancy.
• Demonstrate knowledge of trends in financing for climate adaptation and infrastructure in Costa Rica and their implications for national policy development, including deep knowledge of global development agendas such as the 2030 Agenda, New Urban Agenda, Paris Agreement, Sendai Framework, among others.
• Demonstrate experience in fiscal policy and management related to infrastructure financing in Costa Rica, including public finance instruments and land management tools at local and national levels, as well as specific instruments such as trusts, national climate finance funds, multilateral credits, and other tools channeled through Costa Rican institutional framework.
• Demonstrate knowledge of national and international legal frameworks related to climate change, construction, and infrastructure development, including Costa Rican legislation and regulations on urban planning, territorial management, and ecological zoning at municipal, provincial, and central levels.
• Possess deep knowledge of climate science, impacts, and adaptation strategies, especially related to road infrastructure, housing, and water infrastructure in Costa Rica.
• Experience integrating climate adaptation policies across sectors, particularly infrastructure, housing, and water infrastructure.
• Strong analytical capacity to interpret climate data and other relevant information for informed policy decision-making.
• Previous experience in developing or reviewing national building codes, especially related to climate resilience.

Skills

• Climate Finance
• Infrastructure Finance
• Fiscal Policy Analysis
• Public Finance Instruments
• Land Management Tools
• Climate Adaptation Approaches
• Climate Science
• Climate Data Interpretation
• National Policy Development
• Urban Planning Legislation
• Territorial management
• Ecological Zoning
• Building Codes Development
• Climate Resilience
• Multilateral Credits
• Trust Fund Management
• National Climate Finance Funds
• Legal Frameworks Climate Change
• Infrastructure Project Evaluation
• Water Infrastructure Adaptation

Languages

Spanish, English