Consultant on Carbon Credit Pathways for Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture in Curitiba at United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Duties and Responsibilities

• Provide technical assistance to selected municipalities and states engaged in TEEBAgriFood initiative. Identify and analyze relevant and cross-sectoral policies related to UPA at municipal and state levels, highlighting entry points, gaps, and opportunities for policy integration. Collaborate to ensure that proposed legal and policy instruments are adapted to the political and institutional context of each municipality and are legally sound. Outputs/Work Assignment:
• Data from projects in urban agriculture which have a carbon component (e.g. composting, rock dust, biochar and SAFs) collected and curated, along with data on investment and operating costs and project revenues;
• Measurement of the four carbon stocks (aerial biomass, below-ground biomass, dead matter, soil) in urban and peri-urban sites in Curitiba with agroecological practices and biodiverse systems, such as agroforestry systems, enabling comparison with baseline (business-as-usual), to assess the potential for CO2 removal for carbon credit generation;
• Draft structure for a municipal market for environmental assets outlined, focusing on carbon and full array of ecosystem services, aligned with national and municipal levels, as part of the municipal Climate Plan revision.

Qualifications/special skills

• Academic Qualifications: Advanced university degree (Masters or above) in Environmental Science or related fields.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• Experience:
• A minimum of two (2) years of professional working experience of demonstrated experience in carbon market assessment and carbon analysis is required.
• Experience of working in Curitiba and the biome in which it is situated is desirable. Skills: In-depth knowledge of the Brazilian institutional, political, and regulatory context related to environment assets markets is required.
• A strong understanding of climate change, nature-based solutions, ecosystem services, and human-nature relationships, as well as an in-depth knowledge of the local governance context, policy processes, and institutional landscape of the Municipality of Curitiba is required.
• Ability to work effectively, precisely, and autonomously in a fast-paced environment with multiple competing tasks across teams and using participatory approaches is required.
• Ability to translate technical and scientific evidence from biophysical and environmental-economic assessments into accessible and policy-relevant recommendations for decision-makers is desired.