Climate Change Division – IDB CLIMA Green Transition Framework

Post of duty: Washington, DC

The IDB Group is a community of diverse, versatile, and passionate people who come together on a journey to improve lives in Latin America and the Caribbean. Our people find purpose and do what they love in an inclusive, collaborative, agile, and rewarding environment.

About this position:

CSD/CCS is looking for an experienced research fellow with academic and operational experience in international development and operations to support the deployment of the IDB Climate Linked Incentive Mechanism for Ambition (IDB CLIMA). As a research fellow you will support the team lead and the climate change division in the operationalization of the Pilot Program, including the design of the first pilot projects, research activities pertaining to the development of the IDB’s Green Transition Framework (GTF) in collaboration with relevant areas, and in the design and implementation of an enhanced monitoring and evaluation framework, as well as in working with other relevant stakeholders within the IDB Group and the IDB Constituency.

In 2023, the IDB became the first multilateral development bank to offer a financing tool that rewards countries for achieving nature and climate objectives. IDB CLIMA is an innovative financial approach that rewards borrowers for achieving nature and climate objectives. The reward is provided in the form of a grant, in the amount of 5% of the IDB loan principal. Disbursement of the grant will take place once the achievement of an operation’s three Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) has been independently verified. These KPIs will measure borrowers’ progress in terms of the IDB CLIMA Pilot Program’s three Specific Objectives: i) the achievement of climate and biodiversity goals through sectoral investment programs (KPI #1); ii) the improvement of the capacity to identify and design sectoral investments that mainstream climate and/or nature-positive interventions to achieve scale (KPI #2); and iii) the creation or improvement of climate and/or biodiversity monitoring, reporting and verification capabilities within the sector and/or governing bodies (KPI #3). The GTF – a framework for assessing the institutional capacities of borrowers with respect to climate and/or biodiversity – provides the vertical logic of the IDB CLIMA Pilot Program. Its purpose is to diagnose, guide, and offer tailored support in line with borrowers’ capacities and needs, and coupled with an Assessment Questionnaire, will be key in designing IDB CLIMA operations and identifying their respective ambitious, relevant and impactful KPIs.

You will work for the Climate Change Division (“CSD/CCS”), which is part of the Climate Change and Sustainability Sector (“CSD”). This team is responsible for advising IDB management and developing policies, strategies, operational guidelines, and programs on issues relevant to the sector, as well as related areas. In addition, CSD carries out relevant sector research, analytical work, sector practices and case studies on climate change and sustainability. As a division of CSD, CSD/CCS provides support: (i) in the mainstreaming of climate change in the actions and operations of the IDB group and (ii) in the mainstreaming of climate change in the regional countries of the IDB group through support to the ministries of environment, planning, and economy and finance of the region. Both axes share the objective of strengthening climate policy at the subnational, national, and regional levels.

What you’ll do: 

• • Support team leader in research activities about the development of the IDB’s Green Transition Framework.
  • Conduct specific research activities about climate ambition, considering existing climate and nature indices, with the purpose of identifying priority interventions that the IDB CLIMA Pilot Program can support to facilitate regional stakeholders in their green transition efforts.
  • Advise and support project teams and external stakeholders in the development of IDB CLIMA pilot projects.
  • Support internal and external stakeholders on the identification and deployment of systems to enable sector-driven investments at scale in relation to KPI #2 under the IDB CLIMA Pilot Program Objectives, in mitigation, adaptation, and biodiversity.
  • Support internal and external stakeholders on the creation of sector-driven impact reporting and MRV-type systems in relation to KPI #3 under the IDB CLIMA Pilot Program Objectives, in mitigation, adaptation, and biodiversity.
  • Participate in design missions, capacity-building workshops, and supervision visits.
  • Participate in applied research to support the deployment and improvement of the IDB CLIMA Pilot Program.
  • Prepare inputs for cross-sector strategic documents, institutional strategies, country strategies, and private-sector strategic documents.