Mission and objectives

Since its inception in 1972, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has been the global authority that sets the environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment. UNEP’s mission is to provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations. Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, UNEP works through its divisions as well as regional, liaison and out-posted offices and a growing network of collaborating centres of excellence.

Context

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the United Nations system’s designated entity for addressing environmental issues at the global and regional level. Its mandate is to coordinate the development of environmental policy consensus by keeping the global environment under review and bringing emerging issues to the attention of governments and the international community for action. Within UNEP’s Industry and Economy Division (IED), the Resources and Markets Branch (RMB) supports public policies and private-sector initiatives that advance efficient, clean and safe industrial production methods while creating the enabling conditions for sustainable consumption within value chains in high-impact sectors. The RMB hosts the Secretariat of the Green Growth Knowledge Partnership (GGKP), an initiative led by UNEP, UNIDO, the World Bank, the OECD and GGGI that aims at facilitating the sharing, promotion and application of green and circular economy best practices and impactful solutions, capitalizing on the knowledge and experience generated across the globe by those who are leading the transition through innovative policy instruments, business models and technologies, financing mechanisms and investments, as well as through international cooperation and technical assistance. GGKP has a particular focus on supporting knowledge sharing and accessibility within and across value chains. An emphasis of this work is ensuring not only the availability of the most relevant green and circular economy knowledge for each individual value chain stakeholder (e.g. corporation, SME, financier, policy maker, NGO, etc.) but also that this same knowledge is successfully applied to deliver targeted action. As supporting the application of knowledge requires local expertise and intervention, GGKP is planning to develop a global network of Business Support Organisations (BSO) that are already supporting circularity actions or are interested to do so. The aim of this Global BSO Network will be to empower BSOs with the knowledge and tools with which to help key industry stakeholder implement circularity actions, as well as facilitate experience exchange between the BSOs themselves. To develop this Global BSO Network relevant and interested BSOs need to be first identified and classified according to their areas of expertise, geographical focus and types of industry networks.

Task Description

We are looking for 1 Online Volunteer with experience in desk research and a good understanding of the circular economy and its application within industry and/or value chains. The Online Volunteer will support the identification, classification, and analysis of BSOs that support industry and/or policy actors on topics such as sustainable business models, circular economy, and resource efficiency. BSOs that support SMEs will be of particular interest. The assignment will include the following responsibilities: · Mapping – Collect information on national, regional, and international BSOs (e.g. chambers of commerce, national cleaner production centres, industry associations, SME agencies, accelerators/incubators, development agencies) that either actively support the circular economy or would be well positioned to do so. · Classification – Organize BSOs by type, sectoral focus, areas of expertise, geographical coverage, target audience and support services provided. · Evaluation – Identify priority BSOs (and related contacts) that could be national and regional champions for the new Global BSO Network, in relation to their level of influence in promoting business sustainability, circular economy practices, capacity-building, and access to finance. · Gap Analysis – from the mapping and evaluation results, highlight under-represented regions, sectors, or types of support where engagement is needed. Deliverables: · A comprehensive excel mapping report of national, regional and global BSOs · Short recommendation report highlighting priority BSOs to engage with as BSO Network champions and key gaps need to be addressed for a successful BSO Network. The average estimated workload is expected to include desk research of development projects being implemented by local BSOs and national/regional BSO websites over the course of the assignment duration, with emphasis on applying learnings from BSO led development projects to guide the classification and evaluation of all mapped BSOs. The Online Volunteer will have the opportunity to contribute to strategic private sector engagement within the United Nations system and gain experience in practical application of circular economy through international organizations’ development support.

Competencies and values

Living conditions and remarks