International Consultant – National Voluntary Carbon Market Framework Development Advisor

The International Consultant will lead the development of Somalia’s National Guidelines for the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) in alignment with the Paris Agreement, Somalia’s NDC, and international voluntary carbon standards. Primary responsibilities include designing the technical structure of the guidelines, providing quality assurance for national consultants’ outputs, guiding stakeholder mapping and engagement, and supporting remote advisory for consultation workshops. The role involves preparing draft and revised versions of the guidelines, integrating stakeholder feedback, and finalizing the document for formal adoption. The consultant will also attend a validation workshop in May, provide strategic guidance to the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MoECC), and collaborate with the IRC Climate Research & Innovation team to align outputs with a complementary carbon market landscape assessment. Travel to Mogadishu for the validation workshop (5 days) is mandatory, with potential for a second trip. The assignment spans 25 working days from April to June.

Advanced degree in climate policy, environmental law, carbon finance, environmental economics, or a related field; minimum 8-10 years of demonstrated experience in carbon markets, including voluntary carbon market standards and/or Article 6 mechanisms under the Paris Agreement; proven experience leading the development of national carbon market frameworks, guidelines, or regulatory instruments for government institutions; strong technical knowledge of environmental integrity, safeguards, benefit-sharing models, MRV systems, and alignment with NDC targets; demonstrated experience structuring institutional arrangements for Designated National Authorities (DNA) or similar governance mechanisms; proven ability to lead multi-stakeholder consultations and translate technical inputs into coherent policy documents.