Country Platform Coordinator for Climate Action

Job Highlight

This is a highly strategic opportunity to contribute to Uganda's climate investment readiness and resource mobilization to achieve its long-term commitments for low emissions climate resilient and sustainable development agenda. The position offers a platform for strategic coordination with diverse development partners and stakeholders to inform policy on programmatic approaches to climate finance mobilization and drive transformative change in the face of climate change challenges.

About The Project Office

WEC Background:

The Water, Environment and Climate (WEC) portfolio, based in Vienna, Austria, with offices based globally, is part of the UNOPS Global Portfolio Office. The Portfolio has built strong partnerships and is effectively managing a portfolio of over 500 million USD over the last 15 years to support key initiatives with fund management, project implementation and administrative support.

WEC effectively operationalizes partners' agendas with global approaches, as well as regional and country specific activities focused on climate action, protection and conservation of the environment. Partners profit from WEC’s ability to operationalize and/or scale up their important substantive agendas, including in support of key multilateral environmental and climate agreements, such as the Paris Agreement, the Cartagena Convention as well as the Sustainable Development Goals.

About The Group

The NDC Partnership:

The NDC Partnership is a global coalition, bringing together more than 250 members, including more than 130 countries, developed and developing, and more than 110 institutions to deliver on ambitious climate action that helps achieve the Paris Agreement and drive sustainable development. Governments identify their NDC implementation priorities and the type of support that is needed to translate them into actionable policies and programs. Based on these requests, the membership offers a tailored package of expertise, technical assistance, and funding. This collaborative response provides developing countries with efficient access to a wide range of resources to adapt to and mitigate climate change and foster more equitable and sustainable development. The NDC Partnership Support Unit is jointly hosted by the World Resources Institute (WRI), the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS), and the UN Climate Change Secretariat (UNFCCC). For this project, the Consultant will be contracted through UNOPS.

Background

In 2020, the Group of Twenty (G20) underscored the need for exploiting better the potential for collaboration among development partners with the view to maximize their contribution as a group through harnessing better complementarities and synergies, as well as making greater use of the comparative advantages of the different partners, to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

As such, the G20 developed a Reference Framework to guide the establishment of collaborative platforms known as Country Platforms (CPs). The G20 Reference Framework for Effective Country Platforms defines CPs as “voluntary country-level mechanisms, set out by governments and designed to foster collaboration among development partners, based on a shared strategic vision and priorities.

The G20 Reference Framework for Effective Country Platforms also provides a set of voluntary, non-binding principles for effective country platforms including:

• Country platforms should be country owned, and country led and be designed and implemented in line with the country’s reform and development of policies and priorities.
• Country platforms should be customized and adapted to local context and country needs, specificities, priorities, and legislation.
• Country platforms should aim at fostering a wide mobilization of development partners, on a voluntary basis, including the private sector where appropriate.
• Country platforms should foster collaboration and synergies among development partners.
• Country Platforms should adopt a learning by doing approach.

The Context

Uganda’s architecture of development cooperation is guided by a range of coordination mechanisms between Government and Development Partners established to enhance the effectiveness of development assistance and ensure alignment with national priorities.

At the apex is the National Partnership Forum (NPF) coordinated by the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) under the Uganda Partnership Policy. The NPF serves as the principal platform through which Government engages Development Partners on strategic development issues, promoting coordination, harmonization, and mutual accountability.

Within this framework, the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (MoFPED) remains the primary interface for Development Partners on financing matters. MoFPED leads in the negotiation, signing, and management of financial agreements, and chairs the Development Committee, which oversees compliance with the Partnership Policy, the National Development Plan (NDP), and Programme Implementation Action Plans. The Ministry also conducts Annual Portfolio Reviews with Development Partners, prepares the Loans, Grants, and Guarantees Report, and manages the Aid Management Platform (AMP) to enhance transparency and coordination of external resources.

In recent years, MoFPED has strengthened its institutional capacity to integrate climate finance into fiscal and development planning, thus establishing the Climate Finance Unit (CFU). The establishment of the CFU within MoFPED marked a major milestone in coordinating national efforts to mobilize, manage, and track climate finance across sectors. The CFU serves as the Government’s focal coordination mechanism for climate finance, engaging both domestic and international partners to align financial flows with Uganda’s climate and development objectives.

Through the CFU, MoFPED has spearheaded and developed several strategic initiatives, including: the National Climate Finance Strategy, which defines Uganda’s climate finance architecture and investment priorities; the National Climate Finance Vehicle, a multi-donor mechanism designed to mobilize and channel resources efficiently; the National Green Taxonomy, serving as a framework for green and sustainable investments; and the Climate Change Mainstreaming Guidelines for the Financial Sector envisaged to enhance private-sector participation and green fiscal integration.

In 2025, Uganda’s leadership in climate finance was further recognized when the country assumed the Co-Chairmanship of the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action, reaffirming its commitment to integrate climate goals into fiscal policy, budgeting, planning, and debt management, while mobilizing both public and private resources.

In 2026, Uganda with support from Green Climate Fund Readiness Programme will embed a GCF Liaison Officer in the Ministry of Finance Planning and Economic Development (MoFPED) which serves as the National Designated Authority (NDA). The officer will serve as the liaison between the GCF Secretariat and Uganda, providing essential support to the NDA in all matters concerning GCF climate action.

The roles of the GCF Liaison officer includes but not limited to supporting the development of the Uganda country programme, assisting in accessing and implementing integrated programmes of readiness activities and assisting in identifying and facilitating the creation and operationalization of country platforms to unlock financial flows towards achieving Uganda’s NDC targets, among others.

On the other side, the National Planning Authority (NPA), a sister agency of MoFPED, is charged with the responsibility of ensuring intra and inter Government institutional synergies and linkages in the planning process and the integration of crosscutting issues such as climate change into the development plans. NPA also assesses projects or programs for implementation and makes recommendations to the development committee for approval for financing. NPA also guarantees that projects submitted for inclusion in the Public Investment Plan (PIP) incorporate assessments of cross-cutting issues such as gender, environment, human rights,climate change through the Public Investment Management System (PIMS).

The Ministry of Water and Environment (MWE) ensures a harmonized and coordinated approach towards a climate resilient and low carbon development path for sustainable development in Uganda. The Climate Change Department (CCD) in the MWE is the focal point institution for all matters related to climate change and coordinates, monitors and evaluates Government programmes and actions on climate change.

The CCD in collaboration with other ministries, departments, agencies of Government, optimizes the opportunities of Uganda to mobilize climate change finance.

Specifically, the MWE in consultation with the MoFPED provide for climate change financing considering viable climate change financing mechanisms at the national level and international climate change financing mechanisms referred to in Article 9 of the Paris Agreement.

Having joined the NDC Partnership in 2016, Uganda embraced a tripartite arrangement composed of the MWE/CCD, the MoFPED, and the National Planning Authority (NPA) to enhance climate action coordination and resource mobilization.

Other on-going complementary efforts on climate finance underway across Government include, the Bank of Uganda (BoU), a member of the Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System (NGFS), initiative on developing climate risk guidelines to guide financial institutions on identifying, managing, and disclosing climate-related financial risks, among others.

Uganda through her updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) has estimated the country’s climate finance needs at USD 28.1 billion by 2030, of which 15% is expected to be mobilized domestically and 85% from international sources. By FY 2023/24, approximately USD 3.08 billion had been mobilized through both bilateral and multilateral arrangements — reflecting significant progress but also underscoring the urgency of enhancing coordination, transparency, and innovative financing mechanisms to close the climate finance gap.

The National Climate Finance Strategy underscores the need to strengthen and ensure alignment within and between climate finance coordination mechanisms while noting that MoFPED works as a co-lead on Climate Finance with the Ministry of Water and Environment.

Potential for Country Platforms in Uganda

Uganda is taking bold and deliberate steps to demonstrate that economic growth, climate action, and environmental stewardship are mutually reinforcing drivers of sustainable development. Building on its strong policy foundation and institutional coordination, Uganda continues to show leadership among developing economies in aligning fiscal policy, climate finance, and development planning.

Over the last decade, the Government of Uganda has implemented significant climate and development reforms. These include: a) the amendment of the Public Finance Management Act to include climate considerations and issuance of a certificate certifying that the Budget Framework Paper is climate change responsive and contains adequate allocation for funding climate change measures and actions, b) the establishment of a Climate Finance Unit (CFU), c) establishment of the Projects Analysis and Public Investment Department and revision of project appraisal and selection framework to include analysis of the impacts of climate change for both traditionally procured and public-private partnership (PPP) projects, d) the enactment of the National Climate Change Act. Cap 182 and attendant regulations and development of various strategic reports, plans and programmes such as, Tenfold Growth Strategy, the updated NDC, the NDC Partnership plan, Energy transition plan, National Climate Finance Strategy, the National Green Taxonomy, the National Climate Finance Vehicle and Guidelines for mainstreaming climate change in the financial sector, among others.

Against this backdrop, Uganda is ready to establish a Country Platform (CP) - a collaborative, government-led mechanism to align and accelerate climate investments.

The proposed Uganda Climate Investments Platform (CIP) will complement existing CFU functions through blending existing coordination arrangements such as the CFU’s fiscal coordination role, while focusing on programmatic investment delivery and multi-stakeholder engagement.

The Uganda CIP will serve as a facilitation and delivery mechanism that brings together Government, Development Partners, and other stakeholders to unlock investments and operationalize investment pipelines across some of the key anchor sectors – agro-industrial development, tourism development, science technology, ICT and innovation.

Rationale

Country Platforms have emerged globally as effective tools to signal national priorities and investment readiness to investors, financiers, and development partners. Platforms enhance coordination, reduce fragmentation, and translate policy into investment pipelines.

In Uganda’s case, the Climate Investments Platform will provide an interface between policy and investment, linking MoFPED’s fiscal frameworks to sector-level implementation under MWE and other ministries. The platform will help align public and private finance with national climate priorities, leveraging instruments such as carbon markets, green and sustainability-linked bonds, blended finance, and debt-for-nature swaps, among others.

The Climate Investments Platform will prioritize the Nature–Food–Energy–Tourism Nexus, working in close collaboration with relevant ministries, departments and agencies, private sector and civil society. The Platform will build on existing climate finance related initiatives in Uganda such as the National Climate Finance Strategy, Public Private Partnerships, Climate Finance Facility of the Uganda Development Bank, among others.

Noting that establishment and operationalization of country platforms to unlock financial flows for climate action is not a one size fits all exercise, but that requires dedicated capacity and expertise. As such, the prospective Uganda country platform coordinator will work closely with the embedded advisors in MoFPED and MWE/CCD including GCF liaison officer, climate finance advisors and NDC In-country facilitator in customizing the country platform.

Role Purpose

The Uganda Country Platform Coordinator for Climate Action will be responsible for steering the establishment, operationalization and maintaining the coordination of the Climate Investments Platform - a collaborative government led mechanism at both high level and technical levels to align and accelerate climate investments through unlocking and operationalizing the investments pipeline across the Tenfold Growth Strategy anchor sectors of agro-industrial development, tourism development, science technology, ICT and innovation.

Functions / Key Results Expected

Key Responsibilities

• Drive a whole-of-economy approach to achieving Uganda’s climate ambition as outlined in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), Long-term climate strategy (LT LED), National Adaptation Plan (NAPs), Fourth National Development Plan 2025/26 – 2029/30 (NDP IV) and the Tenfold Growth Strategy, among others
• Facilitate strategic programmatic investment planning and pipeline development for key growth pillars.
• Coordinate and support Ministries, Departments and Agencies, private sector and civil organisations to prepare pipeline investment projects and programmes and ensure they are aligned to the funding streams identified by the MoFPED and other funding streams such as carbon markets and blended finance.
• Provide technical and policy advisory to MWE and MoFPED to streamline and sequence the financing and implementation of priority projects, by providing technical advisory services on, (1) identification and prioritization of climate investment, (2) identification of viable investment financiers, (3) transitioning from project based to programmatic investment planning to access climate finance, through the relevant climate related committees
• The coordinator will also advise the government on leveraging carbon pricing instruments to support fiscal stability, encourage innovation, and attract investment—especially in NDC mitigation measures.
• Provide technical and policy advisory to MWE and MoFPED to streamline and sequence the financing and implementation of priority projects.
• Support government to refine and operationalize Uganda’s Country Platform through working closely with Climate finance unit and Climate Change Department embedded advisors including GCF liaison officer, among others
• Support MWE, MoFPED and NPA to develop and monitor key performance indicators, including targets for mobilization of resources and in collaboration with the MOFPED to convene strategic investor roundtables.
• Lead the establishment of strategic partnerships with global climate financing initiatives including the country platform hub, to enhance resource mobilization for Uganda’s climate action.

Key deliverables for year one

• An inception report with a work plan for one year based on the templates to be shared by the Government.
• A policy brief on gaps in programmatic investment designs and private sector investment risks based on existing national investment policies, and strategies.
• Approved terms of reference (ToR) defining the approach, modalities and procedures of the country platform in place with a costed work plan
• Three (3) coordination meetings with Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (MoFPED), National Planning Authority and the Ministry of Water and Environment) together with the UK-FCDO Uganda office and the NDC Partnership Support Unit.
• At least one (1) multistakeholder dialogue conducted including a kickoff event and a dialogue on policy gaps in climate programmatic investment and private sector investment risks
• At least one (1) programmatic investment plan on either Nature Tourism Investment or Clean & Resilient Agrifood systems in place
• At least one (1) investor round table held, securing traction from various funding institutions, development partners and investors for kicking off the development process of at least one programmatic investment plan.
• A set of key performance indicators for the country platform adopted.
• At least two (2) peer- to-peer exchange engagements with the Country Platform Hub presenting the prospective programmatic investment plan for Uganda to investors and learning from other countries and initiatives on country platforms.

Required Education Requirements

• A master’s degree in Climate Change, Economics, Forestry, Natural Science, Economics, Law, Engineering, or any other related field of relevance of study OR
• A bachelor’s Degree in related discipline with an additional 2 years of relevant work experience (7 total) may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree.

Desired

• PhD in a relevant field.

Required Experience Requirements

• Minimum of 5 years of experience working on climate change, sustainable development policy, planning and financing in Uganda.
• 5 years of proven working experience with demonstrable skills in developing climate investments and programs with the Climate Investment Funds, Global Environment Fund, Global Climate Fund, and Multi-lateral Development Banks (MDBS) in Uganda and the region.
• Ability to strategize and analyze to solve complex challenges, with a good understanding of Uganda’s complex economic and political landscape.
• Demonstrated experience working effectively with diverse partners and team members.

Desired

• Knowledge of the UNFCCC process and the Paris Agreement.
• Knowledge of working with global international climate finance processes, e,g. for those with GCF, GEF, Adaptation Fund, Climate Investment Fund, among others.

Key skills/competency

• Climate Action
• Climate Finance Mobilization
• Stakeholder Coordination
• Policy Advisory
• Investment Planning
• Programme Development
• Partnership Building
• Sustainable Development
• NDC Implementation
• Public Finance Management