Carbon Markets Programme Manager, South Africa

Carbon Markets Programme Manager, South Africa

International Emissions Trading Association (IETA)

The International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) is a global non-profit business organisation dedicated to supporting the development of carbon pricing mechanisms worldwide. We are the leading international voice of the business community on carbon markets, in excess of 350 members from many different sectors.

In South Africa we support the ongoing development of the carbon market, the South Africa carbon tax and the Paris Agreement. We also support the carbon market in southern African countries with market updates and capacity building workshops. The purpose of this role is to represent IETA in southern Africa with a focus on South Africa and support IETA members with an interest in southern Africa.

Our work to date in South Africa includes the set-up, management and convening of a carbon market think tank called the South Africa Carbon Market Forum. The Forum, now in its third year, represents market participants from across SA’s carbon market value chain who advocate for an efficient and effective carbon market that supports SA to deliver its NDC. The role will also be responsible for supporting capacity building through the Business Partnership for Market Implementation, running the Africa policy calls and maintaining the VCM Policy Tracker.

Role

• Nature of role: Full time, home based.
• Job title: Carbon Markets Programme Manager, SA
• Location: Cape Town or Johannesburg.
• Travel: ~30% mainly within Africa
• Reporting line: Andrea Abrahams, VCM Managing Director, IETA.

Roles and Responsibilities

• SA Carbon Market Forum
  • Lead the activities for the Forum as the main point of contact in SA, including running 2 workshops per year, shaping the agendas, preparing speakers and managing the workshop administration including attendance, sponsors, minutes, reporting etc.
  • Relationship building and advocacy. Build the carbon market network and advocate for carbon markets through speaking engagements, papers and knowledge sharing.
  • Maintain the Forum communication and knowledge channels including SharePoint, mailing lists and WhatsApp group.
  • Where required, lead special initiatives such as writing a policy paper, running a webinar or setting up working groups.
• Africa Market development
  • As part of IETA’s VCM team, be the point of contact on southern Africa related market developments and provide updates to IETA members.
  • Support the IETA International team to run Business Partnership for Market Implementation workshops in Africa (1 – 2 per year).
  • Maintain the VCM Market Tracker on an ongoing basis.
  • Assist in membership outreach and building IETA membership.
  • Represent IETA including the ICROA Accreditation and VCM activities within IETA.

Competencies and Skill Set

The successful candidate should have:

• A minimum of 5-7 years of experience in carbon markets in SA
• Very good knowledge of carbon market policies in SA, neighbouring countries and Paris Agreement/Article 6 with an established network of local market participants
• Excellent ability and proven track record in leading projects, driving momentum and influencing outcomes.
• Excellent project management skills, good with administration and highly organised
• Good personal impact and gravitas, ability to work with a wide variety of market experts. Proven team player
• A passion to work through others to achieve a greater outcome.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, both written and verbal
• Self-driven resilience, flexibility and ability to adapt to significant workloads, prioritising accordingly with minimal support
• Fluent in written and spoken English, with preference for any additional SA languages.
• Proficiency in the use of MS Office required
• Enthusiasm and a willingness to learn, collaborate and grow your professional skills.
• Education: tertiary/degree qualification ideally in climate science/policy