The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) is a global, CEO-led organization of over 200 leading businesses working together to accelerate the transition to a sustainable world. We help make our member companies more successful and sustainable by focusing on the maximum positive impact for shareholders, the environment and societies.  

Our member companies come from all business sectors and all major economies, representing combined revenues of more than USD $8.5 trillion and 19 million employees. Our global network of almost 70 national business councils gives our members unparalleled reach across the globe. WBCSD is uniquely positioned to work with member companies along and across value chains to deliver impactful business solutions to the most challenging sustainability issues.  

Together, we are the leading voice of business for sustainability: with a vision of a world where more than nine billion people are all living well and within the boundaries of our planet, by 2050. 

 

Job Overview 

Natural climate solutions are an established means of reducing, capturing and storing carbon emissions. Using them provides opportunities for both climate change mitigation and increased resilience. Investing in nature offers a significant opportunity to sequester atmospheric carbon at a global scale while delivering solutions for biodiversity and ecosystems. We are looking for a candidate with the technical experience to assess credible, measurable natural climate solutions and make recommendations for the research and/or action needed to validate these practices and accelerate investment in them. The candidate will understand how to prioritize these solutions based on their quality, ensuring co-benefits for nature and communities.   

Effective deployment of natural climate solution by the business community will require robust carbon accounting at project, company, national and international levels. Development of accounting protocols are therefore crucial. This role will contribute to the development of the new Greenhouse Gas Protocol guidance, to help companies and organizations account for greenhouse gas emissions and carbon removals from land use, land use change and bioenergy plus related activities in their greenhouse gas inventories. The candidate will coordinate the development of the guidance through an inclusive multi-stakeholder process.  

Many companies and organizations regularly report and set targets for their GHG emissions, but often do not account for carbon removals (which are optional under the Corporate Standard) and emissions from land use, land use change, and forestry (LULUCF). LULUCF emissions and removals may be  associated with operations taking place in soil and forests owned or operated by companies and from purchased forestry or agricultural products, including bioenergy consumed in operations. Carbon removals can take the form of natural climate solutions such as carbon sequestration in forests and soil, or technologies such as direct air capture and carbon, capture, and storage (CCS). New guidance on these topics will help WBCSD member companies advance their GHG reduction strategies, including setting science-based targets, through complete and consistent GHG accounting and reporting.  

Responsibilities and duties 

• Create a solid science-based analysis of the potential of different NCS, in terms of the type, size, sink potential, and geographic spread, while ensuring solution recommendations are high quality, supporting nature and people as well as climate action 
• Conduct research, interviews with subject-matter experts and analysis on methodologies, in order to quantify greenhouse gas emissions and carbon removals from land-use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF), bioenergy, carbon capture and storage (CCS), and related topics  
• Synthesize research findings and recommendations to support member companies supply high quality NCS 
• Together with WRI draft the new GHG Land Use Protocol guidance along with other contributors 
• Help convene and facilitate an international multi-stakeholder process of representatives from businesses, NGOs, government, and academia to develop the guidance in close collaboration with WRI (co-chairing) 
• Working as part of a team, organize, coordinate, and participate in internal and external meetings, conference calls, and workshops. Draft issue briefs, blogs, or other materials as needed 
• Engage with stakeholders and experts from various teams and organizations. Assist in the preparation and dissemination of outreach materials, presentations and publications 
• Coordinate closely with the Science Based Targets team to insure harmonization across initiatives 
• Support other Greenhouse Gas Protocol projects, the Scaling Positive Agriculture project and other activities as needs arise 

 

This role will report solid line to Director Climate & Energy and dotted line to Director Scaling Positive Agriculture, Food & Nature Program.  It will be based in the Food & Nature Program team.  

Frequent travel (> 30%) is expected.  

 

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in a technical/ environmental scientific discipline with a minimum 5 years relevant work experience 
• Knowledge and expertise:  

• • Good knowledge and hands-on experience of life-cycle analysis and/or GHG accounting preferably applied to the land sector e.g. bioenergy, food, forestry products 
  • Previous experience working in a land-sector company such as agriculture or forestry would be an advantage 

• Facilitation and stakeholder engagement: Evidence of successfully aligning different stakeholders and the ability to create effective relationships with new partners or stakeholders. Capacity to be assertive and take initiative when appropriate 
• Project management: Evidence of successful project management and effective facilitation of different perspectives towards a common objective. Capacity to work independently by setting priorities within own work streams, identify and proactively address problems and work to deadlines 
• Communication: Engaging communicator both in person and in writing. Ability to adjust style of communication to suit audience (e.g. present technical topics to a non-technical audience) 
• Teamwork: Evidence of successfully working across teams and diverse interest groups 
• Multi-Tasking: Ability to manage own projects and ad hoc demands simultaneously, set priorities, effectively utilize available resources, identify and address problems, and meet deadlines 
• Language skills: Fluency in English (written and spoken) is essential 

 

WBCSD work environment 

WBCSD is a purpose driven, forward-thinking and action-oriented organization, characterised by diversity of gender, nationalities and work experiences. 

WBCSD offers a competitive, modern, and flexible working arrangement: 

• Geneva-based organization with offices in London, New Delhi, New York City and Singapore 
• State-of-the-art facilities and ICT-enabled working tools 
• Flex-time possibilities 
• Dynamic working atmosphere 
• Open culture encouraging interaction and sharing of ideas and opinions

Please note that WBCSD will only respond to selected candidates for the interview process.