City Diplomacy and Campaigns Manager (Climate and Migration) (Global)

The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, now in its 16th year, connects 97 of the world’s greatest cities which have committed to tackling climate change. We bring mayors from around the world together to learn from each other in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and creating resilient, sustainable and low carbon cities. C40 cities represent more than 700 million urban citizens and their economies account for 25% of the global GDP. C40’s ‘Deadline 2020’ report sets out the critical role that the world’s major cities have to play in delivering the historic Paris Agreement to prevent catastrophic climate change.

C40’s team of 200+ staff is headquartered in New York, with offices in London, Rio de Janeiro, Copenhagen, Beijing and Paris, and individual staff based across 25+ different locations, with the Office of the Chair based in Los Angeles.

The strategic direction of the organization is determined by an elected Steering Committee of C40 mayors which is chaired by the Mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti. Three-term Mayor of New York City Michael R. Bloomberg serves as President of the C40 Board of Directors, which is responsible for operational oversight. An eight-person management team, led by Executive Director, Mark Watts, leads the day-to-day management of C40. C40’s three core strategic funders are Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) and Realdania.

Diversity Statement

At C40, we are committed to creating an inclusive working environment, where diversity is valued and there is equality of opportunity. We therefore welcome applications from all sections of the community.

Inclusive Climate Action Programme 

The Inclusive Climate Action (ICA) Programme established at the behest of a group of C40 mayors, during the business plan 2017-2020. The programme focuses on supporting cities to make the case for climate action and to ensure the benefits of climate actions are inclusive, as a way to maximize and scale climate action impacts and climate benefits across urban populations. The programme aims at delivering technical support, training and peer-to-peer exchange on assessing and understanding the wider benefits of climate action; increasing capacity to engage inhabitants and stakeholders; assessing and improving the overall equitable outcome of cities' climate strategies. Cities will be guided through the stages of benefits and benefits distribution assessment, engagement strategy development, implementation, as well as monitoring & evaluation.

Mayors Migration Council

The Mayors Migration Council (MMC) is a mayor-led advisory organization that helps cities shape global policy and practice on migration and displacement. The mission is to ensure that global responses both reflect and address realities on the ground for the benefit of newcomers and the communities that receive them.

To fulfill this vision, the MMC works to institutionalize cities’ formal access to national, regional, and international policy deliberations; build cities’ diplomatic, advocacy, and communications skills so they can effectively influence decisions; unlock and direct resource flows to cities so they can deliver better outcomes on the ground; and help cities implement local solutions efficiently and at scale to accelerate global commitments. The MMC works across diverse policy areas, including climate migration and inclusive pandemic response.

The MMC is led by a Leadership Board composed of the mayors of Amman, Bristol, Freetown, Kampala, Los Angeles, Milan, Montreal, São Paulo, and Zürich, as well as the former mayor of Athens. The MMC operates with the financial support of Open Society Foundations, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and the Robert Bosch Stiftung, and is managed as a sponsored project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides governance and operational infrastructure.

Climate and Migration International Diplomacy

Climate change, combined with other trends, is increasingly a key driver of human mobility. As the majority of people who move as a result of climate change settle in urban areas, cities are often the first responders. In the coming years, they will face increasing pressures, both from direct climate impacts and from climate-induced movements. Whether at the origin or destination end of the climate migration spectrum, cities know that it is up to them to identify solutions for these major challenges—and harness opportunities—to ensure their responses drive towards resilience, inclusion, and a green and just recovery from Covid-19.

C40 and the MMC understand the intersection between climate and migration (the “climate-migration nexus”) as relevant to cities in two primary ways:

1. Climate-induced migration flows impact – and will impact – cities, their infrastructures/services and their socio-economic health. If not acknowledged, managed and understood, these flows could affect cities’ capacity to recover from the global Covid-19 pandemic and thrive in a post-pandemic world.
2. Local actions to mitigate or adapt to the climate crisis can either facilitate the integration and inclusion of migrants and displaced people in cities or further entrench their vulnerabilities and increase their exposure to inequality and climate risks.
   

Recognizing this, C40 and the MMC have worked together to: create a body of knowledge on how climate change and migration intersect in cities; showcase and explore mayors’ role as leaders in addressing pressing challenges and opportunities in tackling climate and migration jointly; and identify what cities need from national and multilateral actors in order to take action more effectively.

In the context of its partnership with the MMC, C40 will be establishing a coalition of leading cities to co-develop thought leadership products on the climate-migration nexus in cities, serving as a basis for city-led diplomacy and advocacy action on this topic.

The goal is to unlock appropriate support from national, regional and/or international mechanisms to deliver more effective, efficient, ambitious and informed actions that ensure a green and just recovery from Covid-19, protecting and safeguarding migrants, host communities and our planet from climate breakdown.

Position Description

The Project Manager will support the Climate and Migration Senior Manager in the development and delivery of the day-to-day tasks deriving from C40-MMC partnership and in ensuring a timely and fruitful coordination with the City Diplomacy and Communications teams. Key support activities will focus on developing a new C40-MMC Global Mayors Task Force on Climate and Migration to accelerate city-led responses to climate migration and displacement globally, while promoting inclusive climate action that empowers migrant and displaced communities to actively participate in and benefit from a green and just recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. This will be done through the development of thought leadership products and a city-led agenda for city diplomacy and advocacy action on this topic.

• Support the project overall with logistics and coordination of project activities.
• Support the Climate and Migration Senior Manager and the ICA Head of Global Leadership in setting up the Global Mayors Task Force on Climate and Migration and assist them in delivering the following:
  • conducting a city and expert mapping to identify the Task Force members and the expert consortium (subject-matter experts, practitioners and advisors on migration and urban policies)
  • developing and conducting survey for Task Force cities to identify priority issues for working meetings and Action Agenda
  • reaching-out to and engaging senior city officials and consulting them
  • note taking and recording of all meetings and workshop reports as required
  • keep track of learnings, insights and data that can be used to develop key learning modules, best practice case studies and inform the global advocacy campaign.
    

• Set-up C40-MMC coordination routines and tracking the partnership activities, including a detailed workplan, impact goal(s)
• Handle the agenda and action points of the weekly call and coordinate the follow up
• Plan and drive the logistics delivery of 6-8 working meetings of the Task Force throughout the year working to accommodate differing objectives, event formats, adjoining events
• Develop the Task Force invitations, participants’ lists, confirmation letters, spreadsheets, workshop agendas, cities briefings, facilitators briefings, presentations and any additional material needed
• Develop and revise templates and critical paths for the project management as needed
• Support the development of the Task Force Action Agenda in coordination with C40 City Diplomacy team (review and update of working timelines, setting up coordination calls and written follow-up, supporting the review process)
• Set-up and update the Climate and Migration Diplomatic Calendar which considers relevant events/processes for 2021 on climate, migration, city diplomacy, including C40 advocacy and diplomacy milestones and C40-MMC advocacy/campaign plans; regularly update the timeline for the benefit of the Task Force cities and C40/MMC staff
• Support the Task Force announcement activities, including media article/op-ed, social media, webpage on Knowledge Hub and the diplomatic engagement at pre-COP26 and COP26
• Support the Knowledge Production and Dissemination workstream and the ICA Project Officer by providing inputs for ICA Monitoring and Evaluation needs, the ICA Newsletter regarding updates on the Task Force
• Assist the Climate and Migration Senior Manager in preparing the final report, including progress on identified metrics and the financial report to the MMC
• Assist the Climate and Migration Senior Manager and the City Diplomacy team in contracting, budget management and other administrative tasks
• Assist the Climate and Migration Senior Manager and the City Diplomacy team in creating any external communications content, including presentations, reports, and other materials
• Engage and support the overall work of the Inclusive Climate Action and City Diplomacy teams when needed
• Other duties as assigned.
  

Person Specification:

• Bachelor’s degree in social, political or environmental science, international relations, geography or relevant discipline
• Proven knowledge and/or solid understanding of equity, climate, and migration issues in cities and good understanding/awareness of inclusive climate action in cities, including awareness and comfort moving among and understanding key policy frameworks that influence the climate and migration diplomacy spheres
• Knowledge of international high-level decision-making processes such as the Global Compact on Migration and Global Compact for Refugees, the UNFCCC and other UN processes (2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, New Urban Agenda, etc)
• Experience in working collaboratively and effectively with partners, such as NGOs, the corporate sector, multilateral development banks, and/or UN agencies and global coalitions, including acting as point of contact for high level partners
• Understanding of working in or with city governments
• Strong problem-solving, interpersonal and strategic thinking capabilities coupled with an outcome, delivery-oriented approach
• Experience in complex project management with multiple stakeholders and demonstrated attention to detail and ability to juggle multiple projects with multiple deadlines
• Experience and understanding of virtual and in-person stakeholder engagement challenges and opportunities; demonstrated ability to promote active participation and co-learning through creative engagement activities and to promote understanding of concepts that are sometimes difficult to grasp
• Experience in compiling resources for cities
• International experience, particularly working across different cultures, languages and time zones
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Strong Power-Point skills
• Fluency in English is required; preference given to those that speak additional languages.
  

Other Requirements:

Applicants must already have the right to work in the country of choice. Some travel may be required as part of the role.

Location: New York, London, Johannesburg, Rio de Janeiro, Bogota, Addis Ababa and Accra

Term: Fixed term for 6 months

Salary: New York $61,670 / London £42,064 / Johannesburg R 700,834 / Rio de Janeiro $54,422 / Bogota COP 93,414,188 / Addis Ababa ETB 1,143,450 / Accra GHC 211,914

Closing date for receipt of applications is Sunday, 16 May 2021.