Entrepreneurship in the territories: is it the right time?
In Asia, we work across seven (6) ASEAN countries - Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam – as well as in Japan and South Korea. We focus on sustainability issues related to soft commodities finance (e.g. agriculture, forestry, and seafood), the energy and infrastructure sectors, and crosscutting issues such as climate and nature.
Major Duties and Responsibilities:
The VP will contribute to the general work of the team work under the direction of senior team members across the following areas, part of the responsible investment team:
Accelerate financing for nature-based projects across Asia
- Develop strategy for financing nature-based projects in Asia in collaboration with WWF country offices and finance practice
- Work with projects in Asia to structure project plans to meet requirements of donors / financiers
- Develop relationships with funds and philanthropic organisations in Singapore that invest in nature-based projects to widen potential funding sources for projects
- Conduct research on emerging green and blue financial solutions to support the development and structuring of innovative financial solutions to mobilize additional capital to protect and restore nature and communities
Stakeholder engagement and relationship management
- Manage relationships with key finance sector stakeholders, including investors (asset owners, asset managers), regulators, government ministries, etc.
- Manage relationships with conservation project leads across WWF Asian countries to develop a pipeline of bankable projects
- Work closely with other WWF national offices in the region to co-execute country-specific finance sector engagement strategies, taking into account the varying interests and priorities of different finance sector stakeholders, including investors (asset owners, asset managers), stock exchanges, regulators, government ministries, etc.
ESG research and tools
- Conduct research on topics including ESG trends, analysis of financial institutions’ performance on ESG integration/risk management and corporate sustainability disclosure and performance
- Contribute to the development of reports and tools to support capacity building, policy development and investor collective engagement
Communications
- Represent WWF perspectives, present WWF research and tools, and demonstrate thought leadership on sustainable finance at regional/domestic conferences and other events
- Manage the communication of research findings and WWF positions to finance sector stakeholders through multiple channels, e.g. press releases for mainstream/trade media, op-eds/blogs, interviews, social media, etc.
- Manage communications with other WWF national offices and other relevant internal stakeholders to identify and address potential conflicts in objectives and interests
Training and capacity building
- Develop and leverage technical expertise to support the organization and content development for capacity building workshops, webinars and other events targeted at finance sector stakeholders (asset managers and private banks in particular) on sustainable finance and ESG issues/trends, including climate and nature themes
- Work with WWF conservation, commodity, climate and water experts to distil insights and knowledge into guidance and recommendations for the finance sector
- Build capacity of wider WWF network on sustainable finance and ensure understanding of its contribution to their respective interests and priorities
Fundraising, budgeting, and reporting
- Contribute to writing funding proposals to secure long-term funding for both the Singapore sustainable finance team and regional offices
- Assist in monitoring, evaluating, budgeting and reporting of project performance against planned objectives and deliverables and milestones
