Current Opportunities at United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

 The Programme will promote the environmental rule of law, strengthen the related capacities in countries, and contribute to the environmental dimension of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Under the direct supervision of the Head of the Montevideo Coordination and Delivery Unit Division and/or her designates, selected interns will work with and learn from a team of experienced legal professionals in environmental law. The interns will be offered the opportunity to: 

• Support intergovernmental processes, notably as the sixth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly and the second meeting of the national focal points to the Fifth Montevideo Programme for the Development and Periodic Review of Environmental Law, including by preparing legal briefs on substantive matters and rules of procedure;
• Assist countries to develop environmental legislation or to review and revise their environmental legislation through carrying out research and analysis and, providing comments and drafting proposals for consideration; 
• Assist in the development of institutional capacities in countries to support implementation of environmental legislation and compliance with MEAs and in coordination activities among relevant entities, such as the Green Customs Initiative (GCI);      
• Carry out research on select environmental law and governance issues, including but not limited to environmental rule of law, MEAs, progressive development of international environmental law; implementation and enforcement; human rights and the environment; and environmental crime;
• Prepare written summaries and/or make oral presentations of his/her research, including briefing notes and reports;
• Assist in the organization and support of training events and other meetings and workshops that are organized by the Division through, e.g., preparing the agenda, liaising with participants, compiling materials, making presentations, taking notes, etc.;
• Help monitor, manage, and assist in due diligence activities for online knowledge bases, such as InforMEA, the Law and Environment Assistance Platform and project websites, in support of UNEP's digital transformation. This will include providing up-to-date information on environmental laws, news, and resources and supporting LEAP's response mechanism to requests for technical assistance;
• Undertake such other tasks as may be assigned by the Director and/or her designates, such as the preparation of communication material promoting the Law Division's work.

Qualifications/special skills
Applicants must:

• be enrolled in, or have completed, a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent, or higher) in law;
• Applicants to the UN Internship Programme are not required to have professional work experience. However, a field of study that is closely related to the type of internship that you are applying for is required.
• Applicants must be a student in Master’s or Ph.D. Programme or equivalent, or have completed a Master’s or PH.D. Programme.  Do you meet any of the above criteria? If yes, please indicate which one and attach proof to the application. Please note that you will have to provide an official certificate at a later stage.
• Applicants should have good knowledge of standard software applications, especially MS Word, MS PowerPoint, and MS Teams.

Languages

• English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. Fluency in spoken and written English is required for the internship. Knowledge of French or Spanish is an advantage.

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Duties and Responsibilities:
The home-based consultancy is under the supervision of the GO4SDGs Initiative and will provide technical expertise to develop the Global circularity Protocol and to scale up sectoral flagships initiatives across regions and increasing engagement from governments and relevant stakeholders. Specific duties include:

• Provide technical support for the development of the “Global Circularity Protocol for Business” (50%)  
• Work closely with the 10YFP Secretariat and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) providing technical and science-based knowledge for the development of the Global Circularity Protocol for Business (GCP).
• Carry out research on circular economy metrics and methodologies for private sector and provide technical support for the development of the GCP. Build cooperation with key actors/initiatives to enhance interoperability of the GCP in high impact sectors.
• Contribute with technical expertise to the GCP work stream on “Circular Transition Impact Analysis” analysing the impact of a circular transition on climate, nature and social aspects. Indicators.
• Provide technical support to the second work stream on “Corporate performance and accountability system (CPAS) for circularity”, providing inputs and support to develop harmonized circularity methodologies and accounting metrics for reporting and disclosure.
• Scaling up regional best practices across regions and engaging new stakeholders, including private sector  (40%)
• Scale up and replicate GO4SDGS sectoral best practices, including the Recipe of Change, Sustainable Ramadhan, and the Sustainable Fashion Academy in West Asia and replicate them across-regions; this in close coordination with the regional GO4SDGS coordinators, the 10 Year Framework of Programmes on SCP (10YFP)/ One Planet Network, the regional offices, and other relevant teams at the Resources and Market Branch and Industry and Economy Division, and engagement of relevant external partners and stakeholders.

Engaging in private sector partnerships and pilot projects focused on food waste reduction and the integration of sustainable food systems into the tourism sector. This could include scaling up and replicating initiatives such as the 'Recipe of Change' and 'Green Ramadan', as well as promoting the 'Global Roadmap for Food Waste Reduction in the Tourism Sector'. To this end carry out the following activities:

• Facilitate exchange of information, knowledge and lessons learned to other regions and identify interested partners (at least in two regions)
• Identify relevant global and regional stakeholders and institutions to join the initiatives.
• Coordinate global, regional and cross regional workshops, webinars and events to implement the agreed roadmap and to give visibility to the strategy 
• Support One Planet Sustainable Tourism Programme trainings and pilot interventions on food waste reduction targeting tourism businesses in at least two destinations
• Research to provide solid data on benefits, challenges and indicators to measure progress of this initiatives 

Support and scale up the work on sustainable fashion and circularity in the textile sector, working closely with UNEP’s team on sustainable textile and co-develop a strategy to scale up the “Sustainable Fashion Academy”, ensuring that is aligned to UNEP’s MTS and the One UNEP Textile Project.  This will include as well the following activities: 

• Work closely with GO4SDGs Regional coordinators and Regional office to replicate the Sustainable Fashion Academy in other regions (at least one more), identifying existing interested partners and relevant initiatives. 
• Co-develop funding proposals to implement the Academy in different regions.
• Support trainings on sustainable textile design in countries and regions, building on training materials developed through the West Asia Academy and UNEP's broader work, focusing on circular business models, overproduction and overconsumption, and/or eliminating hazardous chemicals.
• Coordinate work on education/ with textile universities under the One UNEP Textile Project, replicating successes of the West Asia Academy, including formalization of partnerships with textile universities through Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs)
• Ensure GO4SDG alignment with One UNEP Textile Initiative and priorities and identify opportunities for further collaboration.
• Supporting global activities of GO4SDGs (10%) – dialogues, preparing of documents, project proposals , etc.
• Support the Head of GO4SDGs in preparing briefing note, PPT, background documents and information to support the work on circularity, initiatives on high impact sectors and the Global Circularity Protocol.
• Aligning the GO4SDGs implementation with UNEA resolutions, MEAs and ensuring visibility in strategic international fora, to increase the impact of GO4SDGs and UNEP’s work on SCP and circular economy.
• Identify resource mobilization opportunities, as well as stewardship, leadership, and economic-finance mechanisms to ensure sustainable and long-lasting impact building on the GO4SDGs legacy.
• Builds cooperation and new partnerships to move implement GO4SDGs work plan, focusing on systemic change in high impact sectors.
• Identify synergies between the sectorial flagships initiative and the Green Jobs for Youth Pact.

Qualifications/special skills

• Advanced university degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in sustainable development, environmental management/engineer, or a related field.  A first-level university degree in combination with two (2) years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• A minimum of ten years work experience  of progressively responsible experience in sustainable development, green or circular economy; resource efficiency, sustainable consumption and production, and demonstrated experience on sustainability in high impact sectors such as textiles/fashion, food systems, and/or buildings and construction is required.
• Experience in project management, development of partnerships with government and private sector. Technical knowledge on circularity, sustainable consumption and production in high impact sectors (textile, food systems)  and proven analytical skills and demonstrated experience in these areas are required
• Two years or more of experience in data analytics or related areas is required.

Languages

• English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the post advertised, fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official United Nations language is desirable. NOTE: "Fluency equals a rating of "fluent" in all four areas (read, write, speak, understand) and "Knowledge of" equals a rating of "confident" in two of the four area

Deadline : Feb 8, 2024

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Under the supervision, guidance and mentoring of the Programme Management Officer, the Intern will carry out the following duties: 

• Support the intersessional work as agreed by OEWG 2 in the lead up to OEWG 3 scheduled for June 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland.
• Support the organization of the third session of the ad hoc open-ended working group (OEWG 3) to be held from 17 – 24 June 2023 in Geneva, Switzerland.
• Support the intersessional work post OEWG 3.

Qualifications/special skills

• UNEP is the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development with the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment.

Applicants must meet one of the following requirements:

• be enrolled in, or have completed, a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent, or higher);
• be enrolled in, or have completed, the final academic year of a first university degree programme (minimum bachelor’s degree or equivalent).
• Preferred Area of Study: Advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in environmental science or engineering or related field is required.
• Fully proficient computer skills and use of web-based platforms and relevant software e.g. word processing, PowerPoint, excel, internal databases, Internet etc. Preference may be given to Master's candidates.
• Candidate should demonstrate keen interest in the work of the United Nations and have a personal commitment to the ideals of the United Nations Charter. 
• Candidate should demonstrate ability to successfully interact with individuals of different cultural backgrounds and beliefs, which include willingness to try and understand and be tolerant of differing opinions and views.

Languages

• English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the position advertised, fluency in English is required.  Knowledge of another official United Nations language is desirable. NOTE: "fluency equals a rating of "fluent" in all four areas (read, write, speak, understand) and "Knowledge of" equals a rating of "confident" in two of the four areas.