Duties and Responsibilities
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the United Nations system's designated entity for addressing environmental issues at the global and regional level. Its mandate is to coordinate the development of environmental policy consensus by keeping the global environment under review and bringing emerging issues to the attention of governments and the international community for action. The Buildings and Cooling Unit is part of UNEP’s Climate Change Division Mitigation Branch and based in Paris.
Contributing to the UN system-wide strategy on sustainable buildings and cooling to achieve the Paris Agreement, the Unit addresses the implementation of the Buildings Breakthrough and Global Cooling Pledge, both of which were endorsed at COP28. The Buildings and Cooling Unit is advertising two internships for 2027 in support of its work on extreme heat and sustainable cooling in cities:
A 6-months internship starting in January 2027 (two interns)
A 6-months internship starting in July 2027 (two interns) The internship is unpaid and full-time. Interns work five days per week (37.5 hours) under the overall supervision of the Chief of Sectoral Transition Section and the direct supervision of the Head of the Buildings and Cooling Unit. Kindly note that candidates will be responsible for obtaining necessary visas and arranging any travel to and from the duty station where the internship will be performed. Under the supervision of the Head of the Buildings and Cooling Unit, the intern will support the implementation of collaborative activities with Japanese Government and other stakeholders. Specific tasks may include:
Support the engagement with Japanese Government, subnational governments and Japanese companies/organisations to implement join activities on sustainable buildings and cooling.
Support the organization of technical workshops and/or webinars on Whole Life Cycle Carbon in the building sector, working on both embodied and operational carbons.
Support the development of technical paper on embodied carbon focusing on steel and cement decarbonization, as well as bio-based materials such as timber and bamboo.
Support the development of technical paper on operational carbons focusing on passive and active cooling including heat resilience in buildings
Support the overall communications of joint activities through GlobalABC and Cool Coalition social media, website, newsletters, etc.
Support the translation of technical materials into Japanese, and interpretations of Japanese stakeholders in web meetings.
Support other country project implementations (e.g. GEF-8 Nature for Cooling Challenge).
Qualifications/special skills
Applicants must be a student in the final year of the first university degree (bachelor or equivalent), Master’s or Ph.D. Programme or equivalent, or have completed a Bachelor’s, Master’s or PH.D. Programme. Preferred area of study: A Master's degree (completed or ongoing) in architecture, engineering, urban planning, environmental studies, climate change or a related field is required. 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.
Languages
English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the position(s) advertised, fluency in Japanese required. Knowledge of French is highly desirable.
Intern Specific text
Interns are not financially remunerated by the United Nations. Costs and arrangements for travel, visas, accommodation and living expenses are the responsibility of interns or their sponsoring institutions. Interns who are not citizens or permanent residents of the country where the internship is undertaken, may be required to obtain the appropriate visa and work/employment authorization. Successful candidates should discuss their specific visa requirements before accepting the internship offer.