Intern - Climate Change and Monitoring and Evaluation

Water and Energy Cluster (WEC)

​UNOPS Water and Energy Cluster (WEC) supports the design and management of multi-stakeholder initiatives by providing services in financial and grant management, procurement, human resources, and project management.

The cluster has supported projects in the areas of water resource management, climate change adaptation, mitigation and transparency, energy access and distribution and environmental conservation under the Paris Agreement. The WEC has also supported operations and financial management services, in Vienna, the rest of the ECR region and beyond.

The main partners include UN agencies, bilateral agreements (with the Nordics, Germany, and Italy), the Green Climate Fund and several NGOs (such as CIFF and CWF).

Initiative for Climate Action Transparency

The Initiative for Climate Action Transparency (ICAT) helps countries better assess the impacts of their climate policies and actions, and fulfil their transparency commitments under the Paris Agreement. It does this by increasing the overall transparency capacities of countries, including the capacity to assess the contribution of climate policies and actions on countries’ development objectives, and providing appropriate methodological information and tools to support evidence-based policy-making. ICAT’s innovative approach is to integrate these two aspects.

ICAT currently works with 40 developing countries worldwide to support their work on NDCs, including tracking of implementation, further policy development and related Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV).  Work covers sectoral policies (renewables, energy efficiency, transport, etc.) and cross-cutting aspects such as the link to sustainable development benefits, transformational change, and integration of subnational and non-state actors.

ICAT is funded by the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), the Italian Ministry of the Environment (IMELS) and the ClimateWorks Foundation.

Under the overall guidance and supervision of the Project Management Support Specialist, the incumbent will be responsible for collecting, analysing and visualising data as a part of ICAT’s Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Uptake (MELU) framework. 

The incumbent may also be asked to conduct background research related to different aspects of ICAT’s work and activities, in particular in relation to the work progress in developing climate action transparency frameworks implemented together with the ICAT beneficiary countries. The research findings will be used by the Secretariat as input for ICAT’s impact assessment and other planning activities, and for material to be used for outreach purposes. 

Duties and Responsibilities

MELU Reporting:

• Liaise with ICATs implementing partners to support the collation, review and analysis of data for the MELU reporting;

• Assist in interpretation of trends and drawing insights from project and survey data;

• Support the further development of the MELU framework based on experience in data collection and analysis;

• Assist on developing strategic information, including data visuals and reports, that communicates key evidence with diverse stakeholders.

Research support:

• Assist on background research on aspects related to the work of ICAT, in particular analyzing the role ICAT plays globally in supporting countries building their institutional transparency infrastructure and on specific topics related to the countries covered by ICAT, with focus on their GHG emissions and climate policies and actions in a global, and regional and national perspective, in particular, the importance of their NDCs, the sectors covered by ICAT work, and other parameters;

• Assist analysis and assessment of the different ICAT transparency initiatives and their contribution and impact on ICAT countries’ climate policies and actions aimed at contributing to the implementation of transparency frameworks and further enhancing of their NDCs;

• Assist on compiling metrics used by countries as part of the climate action MRV, besides emissions data;

• Assist the preparation of statistical charts, tables and reports, extracting data from various sources to contribute to the preparation of background papers and outreach material;

• Perform other duties as required based on ICAT Secretariat’s needs.

1. Academic qualifications 

The applicant should have completed a Bachelor degree, or be enrolled in a postgraduate program or have graduated from such studies within three (3) years prior to the start date of the intern assignment.

Area of study should preferably relate to climate change, developmental studies, and/or environmental management.

Strong data analytical skills and the ability to maintain regular update of activities and achievements would be an asset

2. Language Skills

Proven fluency of English – oral and written required.

Any other UN language would be an asset

3. Computer Literacy

Proficiency in Microsoft Office/Google Suite  is essential, in particular advanced functions of Excel and data visualization tools is desirable. 

4. Internship-related experiences

Applicants are not required to have professional work experience but experience working or volunteering in any of the following areas is highly desirable:

• Climate change

• Monitoring and evaluation of programmes in the development field

• Statistical analysis

• Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time
• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified.
• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• UNOPS seeks to reasonably accommodate candidates with special needs, upon request.
• Work life harmonization - UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands. We have a progressive policy on work-life harmonization and offer several flexible working options. This policy applies to UNOPS personnel on all contract types
• The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.  
• Responsible for arranging their own travel and securing any necessary visas.
• Should provide confirmation that they are fit specifically for the duty station conditions, as certified by a medical practitioner. Interns are responsible for receiving clearance from a medical doctor.

It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential recruits/interns.
Recruitment/internship in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.