Environmental Affairs Intern

Paris

  • Organization: UNEP - United Nations Environment Programme
  • Location: Paris
  • Grade: Internship - Internship
  • Occupational Groups:
    • Environment
  • Closing Date: 2026-01-07

Work Location

Paris

Expected duration

6 months

Duties and Responsibilities

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) is the United Nations system's designated entity for addressing environmental issues at the global and regional levels. 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. UNEP's Industry and Economy Division works with international governments and non-governmental organizations, national and local governments, business and industry to develop and implement policies, strategies, and practices that are cleaner and safer, incorporate environmental costs, use natural resources efficiently, reduce pollution and risks for humans and the environment, and enable the implementation of conventions and international agreements. The UNEP Plastics Initiative is UNEP's programme to activate and scale up global, regional, and national actions to tackle plastic pollution. The Initiative consolidates all UNEP's plastic-related projects, activities, actions, and results into a unified programme that leads and implements a system-wide transformation towards a safe circular economy of plastics. Through collaboration with diverse stakeholders, ongoing projects, and a multifaceted approach, the Initiative seeks to accelerate market transformation towards a circular economy of plastics. Plastic Reboot is the GEF-8 Integrated Programme on Circular Solutions to Plastic Pollution, jointly led by UNEP and WWF-US. Bringing together 15 national projects and a global platform, the Programme advances upstream and midstream solutions across the plastics value chain, from enabling policy shifts to driving business model innovation. It aims to help countries transition towards a circular economy. Under the direct supervision of the Programme Management Officer and overall guidance from the UNEP Plastics Initiative Coordinator, the intern will: - Gain operational knowledge by assisting in projects setup, translating environmental financing into action, and operationalizing project documents, including activity budgeting, workplans, and formulating technical terms of reference. - Conduct research on key operational topics related to plastic action, such as waste management, regulatory and policy change, finance mobilization, private sector engagement, innovation, investment, and behavior change. - Support stakeholder engagement by helping to organize and facilitate meetings, workshops, and consultations with key stakeholders, including government agencies, private sector partners, and civil society organizations. - Gain experience in monitoring and evaluation by tracking project milestones, gathering data on project outcomes, preparing progress reports, and contributing to capacity-building activities, including training sessions and workshops.

Qualifications/special skills

Education: - Advanced level degree (MA./MSc.). Academic background in environmental sciences/management, public policy, business administration, or a related field. Other skills: - Communication - Client orientation - Teamwork

Languages

Fluency in English (oral and written).

Additional Information

Not available.

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.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.

We do our best to provide you the most accurate info, but closing dates may be wrong on our site. Please check on the recruiting organization's page for the exact info. Candidates are responsible for complying with deadlines and are encouraged to submit applications well ahead.
Before applying, please make sure that you have read the requirements for the position and that you qualify.
Applications from non-qualifying applicants will most likely be discarded by the recruiting manager.

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