United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

Intern

Apply on official site
Duty station
🇩🇪 Bonn, Germany
Country / area
Germany
Region
Europe
UN system
Secretariat
Announcement number
26/Intern25/MitigationRCC
Grade
N/A
Unit
Mitigation, Coordination Regional Collaboration Centers
Closes
7/30/2026, 12:00:00 AM

About this role

The UNFCCC is seeking an intern to support the Mitigation Division’s Coordination Regional Collaboration Centers (CRCC) team in aligning secretariat mandates to facilitate access to means of implementation for Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The role focuses on financing NDC implementation, requiring the intern to conduct background research, prepare agendas, and provide logistical support for peer-to-peer workshops and webinars. Key responsibilities include assisting in the organization of climate finance events, capturing lessons learned on country experiences and investment planning, and developing knowledge products such as presentations and meeting notes. The intern will also collaborate with RCC NDC experts on capacity-building activities and direct country support, identifying needs and preparing technical inputs. This position offers exposure to the political processes addressing climate change, specifically the implementation of NDCs and the scaling of climate finance. The intern will work under the supervision of the CRCC Team Lead and the NDC Technical Support Unit Team Lead, contributing to projects that bridge policy and implementation realities. The role is designed for students or recent graduates with a strong academic background in data science, statistics, computer science, economics, or related fields, who possess excellent communication skills and fluency in English. The internship provides an opportunity to engage with regional collaboration centers and partners to accelerate climate action.

Key requirements

  • Enrolled in graduate school or final year of bachelor's
  • Studies in data science, statistics, CS, economics, or related
  • Fluency in English (oral and written)

Nice to have

  • Working knowledge of French or other UN official languages

Requirements at a glance

Required degree
Enrollment in a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent, or higher, such as a PhD) at a recognized university; OR enrollment in the final academic year of a first university degree programme (minimum bachelor’s level or equivalent) at a recognized university. University studies shall be in the field of data science, statistics, computer science, economics, or related disciplines.
Languages
English

Internship Assignment Mitigation Division Coordination Implementation Sub-division Coordination Regional Collaboration Centers

Background The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the focus of the political process to address Climate Change. The Convention secretariat supports the Convention and its Kyoto Protocol by a range of activities, including substantive an d organizational support to meetings of the Parties.

The successful implementation of Parties’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) relies on governments’ ability to take the actions that will contribute towards fulfilling the ambitious targets outlined in these documents. The realization of this hinges on availability of, and ability to access, commensurate means of implementation. This formed the foundation for recently adopted decisions, including on a New Collective Quantified Goal and the agreement to continue working towards scaling up climate finance to developing country Parties to at least 1.3 trillion per year by 2035.

As the primary international forum for addressing climate change, the UNFCCC brings together all Parties, alongside impleme nting partners, to address this challenge. Moreover, Paragraph 117 of Decision 1/CMA.5 on the first Global Stocktake requested the Secretariat to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and good practices for the preparation and implementation of NDCs. This is further strengthened by Paragraphs 38 and 39 of the Global Mutirão decision, which requests the secretariat to conduct peer exchange workshops, including at climate weeks, and invites relevant organizations, the secretariat, including through its RCCs, an d other support programmes and agencies to enhance technical assistance and support for developing country Parties in the preparation and implementation of NDC.

The UNFCCC Regional Collaboration Centres (RCCs) support countries in implementing the goals of the UN climate agreements by providing technical expertise, capacity-building, and regional collaboration. They work closely with governments and partners to accelerate climate action, strengthen implementation of NDCs and National Adaptation Plans . RCCs facilitate knowledge sharing, mobilize partnerships, and help identify opportunities for climate finance and investment.

Objectives of the internship assignment Under the direct supervision of the Mitigation division’s CRCC Team Lead and the NDC Technical Support Unit Team Lead, the intern will support analyses on how different mandates and activities of the UNFCCC secretariat can be coordinated and aligned to support access to means of implementation for NDCs. Particular tasks will include:

1. Support the preparation and implementation of projects related to financing NDC implementation including the Peer-to-Peer on programmatic approaches to finance NDC implementation, through background research, preparation of agendas, speaker Application deadline:

30 July 2026

Announcement number: 26/Intern25/Mitigation RCC

Expected start date August 2026 Duration of Assignment Up to six months Modality Onsite (preferable option) or remote

coordination, logistical support, and other activities as needed.

2. Assist with the organization of workshops, webinars, partner meetings and other events related to climate finance for NDC implementation, including coordination with Regional Collaboration Centres, partners and relevant internal teams.

3. Contribute to capturing lessons learned on approaches to financing NDC implementation, including country experiences, institutional arrangements, investment planning, climate finance governance, project pipelines, and relevant tools and knowledge products. 4. Contribute the development and updating of presentations, meeting notes, knowledge products and other materials related to NDC finance, programmatic approaches, peer learning and country-level implementation support. 5. Support collaboration with RCC NDC experts on capacity-building activities and direct country support related to finance aspects of NDC implementation, including identifying country needs, preparing technical inputs, and supporting follow-up with relevant partners and internal teams. 6. Other activities as needed. In addition, upon completion of the internship, the intern will have contributed to projects related to financing NDC implementation including the Peer-to-Peer on programmatic approaches, and activities in collaboration with RCC NDC experts that are closer to countries and implementation realities on the ground.

Timeframe The internship is for a maximum of six months, with the expected starting date in August 2026. The exact period will be determined based on the availability of the intern and the needs of CRCC.

The internship may take place either onsite (preferrable option) at UN Climate Change premises in Bonn full-time (40 hours per week) or remotely. In case of the internship taking place remotely, interns are expected to align their work schedule with the working hours of UN Climate Change. Requirements Applicants must, at the time of application and for the entire duration of the internship, meet one of the following requirements: 1) Be enrolled in a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent, or higher, such as a PhD) at a recognized university; or 2) Be enrolled in the final academic year of a first university degree programme (minimum bachelor’s level or equivalent) at a recognized university.

  • University studies shall be in the field of data science, statistics, computer science, economics, or related disciplines
  • Candidates must be fluent in English (both oral and written). Working knowledge of French or other UN official languages is an asset.
  • Excellent written and communication skills.
  • Candidates must be able to work in a multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary environment. Computer requirements For a remote internship, candidates will require a laptop or desktop PC (with Windows 10 or newer) or Mac (with the latest MacOS update), as well as a reliable, high-speed internet connection. An Office

365 license will be provided by the UNFCCC to enable the candidate to access official emails, SharePoint, OneDrive and other office applications, such as Word and Excel. Further computer requirements:

  • An antivirus application which receives regular updates;
  • Browsers must be a newer version with regular updates enabled;
  • Regular Windows 10 updates should be enabled with Windows laptop or PC. In addition, a mobile phone will be required to enable Multifactor Authentication (MFA) through SMS or the Authenticator App.

Internship conditions UNFCCC secretariat internships are not remunerated, and the selected intern will be responsible for all costs before, during and after the internship assignment. Interns of the UNFCCC secretariat are not considered to be staff members. In case of remote internship, interns are expected to work with their own computer and internet access. For in -person internship, interns will be provided a laptop and internet connection. For more detailed information about UNFCCC Internship programme please visit the internships section on our recruitment webpage.

Application procedure Candidates who are interested in this assignment and meet the minimum requirements must use the on-line application system and include a short cover letter. Due to the high number of applications, only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted for a telephone interview.

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