Intern – Climate Change and Urban Environment

Job Opening ID: 269355
Job Category & Level: Internship, I-1
Job Family: Programme Management
Duty Station: Nairobi, Kenya
Work Location: Remote / Hybrid / In-person (preferable)
Duration: 6 Months
Department/Office:
Date Posted: 29 December 2025
Application Deadline: 12 January 2026

About the Internship

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is mandated to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities. Through its Programme Development Branch (PDB) under the Global Solutions Division, UN-Habitat supports countries in strengthening climate action, improving urban environments, and integrating climate change into urban and national policies.

The intern will work under the Climate Change Team, supporting climate adaptation and mitigation initiatives, urban resilience programmes, knowledge management, communication, and global climate processes.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Programmatic Support

• Assist in planning and implementing climate change adaptation and mitigation projects.
• Support flagship initiatives including RISE UP: Resilient Settlement for the Urban Poor and SURGe – Sustainable Urban Resilience for the Next Generation.
• Support development of new projects at country, regional, and global levels.
• Assist in implementation of UN-Habitat’s Environmental and Social Safeguards System (ESSS).
• Support monitoring and reporting for the Climate Change and Urban Environment Sub-Programme.

2. Knowledge Management

• Conduct research on cities, climate change, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable urbanization.
• Support normative publications and operational work.
• Contribute to improvement of ESSS and Environmental Management System implementation.
• Review and extract knowledge from UN-Habitat outputs.
• Support partnerships with urban climate change stakeholders.
• Assist preparations for global events such as Innovate4Cities, WUF12, Biodiversity COP16, and Climate COP29.

3. Communication

• Support planning and delivery of outreach and public events.
• Assist with speeches, talking points, trainings, seminars, and conferences.
• Support communications, website, and social media activities.
• Draft materials and stories for internal and external audiences.

4. Other Duties

• Support additional tasks relevant to the team, as assigned.

Qualifications & Special Skills

Applicants must meet one of the following at the time of application:

• Enrolled in a graduate programme (Master’s, PhD, or equivalent); or
• Enrolled in the final academic year of a Bachelor’s degree; or
• Have completed a Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD degree.

Preferred Fields of Study Urban Planning, Climate Change, Environmental Sciences/Management, Environmental Engineering, International Development, Political & International Affairs, Communication, or related fields (Master’s or PhD candidates preferred).

Additional Requirements

• Computer literacy (Microsoft Office Suite).
• Strong interest in the work and values of the United Nations.
• Ability to work in multicultural environments.
• Excellent communication and research skills.
• Experience in content creation and social media is desirable.

Languages

• Required: Fluency in English (oral and written).
• Desirable: Spanish or another UN language.