Climate Change Adaptation & Resilience Intern

Contract

This is a Internship contract. It usually requires 0 years of experience, depending on education. More about Internship contracts.

Background

Development Context

Viet Nam is among the countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change: the Global Climate Risk Index 2021 ranks Viet Nam 13th on the list of countries most affected by disasters and extreme weather events. Communities in coastal regions are increasingly vulnerable to climate and disaster-related impacts, and it is estimated that more than 70% of the population will be severely exposed to climate and disaster risks, threatening their livelihoods and resilience.

At the same time, the significant role of coastal ecosystems in sequestering and storing ‘blue carbon’ is increasingly being recognized by policymakers. In addition to mitigation benefits, these coastal ‘blue carbon’ ecosystems are home to a wealth of biodiversity and provide communities with essential ecosystem services, such as coastal protection from storms and land erosion, and nursery grounds for fish. As such, they provide a full spectrum of mitigation, adaptation, and protection benefits.

Economic development, population growth, changes in consumption patterns and improved transportation networks, however, have increased demand for timber, medicinal plants, wildlife, and marine products, resulting in overexploitation of terrestrial, coastal, and marine resources. As a result, the natural resources of Viet Nam’s coastal zones have been degraded, fish spawning sites lost, and the income of local communities reduced.

Climate change is also negatively impacting the extent and quality of coastal and marine ecosystems, from both the direct destructive impacts of typhoons, storm surges, and slow-paced sea level rise as well as changes in water temperature, salinity, and the acidification of seawater.

Corporate Background

UNDP works in about 170 countries and territories, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty, and the reduction of inequalities and exclusion. We help countries to develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, and institutional capabilities and build resilience in order to sustain development results.

UNDP is working to strengthen new frameworks for development, disaster risk reduction, and climate change. We support countries' efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, which will guide global development priorities through 2030. The key 2030 Agenda principle of leaving no one behind and stamping out inequality is at the core of everything we do.

UNDP focuses on helping countries build and share solutions in three main areas:

• Sustainable development
• Democratic governance and peacebuilding
• Climate and disaster resilience

In all our activities, we encourage the protection of human rights and the empowerment of women, minorities, and the poorest and most vulnerable.

Overview of UNDP Viet Nam’s Climate Change & Environment Unit

The UNDP Viet Nam Climate Change & Environment (CCE) unit covers the following areas of work:

• low-carbon development and green growth, including sustainable production and consumption patterns;
• renewable energy and energy efficiency, especially in the (sub-)sectors of transportation, construction, chemical fertilizers, pulp and paper, and low-carbon bus public transportation;
• reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD);
• adaptation and resilience to the impacts of climate change and disasters;
• natural resources and biodiversity conservation;
• health digitalization focusing on telehealth and the ‘one health’ nexus of climate change and environment in the health sector; and
• environmental protection.

UNDP support focuses on advocacy, policy research and formation, capacity and partnership building and coordination, technology testing and transfer, piloting models, and promoting the participation of businesses and local communities.

In addition, under the global Climate Promise programme, UNDP (in collaboration with other partners) promotes a multi-stakeholder approach to respond to the causes and effects of climate change, which means engaging the private sector in taking actions and moving towards sustainability, and the youth networks who are demanding faster climate action and have promising solutions to showcase.

Project Background: Viet Nam Climate-Smart Coastal Communities (2023-2030)

Financed by the Government of Canada, the Viet Nam Climate-Smart Coastal Communities (VN-CSCC) project will contribute to the improved resilience to climate change of vulnerable coastal communities (VCCs) and enriched marine and coastal biodiversity in Viet Nam by empowering nature-dependent communities, particularly women, to scale up nature-based climate solutions to enhance their resilience, strengthen the sustainable use of coastal natural resources, and protect the biodiversity of mangrove and coral reef ecosystems.

The project intervention comes at a time when ongoing climate change and progressive socio-economic development, driven by agriculture, fisheries, industrial development, population growth, and urbanization, are causing increasing threats to coastal and marine ecosystems and their attendant biodiversity, negatively affecting the livelihoods and resilience of VCCs in Viet Nam, exacerbated by unsustainable, poverty-driven livelihood practices.

The project will reach 20,000 direct and 200,000 indirect beneficiaries among poor and near-poor households in VCCs in three target coastal provinces of Viet Nam: Thua Thien–Hue and Binh Dinh in the North-Central Coastal Region, and Soc Trang in the Mekong Delta Region. Communities in the target provinces are highly vulnerable to climate change impacts, specifically disasters caused by extreme weather events, including floods, storm surges, saltwater intrusion, droughts, and high tides. Key risks to biodiversity have also been identified as land transformation (habitat loss), overexploitation, climate change, and pollution.

The target provinces have rather high rates of poor and near-poor households, as well as persistent gender gaps, including social discrimination against women, expressed as lower employment rates, lower levels of education and training, and relatively large wage gaps. To address the disadvantaged position of women to equally benefit from socio-economic and political opportunities, priority project beneficiaries will be women, women-headed households, and women-led organizations and cooperatives, as well as informal waste workers. In Soc Trang, special attention will also be paid to engaging ethnic minority households.

The project furthermore aims to strengthen about 50,000 hectares of marine and coastal areas for effective biodiversity conservation, rehabilitation of coral reefs and mangroves and their ecosystem services, and the sustainable use of these natural resources by VCCs.

Duties and Responsibilities

This assignment will divide the Intern’s time between the VN-CSCC project and UNDP Viet Nam’s portfolio on climate change adaptation and resilience, the latter specifically including support to Viet Nam’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) 2025, nature-based solutions, and youth engagement for climate action.

Based in the Climate Change & Environment Unit, and under the overall direction of the Assistant Resident Representative/Head of the Climate Change & Environment Unit, the Intern will report on a day-to-day basis to the Programme Management Specialist in charge of the VN-CSCC project and the Programme Officer on Climate Change & Resilience. S/he will also work closely with relevant international technical specialists, programme officers, and programme associates in the Unit.

Through the assignment, the selected Intern will benefit from:

1. enhancing his/her technical expertise in the subject areas;
2. building and expanding a professional network with development partners and the government of Viet Nam; and
3. enhancing his/her analytic and organizational skills.

The Intern will function as part of the UNDP programme team responsible for project implementation, backstopping UNDP's overall support and quality assurance work of on-going projects in the area of coastal resilience, marine conservation, youth engagement, and nature-based solutions by conducting, as relevant and instructed, the following overall scope of work:

• Support the Programme Management Specialist in charge of the VN-CSCC project and the Programme Officer on Climate Change & Resilience to ensure quality planning (annual and quarterly work-plans), reporting, and monitoring & evaluation of projects;
• Engage in supporting specific project implementation activities, such as research and analysis, formulation of TORs for subcontractors’ activities, and scoping and validation activities, with relevance to innovative approaches and global best practices on mitigation of cause/impact correlations and mainstreaming of coastal resilience, marine conservation, youth engagement, and nature-based solutions;
• Support the Programme Management Specialist in charge of the VN-CSCC project and the Programme Officer on Climate Change & Resilience in planning periodical evaluation and impact assessments of the programmes/projects, sharing lessons learned, and following up to ensure implementation of recommendations;
• Coordinate with the CCE Media & Communications Analyst to assist with implementing the VN-CSCC’s Communications Strategy, including preparing communications products, briefing materials, and other publications for events, outreach, and advocacy work, as well as supporting content review to ensure language meets UNDP standards;
• Support preparing aggregate reports on activities, outputs, and outcomes, including reports for donors as needed and support to regularly update on consultant progress to synthesize their inputs for project activities;
• Identify and synthesize best practices and lessons learned, making suggestions to incorporate those lessons in programme/project implementation and monitoring; and
• Make sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice in the relevant fields, including national, regional, and/or global networks.

Pending the needs during the Intern’s placement period, specific tasks during the assignment may include, but are not limited to:

Task 1: Assist in the scoping and validation of potential nature-based solutions for sustainable coastal resilience and blue carbon restoration.

• Undertake a desk study on international and national good practices on blue carbon restoration, particularly with nature-based solutions and community-based resource management models.
• Support to draft related TORs to mobilize experts for detailed project formulation.
• Assist UNDP and expert teams in coordinated scoping missions, data collection, and data analysis for the project baselines, and design and prioritization of interventions and validation.
• Assist with preparing concept notes for consultation and validation workshops with stakeholders.
• Support expert teams in possible surveying and data collection from the field.
• Prepare thematic analytical report or contribute to relevant technical report.

Task 2: Support the implementation of UNDP’s climate change project portfolio and advocacy, particularly on youth initiatives.

• Support the Programme Officer on Climate Change & Resilience to regularly update on consultant progress and synthesize their inputs in the development of Viet Nam NDC 2025, and provide inputs into UNDP-led surveys and studies for the inclusive engagement of all stakeholders in NDC 2025 for Viet Nam.
• Participate and contribute to the activities of UN system co-ordination and programming, including the UN Results Group on Climate Change and Environment.
• Support the UNDP’s effort on advocacy and policy dialogue, including participation and contribution to policy-driven research and reviews, and the preparation of briefing notes or concept papers in collaboration with UNDP and project technical staff.
• Engage in supporting specific project implementation activities, through research and analysis, formulation of TORs for subcontractors’ activities, with relevance to innovative approaches and global best practices on mitigation of cause/impact correlations and mainstreaming of NbS issues.
• Support to ensure quality planning (annual and quarterly work-plans), reporting, and monitoring and evaluation of projects.
• Make sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice, including relevant national, regional and/or global networks.
• Work with the youth focal point to organize relevant technical meetings and training or capacity building for youth communities.
• Co-create NbS training materials for the Youth4Climate Initiative in Viet Nam and curate online learning materials for the Climate Learning Hub.

In addition, the Intern may be engaged in other ongoing project initiatives within the Climate Change & Environment Unit upon request and with the prior approval of his/her supervisors.

Competencies

• Knowledge in any of the following areas is an asset: marine science, international development, climate change adaptation, biodiversity conservation, and/or disaster risk reduction;
• Excellent communication, interpersonal skills, and the ability to work effectively in an international environment;
• Good organizational and analytical skills, initiative, and sound judgment;
• Ability to work with minimum supervision; and
• Excellent computer skills and familiarity with common software such as Office 365.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

The Intern at the time of application must meet one of the following conditions:

• Be enrolled in a postgraduate degree programme (such as a master’s programme or higher) in marine science, international development, climate science, biodiversity conservation, disaster risk reduction, or a related field;
• Be enrolled in the final academic year of a first university degree programme (such as bachelor’s degree or equivalent) in marine science, international development, climate science, biodiversity conservation, disaster risk reduction, or a related field;
• Have recently graduated with a university degree (as defined in (a) and (b) above) and, if selected, must start the internship within one year of graduation;
• Be enrolled in a postgraduate professional traineeship programme and undertake the internship as part of this programme.

Experience:

• At least one year of experience in programme/project development and monitoring and evaluation, preferably in a developing country and/or in the Asian region;
• Good knowledge and understanding of coastal resilience, marine conservation, youth engagement, and nature-based solutions globally, and preferably in the Asian region;

Language Requirements:

• Fluent in English

  Apply Now Refer a Friend