Duties and ResponsibilitiesThe intern would join this motivated team to contribute to a strategic new initiative to strengthen UNEP FI’s academic partnerships and visibility. This work supports cutting-edge efforts to embed research-driven insights into sustainable finance practice across programmes such as Climate, Nature, Banking, Insurance, and Policy & Regulation. He or she would report to the Nature team lead acting as interim Academic Outreach lead while the future of this work at UNEP FI is in process of being scoped. Tasks The intern will work with the Nature Lead / interim Academic Outreach Lead to support the UNEP FI Secretariat on the following tasks:

• Map academic references to UNEP FI’s work. Review academic literature to identify who is citing UNEP FI, which tools and publications are most referenced, and in what context (e.g. climate risk, biodiversity finance, net-zero transition). If possible, chart how references have evolved over time.
• Track research trends aligned with UNEP FI priorities. Identify key themes, academic disciplines, and emerging research areas that are most relevant to UNEP FI’s programme areas (e.g. nature and climate risk, transition finance, sustainable food systems, blended finance, multilateral collaboration). Provide updates and briefings to inform team strategy and engagement.
• Benchmark outreach models. Review models such as the PRI’s Academic Network, UN and others to identify best practices for academic engagement. Map academic conferences of relevance (e.g. GRASFI) and track participation and contributions from UNEP FI members.
• Build a stakeholder map. Develop a shortlist of high-impact academic institutions and individual researchers who are strategically relevant to UNEP FI’s work and objectives. Include potential executive education programmes for future collaboration. • Support cross-programme collaboration. Liaise across UNEP FI’s programmes (e.g. nature, climate, banking, investment, insurance, policy) to surface shared academic interests and help structure outreach accordingly.
• Carry out applied research and drafting. Synthesize findings into presentations, internal notes, and short written outputs, supporting thought leadership or decision-making on potential engagement strategies.
• Provide administrative and coordination support. Track key sources, maintain a research database, monitor academic alerts, and support meeting organization and documentation where relevant.
• Take initiative on a complementary area of interest. As agreed with the supervisor, pursue a complementary research topic or creative project that could benefit UNEP FI’s academic engagement strategy (e.g. a prototype dashboard, visualization, or mini-case study series).

Candidate Profile The candidate should have strong analytical and research skills, ideally with a focus on sustainable finance, environmental economics, political economy, or a related field. They should be completing or have completed a Master’s degree or strong undergraduate degree, with demonstrated ability to work with academic literature and engage with complex concepts. Exposure to sustainable finance and/or financial institutions is a strong asset. Excellent writing, critical thinking, and communication skills in English are required. Familiarity and experience with academic databases, citation tools, or data visualization tools would be an advantage.