Research & Partnerships Intern

Position description

About The Global Covenant of Mayors For Climate & Energy
 
The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM or Global Covenant), is a global coalition of cities and local governments with a shared long-term vision of promoting and supporting voluntary action to combat climate change and move to a low-carbon, resilient society. The alliance unites and inspires its stakeholders to strengthen global climate coherence, accelerate the energy transition, and generate locally-tailored solutions for a common purpose: creating an inclusive, just, low-emission, and climate-resilient future for all.

 

Co-chaired by former New York City Mayor and UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Ambition and Solutions, Michael R. Bloomberg, and European Commission Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, and with the support of global and regional city networks, the Global Covenant of Mayors represents the strongest and clearest signal to national governments that cities are not only acting to stop the effects of climate change, they are leading and leading together. Mayors from across all global regions serve on the Board, and represent city networks, Regional Covenants and bring locally specific perspectives – ensuring that the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy is truly led by mayors.

 

About C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group

 

C40 is a network of nearly 100 mayors of the world’s leading cities, who are working to deliver the urgent action needed right now to confront the climate crisis, and create a future where everyone, everywhere can thrive. Mayors of C40 cities are committed to using a science-based and people-focused approach to help the world limit global heating to 1.5°C and build healthy, equitable and resilient communities. Through a Global Green New Deal, mayors are working alongside a broad coalition of representatives from labour, business, the youth climate movement and civil society to go further and faster than ever before.

 

C40’s team of 400+ staff is based in offices in London, in New York, Johannesburg, Singapore, Delhi, Rio de Janeiro, Copenhagen, Beijing and Paris, and individual staff based across 25+ different locations.

 

The strategic direction of the organisation is determined by an elected Steering Committee of C40 mayors, which is chaired by Mayor Sadiq Khan of London and Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr of Freetown. Three-term Mayor of New York City Michael R. Bloomberg serves as President of the C40 Board of Directors, responsible for operational oversight. A regionally diverse management team, led by Executive Director Mark Watts, leads the day-to-day management of C40. C40’s three core strategic funders are Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation and Realdania.

 

Our international staff work with the C40 network under the leadership of city governments to deliver this mission. Using a data-driven approach, our team identifies and promotes the exchange of proven programmes and policies developed by cities; provides world-class research, technical expertise and access to key partners to deliver new programmes and policies with cities; and communicates cities’ individual achievements and collective leadership.

 

Diversity Statement

C40 is committed to supporting and promoting equity and diversity and creating an inclusive working environment for everyone. We believe that when people with different life experiences are involved in decision-making, we deliver better. 

 

We believe having a diverse workforce ensures we connect better with all the different communities and people affected by the climate crisis. This enables us to make better decisions which lead to better outcomes in the work we do through increased creativity, productivity, greater global impact alongside a broader perspective and approach to our work.

 

We welcome applicants that are diverse in terms of age, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, ethnicity and perspective. Our goal is for C40 to be an environment where everyone, from any background, can flourish and can be themselves whilst contributing to our mission. If you identify as a person with a disability, we work to provide reasonable appropriate measures and any additional support needed to provide an equitable working experience. If you are living with a disability, chronic illness or neurodiversity please inform us, to provide you with the proper assistance in the application process.

 

C40 promotes a work culture where staff can input to improve equity, diversity and inclusion through staff-led groups and formal forums. We know that creating our ideal working environment is a learning process and we are committed to the ongoing effort.

 

Department Description

The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM) is the world’s largest alliance for city climate leadership with a shared long-term vision of promoting and supporting voluntary action to combat climate change and move to a low-carbon, resilient society, based on the following core principles:

• Local Governments are Key Contributors: The Global Covenant works to organise and mobilise cities and local governments to be active contributors to a global climate solution
• City Networks as Critical Partners: Local, regional and global city networks are core partners, serving as the primary support for participating cities or regions
• A Robust Solution Agenda: Focusing on those sectors where cities have the greatest impact, the Global Covenant supports ambitious, locally relevant solutions, captured through strategic action plans that are registered, implemented and monitored and publicly available
• Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Fostering Local Climate Resilience: The Global Covenant emphasises the importance of both climate change mitigation and adaptation as well as universal access to clean energy
• A Locally Tailored and Globally Coherent Alliance: Driven by the efforts of cities, local governments, and regions, the Global Covenant of Mayors works to facilitate regional adaptation to meet local level needs and ambitions under one united, all-encompassing vision.

Position Description:

This position sits with the Climate Action Innovation, Research and Impact Team of the GCoM Global Secretariat. The successful candidate will work with a dynamic team to structure solutions to synthesise disparate information into programmatic insights and be capable of managing multiple projects and workflows with remote teams working across different time zones and cultural contexts.

 

The intern will provide day-to-day support to help coordinate activities across the Secretariat and support effective workflows and processes required to deliver on GCoM workplan priorities from a project management perspective.  

 

The successful candidate will also support event planning and logistical coordination for both virtual and in-person engagements across multiple time zones. The ideal candidate will have excellent analytical and organisational skills, and the ability to draft memoranda, presentations, and analysis on programmatic aspects of GCoM activity for senior leadership use.

 

Responsibilities: 

• Support the measurement of impact and growth of partnerships across the GCoM alliance, including: 
  • Regularly updating and tracking partnership progress within GCoM systems, contributing to accurate data input, deadlines, and milestones.
  • Attending engagements, recording action items, and supporting next steps relevant to priority partnerships within GCoM systems.
  • Contributing to the analysis of impactful GCoM partnerships and their implementation, identifying insights to support the drafting of GCoM strategy assets.
• Support logistical and administrative coordination for partnership meetings, events, workshops, and bilateral discussions with national governments, subnational actors, and multilateral institutions.
• Coordinate inputs and draft content for high-level briefings, presentations, speeches, and strategic communications for global events and stakeholder engagements.
• Support the development of the GCoM publication on ‘Rapidly Urbanising Intermediary Cities’ in close collaboration with the Director of Strategy and relevant colleagues, ensuring deliverables are timely and aligned with the agreed scope.
• Compile a set of city case studies from various GCoM publications to further develop the GCoM Resource Library - highlighting the central role of cities in climate action and multilevel governance.
• Support the development of a finance and multi-level governance focused chapter in the forthcoming Innovate4Cities Book, coordinating inputs from contributing authors.
• Provide ad hoc support for cross-organizational collaboration between C40 Cities,  GCoM , and external partners.
• Where required, support the GCoM team in relation to the planning and delivery of major events (such as COP30) - whether virtual, in-person, or hybrid – in collaboration with global and regional organisations. 
• Support other internal GCoM processes and perform additional duties as requested, within the framework of this role.

Person Specification:

• Current Masters or PhD student studying in relevant disciplines such as  public policy, environmental engineering/sciences/planning, architecture, political science or urban planning, desirable. 
• Proven research skills and analytical abilities, demonstrated in past work such as analytical reports, university assignments and/or published papers.
• Experience with external and internal communications and event organisation.
• Administrative skills and experience, including coordination across multiple teams or stakeholders.
• Knowledge of climate change policy and/or urban planning is a plus.
• Excellent analytical thinking and proactive approach to problem-solving.
• High level of accuracy and attention to detail, with the ability to deliver quality results within tight timeframes.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills. Excellent written and spoken English is a requirement. Additional language skills are encouraged.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to engage professionally with stakeholders at all levels, both internally and with partner organisations.
• Highly organised, with the ability to successfully plan, manage and execute multiple tasks on a day to day basis.
• Relevant government, business, research and/or NGO sector experience is desirable, preferably with a focus on sustainability, environment, and/or climate.

Other Requirements:

Applicants must already have the right to work in Belgium. Some travel may be required as part of the role.

 

Reporting To: Senior Manager, Partnerships and Stakeholder Engagement - GCoM.

Term: Fixed Term Contract until 30th November 2025

 

Location: Brussels

 

Salary: (Intern) EUR 31,500 (gross per annum)

 

Application instructions

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