International Climate Finance Intern (Fordham IPED Students Only)

Overview

NRDC (the Natural Resources Defense Council) works to safeguard the Earth, its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends. NRDC combines the power of more than 3 million members and online activists with the expertise of some 800 policy advocates, lawyers, scientists, and communication experts to confront the climate crisis, protect nature, ensure the rights of all people to clean air, clean water, and healthy communities.  As an international nonprofit environmental organization, NRDC is working to address the world’s most urgent environmental challenges, and advance innovative, science-based, and enforceable solutions.  

  

Since our founding in 1970, NRDC has helped craft and deliver many of America’s foundational environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act. Today, we continue to lead in advancing and defending strong environmental protections at the local, state, federal and international levels, as well as through the marketplace. Our team works across the United States and around the world, from offices in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., as well as in Beijing, and New Delhi (a subsidiary of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd.).  

  

Supported by our members and online activists, NRDC is driving impactful solutions that confront the climate crisis, defend nature and safeguard public health across Asia, Africa, and the Americas. At NRDC, we believe lasting change happens when people bring their talent, passion, and expertise together for a common purpose: to build a cleaner, healthier, and more resilient world. Learn more at nrdc.org

Responsibilities

NRDC's International Climate Team is seeking an International Climate Finance Intern for the Summer 2026 to support our analysis and advocacy around scaling up: (1) the clean electricity finance at the Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs); and (2) the overall international climate finance to meet the 2035 international climate finance targets set by countries at COP29.

The MDB work will include supporting the team in analyzing historic MDB finance to renewable electricity, transmission and distribution systems, energy storage, and energy efficiency. It will also include helping develop benchmarks for each clean electricity category that the MDBs should grow towards in 2030 given the overall international climate finance commitments the MDBs announced and the global clean electricity goals that countries set at COP28 and COP29. 

The work on the overall international climate finance will support the team in tracking multi-year climate finance commitments in support of our Climate Finance Commitments Tracker. It will also include helping build-out more detailed assessments of where and how climate finance needs to grow to meet the 2030 overall climate finance goals and the 2035 adaptation finance goals. 

 

This is a 10-week summer internship opportunity that is only open to graduate students from Fordham's IPED program.  This intern will work with NRDC’s International team in our Washington, D.C. or New York office. 

Qualifications

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE

• Currently a graduate student from Fordham's IPED program.
• Excellent research and writing skills.
• Self-motivation and ability to work efficiently and meet deadlines.
• High proficiency with Microsoft Office, including Word and Outlook.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS   

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position within the described work environment.

 

Frequently: Perform desk-based computer tasks 

Frequently: Ability to interact and communicate with employees and others as necessary 

Frequently:  Attend planned meetings and collaborate with management and coworkers 

Occasionally: Ability to attend events and activities in the office or offsite  

 

Work is sometimes performed primarily in office.  The noise level in the work environment is usually quiet in office settings and moderate in other situations.  Hours of employment may sometimes require working flexible and/or longer hours, including nights and weekends, when necessitated by projects. The job includes work-related situations such as those involving challenging, important, urgent, time-sensitive, or multiple matters.  <