Environmental Law Specialist at United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Task description
Under the direct supervision of the Head of the International Environmental Law Unit, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

• Support one or more areas of international environmental law such as environ-mental rule of law, the progressive development of international environmental law, human rights and the environment, plastic pollution, oceans and the law of the sea, rights of nature and environmental crime.
• Assist in providing legal advice on diverse substantive and procedural questions of considerable complexity, which may include those related to environmental justice and the sustainable management of natural resources through the rule of law, institutions support, capacity building, etc.
• Assist in contributing to and promoting interagency initiatives such as the Secre-tary-General’s Call to Action for Human Rights, the Environmental Management Group, etc.
• Perform extensive legal research and analysis in the field of international environmental law and correspondence.
• Assist in performing UNEP’s roles and functions as Secretariat under the Monte-video Programme V – a global program on supporting countries to advance environmental rule of law - including the management of the Law and Environment Assistance Platform (LEAP), the servicing of meetings, preparation of back-ground documents, and preparing meeting reports.
• Review, advise on and draft complex contracts, cooperation agreements, project documents, institutional and operational modalities.
• Contribute to review and design of emerging legal principles, policies, guidelines, etc.
• Perform other relevant duties as assigned.

Furthermore, UN Volunteers are required to:

• Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day).
• Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country.
• Reflect on the type and quality of voluntary action that they are undertaking, including participation in ongoing reflection activities.
• Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.
• Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly arrived UN Volunteers.
• Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering, or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible

Requirements

Required experience

• 3 years of experience in environmental law or environmental governance. Prior experience at the international level is advantageous