International Environmental Law Summer Clerkship

The Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development (IGSD) is seeking 2024 summer clerks to support its effort to ensure fast cuts to the non-carbon dioxide climate pollutants and other fast climate mitigation strategies to slow near-term warming and self-amplifying climate feedback. These strategies include cutting climate “super pollutants,” such as methane and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and protecting and enhancing carbon sinks. Fast mitigation strategies are essential to limiting warming and must complement long-term decarbonization and carbon- removal efforts. The IGSD team is active throughout the world advancing and implementing laws, policies, and related actions that will keep the world from crashing through the 1.5oC guardrail for a safe planet.

Based remotely, clerks will have the opportunity to work with experienced attorneys, economists, and scientists on a variety of international environmental law and policy issues. Examples of IGSD’s work that clerks might work on this summer include:

• Working with partners to improve climate governance and policies related to fast mitigation.
• Researching novel legal theories and strategies, to support IGSD’s international climate litigation portfolio. IGSD brings the fast mitigation focus to climate litigation efforts and supports litigants around the world who are bringing cases to compel fast and more aggressive action on climate change.
• Assisting with preparation for international treaty meetings, including the Montreal Protocol and the UNFCCC.
• Advancing legal and scientific thinking on key climate proposals. IGSD actively publishes law reviews, scientific articles, primers, and other background notes. See recent publications by IGSD.

Basic Qualifications

• Excellent writing, research, footnoting, and editing skills
• Demonstrated commitment to climate and environmental progress
• Strong references
• Strong work ethic and experience working under pressure, individually and in diverse teams
• Innovative approaches to solving complex problems

Preferred Qualifications

• Legislative drafting or international law experience
• Foreign language skills

Education Qualifications

• JD candidates, ideally 2L or higher.
• LLM candidates with strong English writing, reading, and research skills. Added plus if candidates have relevant work experience.

To apply, please send a cover letter, resume, and writing sample to Madelyn Zuckerman at mzuckerman@igsd.org.