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Job Title: Atkinson Intern, Climate & Health Policy Innovation
Program/Department: Climate and Health Initiative, U.S. Region

Job Description: EDF offers internships and fellowships for students and recent graduates in a variety of programs and departments throughout the organization. The ultimate goal of our internship and fellowship program is to provide high-quality experiences (including relevant projects and opportunities for networking) that form the foundation for any individual who is serious about pursuing an environmental career.

Program/Department Overview: Climate and Health Initiative, U.S. Region

Human health is inextricably linked to the environment in which we live. Health disparities, exacerbated by exposures due to fossil-fuel-burning energy sources, are tied to entrenched inequities and injustices. These disparities have grown deeper as extreme weather events and impacts from climate change have become more frequent and severe. As the U.S. gears up to meet global climate commitments and readies itself to implement an ambitious domestic agenda, it is critical that local and regional climate policies throughout the country address the pressing and interrelated issues of emissions mitigation, climate adaptation, and equity through the lens of health. By directing resources to solutions at the nexus of climate and health, we can address longstanding environmental injustices that have led to pervasive health disparities, with low-wealth communities of color bearing a disproportionate burden resulting from those inequities. EDF’s Climate and Health Initiative works to develop and deploy robust, widely applicable climate, health, and equity solutions, with the goal of achieving improved and more equitable health outcomes, reduced climate risk, and better economic opportunities for residents of the locations in which we work. Our work leverages the best available science at the nexus of climate and health and applies those insights in partnership with communities and local governments seeking to adapt to a changing climate, prioritizing durable climate and health solutions that address longstanding community concerns through rigorous policies that support health, resilience, and prosperity for all.

Overall Function: The Local and Regional Policy Innovation fellow will support EDF’s Climate and Health initiative. The fellow will develop a report identifying best practices for how local governments can take action to address major threats to climate and health in their communities, identify opportunities as well as barriers/ challenges to implementing these actions, and provide recommendations to promote adoption of the most effective strategies in climate-vulnerable locations. The fellow will report to the Senior Policy Manager, Climate and Health, and will have access to a wide array of expertise in this field on the Climate and Health team, as well as other collaborating EDF initiatives.