Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), New Delhi

Research Intern - Industrial Sustainability and Competitiveness (Carbon Intensity)

Terms of Reference

At CEEW, we are deliberate about what we stand for (and what we don’t stand for!) as an employer. So, if the below description strikes a chord, we would love to hear from you!

We are proud to build careers in public policy and social impact.

• We offer strong visionary leadership – with emphasis on research and impact at scale​
• We actively promote leadership by initiative​
• We celebrate talent and ambition​
• You will be surrounded by smart ambitious people who will challenge you and help you grow​
• You will learn faster than your peers in other organisations​
• Curiosity and irreverence, as well as responsibility, come together at CEEW​
• You will get above-market remuneration​
• We provide a safe space for all​
• At CEEW, your life is your example for others​

Designation offered Research Intern – Carbon Intensity

Reporting to Senior Programme Lead / Research Analyst

Location New Delhi

Duration 3-6 months, extendable upon review

Purpose

The Indian manufacturing industry is at a critical crossroad with headwinds from global competition now being compounded with demand destruction and the imperative to address climate change. The Government of India’s clarion call for an Aatma Nirbhar Bharat needs the manufacturing sector to play a pivotal role. Yet, Indian industry lacks a roadmap to achieve this self-sufficiency and resilience in manufacturing systems while addressing sustainability issues. A critical issue is low efficiency of operations and use of high carbon fuels such as coal and furnace oil. The direct consequence of this is higher carbon footprint of products, vulnerability to border carbon tax in existing export markets, lower competitiveness in new markets with carbon tax, and overall lack of progress on the home front in terms of reducing national emissions in absolute measure.
There is an increasing clamour in the European Union (EU) to not only intensify the targets to reduce GHG emissions, but to partly achieve this through a border carbon tax. The UK despite leaving the EU has committed to go net zero on GHG emissions by 2050 and may well follow the EU way on border carbon tax to keep itself aligned. The U.S. elections this November have brought in a new president committed to the climate change cause and provide critical support for climate change action globally. All these factors will be headwinds to the Indian exporters to these markets. Finally, the Indian government’s announcements to support increased coal mining is a step backwards for the GHG reductions agenda. It is important at this stage to understand the GHG footprint of fuels, power, and industrial output to evaluation options to decarbonise in the Indian context.
There is a need to quantify the GHG footprint of fuels and power into the economy and their resultant impact on GHG footprint of product classes, such as steel, aluminium, automobiles, etc. This can be subsequently used to analyse the impact of internal carbon price or carbon tax on different sectors of the industry. Finally, this analysis can be used to identify various decarbonisation strategies and policies.
We invite interested candidates to take up a challenging assignment, and assist us in achieving one (or more) of the below mentioned tasks:

• Preparing a comprehensive list of current policies and programmes on carbon pricing recently introduced (or planned) by economies across the globe
• Creating a code for input-output linkages of different industry sub-sectors using our in-house data set on Python
• Reviewing secondary sources to fill data gaps in our assessment
• Assisting in other miscellaneous analysis on the input-output matrix for the manufacturing sector in India

Job Duties and Responsibilities

Research

• To conduct both traditional and online secondary research using various external sources including international data sets
• Collecting information and preparing databases on resource mapping, input-output linkages etc.
• Create a code for input-output linkages on Python for assessment
• Conduct literature review, discussion with prominent researchers in this area, and carry field visits (if needed)
• Discuss theoretical approaches to understand an analyse the identified research outcomes
• Map key stakeholders relevant in this domain and reach out to them (if needed)
• Assist team in research and outreach responsibilities
• Writing project report/issue briefs based on conducted research
• Project/programme assistance
• Assist with project implementation, including help with preparing presentations, factsheets and other communication material.
• Support efforts to use new media platforms for wide dissemination of CEEW's work and, in turn, closer engagement with the wider community.
• Participate in weekly team meetings and assist with preparing minutes.
• Accompany the other team members for meetings with other stakeholders; prepare minutes of the meetings and assist with relevant follow up

Selection Criteria

Education and experience

• Enrolled in or completed Bachelor's/Master's degree, preferably in economics
• 0 – 1 year of relevant research experience
• A fair understanding of input-output matrices
• Experience with using Python

Key Skills

• Must have strong research skills – capability to carry out literature review, web-scraping and synthesis is a key requisite, familiarity with research methods is a bonus
• Experience working with programmes such as MS Office, Python etc.
• Willingness to conduct frequent field visits (if COVID situation improves)/meetings with stakeholder
• Willingness to work on multi-disciplinary projects
• Good written and oral communication skills
• Experience in data collection

Personality

• Willingness to learn new research and project management skills.
• Ability to adapt and deliver under tight deadlines in a professional environment.
• Striving for rigour in research and quality in work output.
• Ability to effectively work in a team while being able to independently drive research with minimum assistance, when time demands.\
• Ability and willingness to dig deeper into details, while also keeping a sense of the broader objectives and big picture.
• Willingness to learn, grow and develop at personal and professional front, at a rapid pace with a steep learning curve.
• Ability to work in an interdisciplinary and multicultural environment.

CEEW operates in a dynamic environment and the candidate will be required to show flexibility in undertaking a variety of tasks.

Compensation

Competitive compensation – commensurate to the experience and matching the best of standards adopted by industry or other similar organizations for similar roles.

Application Process

CEEW is an equal opportunity employer and the selection process does not discriminate on the basis of age, gender, ethnicity, religion, or caste. Female candidates are encouraged to apply.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Interested applicants are advised to apply at the earliest possible.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. We appreciate your interest.