Junior Economist for Just Transition

Tags: climate change finance English Environment
  • Added Date: Friday, 22 September 2023
5 Steps to get a job in the United Nations

Program Overview

WRI Indonesia is an independent research organization that works with governments, businesses, multilateral institutions and civil society groups to develop practical solutions that improve peopleโ€™s lives and ensure nature can thrive in Indonesia. We organize our work around five crucial issues: Forest and Land Use, Climate, Energy, Cities and Transportation, and the Ocean. As Indonesia has set an ambitious climate target to achieve Net Zero Emissions by 2060 or sooner, it should be seen as a positive momentum for advancing climate action, and contribute to the global commitment to keep global temperature increase below 1.5ยฐC. In this light, WRI Indonesia seeks to further support the country in meeting and beating its climate commitments in order to ensure successful transition towards low carbon development path.

Just Transition Framework in Indonesia

Just transition has gained its momentum recently, along with Indonesiaโ€™s pledge to achieve the ambitious climate target Net Zero Emissions by 2060 and the Government signal to adopt coal phase out by 2040. The commitment has attracted USD 20 billion funding pledge under the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) launched at the G20 summit in November 2022. It is believed that by transitioning to low carbon and clean energy sources, Indonesia will reap benefit in terms of economic, social, and environmental aspects and achieve sustainable development in the future. However, transition to low carbon and even further to achieve net zero emissions in Indonesia entails challenges, not only in terms of infrastructure and technology, but also substantial economic and social structure, such as potential job losses, workplace, and workforce employability. While research finds that transitioning to clean energy is predicted to create net gain of jobs over the 2021-2025 period (IRENA, 2023), the rapid progress of transition โ€“ in particular on energy and transportation sector โ€“ which have not been followed with clear indicators and equitable principles may further exacerbate existing inequalities and increase unjust situation for some of people.

Within the Just Transition project, WRI Indonesia encourages the importance of people-centered transitions and formulate the evidence-based indicators and framework emphasizing socio-economic aspect at the heart of the transition. With this approach, we need to be able to answer these questions: what is the policy gap in ensuring just transition in Indonesia? what are the methodology and indicators to measure and monitor the socio-economic impact of the transition? How different sectoral ministries, agencies and other key players need to adopt and implement those indicators?

The Just Transition project will analyze the social and economic dimensions of a just transition by developing a set of evidence-based indicators to track just transition at the national and subnational-level focusing on energy and transport sectors, coupled with policy recommendations that can ensure positive progress towards the indicators. Through this program, WRI Indonesia will inform our targeted key decision makers in the government, the private sector, and communities to collaboratively ensure a just transition in Indonesiaโ€™s low carbon development.

Job Highlight

The Junior Economist will support WRI Indonesia just transition program at national and sub-national level by developing high-quality research/ knowledge products and economic analysis of Indonesiaโ€™s transition towards clean energy, sustainable cities and transportation, that are designed to provide needed information to the targeted audiences, and support program management. This person will contribute to the analytical inputs, technical research activities and analysis to advance just transition framework and indicators and should be able to support discrete elements of research projects within the issue with project lead guidance. This position will be based in Jakarta, report directly to the Just Transition Project Lead, Climate Manager, Senior Manager for Research, Development, and Innovation and working closely and collaboratively with the rest of the team within the Climate-Energy-Cities-Ocean deputyship in WRI Indonesia. In conducting He/ she will also need to engage and communicate with WRI Global Office, IOs, national and sub-national government, partners, CSOโ€™s and donors.

What You Will Do

Research (70%)

Recommended for you