Message from the director
As 2025 draws to a close, it is clear that this has been a year of consolidation, connection, and influence for the Africa Research and Impact Network (ARIN). Across our programmes, partnerships, and platforms, we have worked to ensure that African-led evidence does not remain confined to reports or pilot projects, but informs decisions in the policy, financing, and implementation spaces where climate outcomes are shaped.
A central pillar of our work in 2025 was advancing accountability in climate adaptation. Through the Locally Led Adaptation Metrics for Africa (LAMA) initiative and the Accountable Adaptation programme, ARIN collaborated with communities, researchers, and policymakers to interrogate what adaptation success looks like in practice. This work directly informed Africa’s engagement with the Global Goal on Adaptation, reinforcing the need for indicators that are grounded in context, responsive to inequality, and meaningful to the communities they are intended to serve.
Equally important was ARIN’s role as a cross-sector convener. In October, ARIN co-led the Pan-African Conference on Environment, Climate Change and Health in Nairobi with national ministries, research institutions, and regional partners. Bringing together researchers, policymakers, donors, community actors, and the private sector, the conference strengthened science-to-policy pathways and elevated African climate–health evidence, underscoring the urgency of integrated approaches to resilience, public health, and environmental sustainability.
ARIN continued this convening role through regional roundtables on adaptation effectiveness, the BioCAM4 Workshop in Kakamega on nature based climate actions, and a range of technical dialogues linking climate, biodiversity, and human well-being. These were not symbolic gatherings, but working spaces that produced methodologies, evidence compendia, and policy-relevant insights.
At the global level, ARIN’s participation in COP30 was the culmination of sustained pre-COP engagement, including SB62 in Bonn, regional summits, and the LAMA Pre-COP Webinar Series. These efforts ensured that Africa arrived at COP30 not as a passive recipient of global frameworks but as a contributor with evidence, clarity, and coordinated positions on adaptation, urban resilience, and climate finance.
The year also marked a significant investment in African knowledge systems. The launch of the ARIN Publishing Academy, in partnership with Taylor & Francis, reflects our long-term commitment to strengthening African-led scholarship, enhancing research integrity, and ensuring that African evidence is presented with credibility and influence on global knowledge platforms.
Across emerging areas such as AI for climate resilience, climate–health governance, urban adaptation, and climate finance, ARIN continued to test new ideas while remaining anchored in ethics, equity, and local ownership. Our partnerships with universities, governments, research institutions, and international networks expanded both the scale and depth of our work.
None of this progress would have been possible without the trust and collaboration of our partners, funders, fellows, researchers, and community actors. 2025 demonstrated that when evidence is co-produced, when convening is purposeful, and when African institutions lead with clarity, meaningful influence follows.
As we look ahead, ARIN remains committed to advancing locally led adaptation, strengthening accountable climate action, and ensuring that African evidence continues to inform policy, finance, and practice across the continent and beyond.
Africa is not just adapting. Africa is defining the future of adaptation.
~Dr. Joanes Atela
2025 at a Glance: Flagship Highlights
- Launched the ARIN Publishing Academy in partnership with Taylor & Francis to strengthen African scholarship and research integrity
- Led continental conversations on AI, adaptation effectiveness, and climate–health governance
- Advanced African priorities within the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) ahead of and during COP30
- Participated in COP30 in Belém, Brazil, positioning African evidence in global negotiations Released flagship evidence, including the Africa State of Evidence: Climate & Health
- Convened stakeholders across policymakers, researchers, and communities to ensure adaptation works where it matters most