Research

Despite being one of the most vulnerable regions in the world to climate change, funding support for research on climate change in Africa and for African researchers is dismal. The IPCC WG II Sixth Assessment report notes that between 1990 and 2020 only 3.8% of funding globally for research on climate change went to research on Africa and of that 3.8% for research on Africa, 78% of the funding went to research institutes in Europe or north America.

If we are to address Africa’s development needs and protect against climate change, this picture needs to urgently change. Local researchers, with their deep contextual knowledge of the complexities and opportunities need to be at the forefront of building the evidence base around climate change and development in Africa.

The ACF through its grant-making, internal research and the commissioning of work seeks to support this local evidence base. It also endeavors to create and link networks with diverse expertise to enable a holistic and multi-disciplinary approach to climate change and development on the continent.