University of Bonn, J. Atela has 15+ years of experience in research, negotiations and technical support to African governments in natural resource management and climate change mitigation and adaptation. J. Atela was Director of Partnerships at the African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS) and Coordinator of the Nairobi Risk Hub under UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)-funded Tomorrow’s Cities. They led ACTS’ Climate Resilience Economies Programme, ranked third globally and the best in Africa in research and policy influence by the 2016 International Center for Climate Governance think tank rankings. J. Atela’s co-authored peer-reviewed papers (e.g., [17,31,32,33,34,35]) include a chapter on the Global Affairs Canada Au Courant journal on climate finance, and a chapter led by S. Chan in the State and Trends in Adaptation Report 2021[36]. J. Atela leads policy engagements in Africa and internationally, including the High-level Lead for the African Union’ Green Innovation Framework and Kenya’s first National Innovation Outlook (2022) and has extensive experience in UNFCCC COPs. J. Atela is a member of UKRI’s Global Challenge Research Fund Strategic Advisory Group, Stockholm 50+ Scientific Advisory Panel, and a Council member for the Elsevier Sustainable Development Resource Centre. J. Atela is a co-PI and serves as regional co-lead (Africa) in Work Package 2.