“There are some years that allow risk to be observed from a distance. Then there are others, such as 2025, where risk shifts in form before our eyes: it swells in the seasons that no longer follow expected patterns, and it weaves itself into overlapping crises, changeable geopolitical contexts, fragile territories and decisions that must be taken quickly and responsibly”.
These are the opening words of the message by President Luca Ferraris introducing the 2025 Annual Report of CIMA Research Foundation, published online in recent days. It is a narrative that retraces a year in which climate, humanitarian, and environmental risks increasingly revealed how deeply interconnected global phenomena have become, and how the ability to anticipate them depends on turning scientific knowledge into concrete action.
“CIMA Research Foundation has continued doing what it sees as necessary: turning knowledge into capabilities to guide action ‒ at both local and global levels ‒ thus strengthening the connection between knowledge and response, between early warning and early action.”
Where risk becomes reality
Throughout 2025, CIMA Research Foundation worked in some of the world’s most fragile contexts, where climate crises and geopolitical instability overlap. In Port Sudan, together with the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI), and the Italian Civil Protection Department, the Foundation contributed to the operational activities of the Situation Room of the National Civil Defence Council, supporting analytical and decision-making capacities amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis.
This experience is part of the broader AMHEWAS pathway and the Early Warning for All initiative, through which CIMA Research Foundation continues to strengthen multi-hazard early warning systems across the African continent. It is within this framework that Africa Drought Watch was also developed together with the African Union Commission, to monitor and anticipate drought conditions at the continental scale.
“There can be no effective risk management without a multi-risk perspective and significant investment in institutional capacity,” Ferraris observes.
This vision also underpins the activities carried out in Mozambique through the Ready2Act project, the programmes focused on water resource governance in Ethiopia and Vietnam, and the collaborations developed in the Horn of Africa and Burkina Faso, where early warning is built as a concrete capacity for preparedness, coordination, and response.
Understanding a changing climate
2025 was also a year of observation and research on the impacts of climate change. From the increasingly fragile relationship between snow, drought, and extreme precipitation to the study of mountain systems and the water cycle, CIMA Research Foundation continued working to understand how climate change is reshaping natural systems and the relationship between environment and society.
“We analysed how the climate is fundamentally reshaping the way natural systems work, especially in mountain regions ctioning of natural systems,” writes Ferraris, describing work that spans the Alps, major international river basins, and satellite applications dedicated to Earth observation.
Alongside its international activities, the Foundation continued operating in Italy as a Competence Centre of the National Civil Protection Service and within projects such as RETURN, NBFC, and RAISE, focused on climate resilience, biodiversity, artificial intelligence, and critical infrastructures.
Yet the message running throughout the entire Annual Report is ultimately another one: risk is not merely a technical issue. “It is also cultural, social, and institutional,” Ferraris concludes. “Risk is a reality that needs to be understood, communicated and governed together.”
The 2025 Annual Report of CIMA Research Foundation is available online here.