‘Slow-moving global catastrophe’: UN report urges greater action for drought resilience

Escalating droughts demand global cooperation and drastic changes to our water and agricultural practices – or the ripple effects could be devastating, warns a new UN report.

Some of the worst and most widespread drought events in recorded history have happened since 2023 as climate change and pressure on land and water resources accelerate. This is the conclusion of the latest Drought Hotspots Around the World report published this week by the U.S. National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC) and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

The report quantifies the impacts of drought events in Africa, the Mediterranean, Latin America and Southeast Asia over the past two years: 43,000 drought-linked deaths in Somalia, over 90 million people in Eastern and Southern Africa facing acute hunger, failing staple crops in Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi, the doubling of the price of olive oil in Spain, shrinking sheep populations in Morocco, sinkholes in Turkey, mass death of fish and dolphins in the Amazon basin, Panama Canal disruptions leading to food price increases, and more. 

“Drought is a silent killer. It creeps in, drains resources, and devastates lives in slow motion. Its scars run deep,” said UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw: “Drought is no longer a distant threat. It is here, escalating, and demands urgent global cooperation. When energy, food, and water all go at once, societies start to unravel. That’s the new normal we need to be ready for.”

‘Canaries in the coal mine’

According to the study’s author, Mediterranean countries are like “canaries in the coal mine”, giving the world a glimpse of the water, food and energy struggles to which all countries will soon be vulnerable.

“This is not a dry spell,” said Dr. Mark Svoboda, report co-author and NDMC Director. "This is a slow-moving global catastrophe, the worst I've ever seen. This report underscores the need for systematic monitoring of how drought affects lives, livelihoods, and the health of the ecosystems that we all depend on. No country, regardless of wealth or capacity, can afford to be complacent.”

A recent OECD report also estimated that a drought episode today costs the economy at least twice as much as in 2000, and projected a further 35% to 110% increase by 2035. “Ripple effects can turn regional droughts into global economic shocks,” said Cody Knutson, who oversees NDMC drought planning research. “No country is immune when critical water-dependent systems start to collapse.”

Human and economic costs of droughts

Women, children, the elderly, pastoralists, subsistence farmers, and people with chronic illness are among the most affected by severe drought, with health risks including cholera outbreaks, acute malnutrition, dehydration, and exposure to polluted water.

In Eastern Africa, Zimbabwe and the Amazon, children lost access to school due to drought, with more girls being forced into child marriage and women facing sanitation issues.

Deputy Executive Secretary of UNCCD Andrea Meza added: “The report shows the deep and widespread impacts of drought in an interconnected world: from its rippling effects on price of basic commodities like rice, sugar and oil from Southeast Asia and the Mediterranean; to disruptions in access to drinking water and food in the Amazon due to low river levels, to tens of millions affected by malnutrition and displacement across Africa." 

“The evidence is clear. We must urgently invest in sustainable land and water management, nature-based solutions, adapted crops, and integrated public policies to build our resilience to drought – or face increasing economic shocks, instability and forced migration.”