Droughts have a major impact on almost all regions and many critical sectors in the EU, and climate change will exacerbate these drought risks, prompting several EU Member States to implement or further develop drought management and adaptation plans and measures.

To support this objective, the European Drought Impact Database (EDID) establishes operational conventions and procedures for the collection and categorization of drought impact data. For the first time, the European Drought Risk Atlas offers a detailed and regionally disaggregated view of drought risk in different but interconnected systems using impact chains and quantitative risk analyzes for the different affected systems.

There remains a need to build a community of practice on drought impacts and risks. The EU Network of Drought Observatories provides technical and scientific support to further collect and analyze data on the impact of drought and produces tailored sectoral and regionally disaggregated drought risk assessments. These initiatives represent an urgently needed first step in the transition from a mostly hazard-based drought risk assessment to a more impact-based assessment, as the EU develops plans and implements measures to become more resilient and adapt to the risk posed by droughts. and water scarcity in the current climate and in the future. (More on publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu)