Focus area: Resilience

No region is immune to drought, but all countries can prepare to better withstand its impacts.

• Droughts are hitting more often and harder all over the world –up by 29 per cent since 2000 – driven or amplified by climate change but also the way we manage our land. Sustainable land management is the key to building resilience to drought.
• Building resilience for both women and men is essential to reduce the high human, social and economic costs of drought—from impacts on food, water and energy security to displacement and conflict.
• Investing in drought resilience is one of the most cost-effective actions countries and regions can take, with returns of up to 10 times the initial investment.
• The International Drought Resilience Alliance (IDRA) is a coalition of 36 countries and 28 international organizations that aims to change how the world tackles the growing drought risks. COP16 will be an opportunity to further expand and strengthen IDRA.
• At COP16, countries are set to come together to reach a collective agreement on how to tackle worsening droughts in an inclusive way, so that the communities most affected can contribute their ingenuity, and to catalyze new investments in drought resilience.