This brochure highlights the impact of current droughts as well as presenting projections for the future. It strongly suggests that overcoming the prevailing paradigm of ‘reactive’ and ‘crisis-based’ approaches to drought and moving towards ‘proactive’ and ‘risk-based’ approaches will be indispensable to reducing the risks and mitigating the impacts of droughts, floods and other extreme weather events. It explains how, against this backdrop, the UNCCD is ramping up its work on drought and water scarcity issues at large.