All publications and documents

There are valuable lessons to be learned from drought risk management around the world for the SADC region. Nations and regional governments must improve their drought monitoring and early warning systems. A better drought plan must consider risk assessments at all levels, from the community level to the regional level, to achieve better vulnerability and risk/impact assessments at the national…

Climate tipping points are conditions beyond which changes in a part of the climate system become self-perpetuating. These changes may lead to abrupt, irreversible, and dangerous impacts with serious implications for humanity. Armstrong McKay et al. present an updated assessment of the most important climate tipping elements and their potential tipping points, including their temperature…

National drought plans are important instruments to support the transition to proactive drought management. Over 70 countries have developed national drought plans under the Drought Initiative of the UNCCD. This new publication from FAO draws on the results of the assessment of the validated and published plans. It contributes to multiple objectives, including the presentation of a…

The fifteenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) took place from 9 to 20 May 2022 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. The theme of COP15 was Land. Life. Legacy: From scarcity to prosperity. COP15 discussed sustainable solutions for land restoration and drought resilience, with a strong focus…

Water availability plays a critical role in shaping terrestrial ecosystems, particularly in low- and mid-latitude regions. The sensitivity of vegetation growth to precipitation strongly regulates global vegetation dynamics and their responses to drought, yet sensitivity changes in response to climate change remain poorly understood. Here we use long-term satellite observations combined with a…

Preparing for future drought impacts may require communities to adopt mitigation actions through local planning processes. Local planners may prefer to address drought through water and hazard plans, but land use plans and standalone plans may also be important tools for effective mitigation where drought poses a threat. Some of the barriers that planners face may be reduced through experience…