European drought risk atlas

This Drought Risk Atlas is an effort to better understand, estimate and map drought risks in the EU. In particular, it attempts to characterise how drought hazard, exposure and vulnerability drivers interact and affect different systems, notably: agriculture, public water supply, energy, river transportation and terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. Next to presenting hotspots of drought risk for these different systems under current climate conditions, this Drought Risk Atlas also provides insights into how risks may change in relation to different projected climate conditions.

As shown in this atlas, droughts can have diverse and wide-ranging impacts. As such, the authors recommend taking a systemic, cross-sectoral approach when it comes to assessing and managing drought risks, focusing on addressing both water availability and needs (including policies to reduce competition across sectors).