NEWS
Working meeting of the WMO Expert Team on Drought
13-15 june 2023, ljubljana, slovenia
Slovenian Environment Agency hosted the WMO Expert Team on Drought, whose task is to create global frameworks, standards and recommendations for national hydrometeorological services and competent institutions in relation to drought monitoring, warning and response. Led by ARSO/Drought Management Centre for Southeastern Europe (DMCSEE), the group consists of agro-/meteorological experts from America, Australia, Austria, Brazil, India, Iran, Senegal, Slovenia, Tunisia and the United Kingdom, as well as representatives from the European Drought Observatory under the EU Joint Research Center (JRC), and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Associate members are also representatives of global and regional initiatives.
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The focus of this working meeting was to form guidelines to strengthen or establish early warning of drought at the national level, and to shape an approach for a comparable classification of drought, taking into account the diversity of countries, their own drought monitoring methods and their individual vulnerability. The purpose of the meeting was also to establish the foundations for integrated drought management and thereby contribute to the global initiative of the United Nations Early Warnings For All - #EW4ALL.
The internal working days ended with a public event "Where is drought? - Global, regional and national approaches", where representatives of the Slovenian Environment Agency, the WMO, the University of Southern Queensland Australia and the EU Joint Research Centre shared their experiences in the field of drought monitoring and forecasting. With this event, the group also commemorated the World Drought Day, which is commemorated on 17 June every year.
The internal working days ended with a public event "Where is drought? - Global, regional and national approaches", where representatives of the Slovenian Environment Agency, the WMO, the University of Southern Queensland Australia and the EU Joint Research Centre shared their experiences in the field of drought monitoring and forecasting. With this event, the group also commemorated the World Drought Day, which is commemorated on 17 June every year.
Study visit of the Armenian experts
30 may - 6 june 2023, ljubljana, slovenia
As a part of the operations of the Drought Management Centre for SE Europe, a week-long study visit was organised at the Slovenian Environment Agency (ARSO) for the experts from the Armenian Hydrometeorological Service. During the study visit to ARSO Department for Meteorological Support to Agriculture, the two visiting experts, a climatologist and an agrometeorologist, acquired knowledge about the ARSO's approach to drought monitoring, calculation of drought indicators, and learnt about operational practice in applied agrometeorology and climatology at ARSO. The visit was financed by the Višegrad Fund project, and ARSO colleagues provided expert assistance through lectures and practical exercises.
Small-scale Drin Basin project
JANUARY-JUNE 2022
With the help of NOAA Funds, Global Water Partnership Central and Eastern Europe (GWP CEE), Drought Management Centre Southeastern Europe (DMCSEE), Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU) and Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences (CzechGlobe) joined together to further empower hydrometeorological institutions in the Drin Basin countries in implementing integrated drought management. The activities built on IDMP concept and enabled the transfer of results achieved in the DriDanube project also to countries outside Danube Basin. Involved in the partnership at the local level were:
- Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment, Kosovo
- Inter-Ministerial Water Council, Kosovo
- Hydrometeorological Institute, Sector of Hydrology and Hydrological Forecasts, Kosovo
- Polytechnic University of Tirana, Institute of GeoSciences, Department of Hydrology, Albania
- Balkan Foundation of Sustainable Development, North Macedonia
- Hydrometeorological Service, North Macedonia
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This capacity-building-oriented project scoped on two tools available in wider region, the Drought Watch tool for harmonised regional drought monitoring, and National Drought Reporting Network for regular and standardized evidence of on-field drought impacts. An important part of the capacity building were several supervision sessions which offered room for open discussions on possibilities for Drought Watch tool for hosting Drin Basin drought-related data, on methods for calculation of drought-related indices and risk assessment, ways to begin establishing National Reporting Networks, as well as on establishing hydrological drought monitoring and its early warning system.
During the final creative workshop, the partnership discussed future prospect and desired direction of partnership activities in the next 3-5 years. The countries have concluded to continue cooperation, recognizing this project was an important kick-start to develop capacities, required to tackle the increasing drought related threads in years to come.
UNCCD 15th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP15)
9-20 May 2022, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
The theme of this COP, "Land. Life. Legacy: From scarcity to prosperity", calls for actions to ensure land, the lifeline on this planet, continues to benefit present and future generations. Land is the bedrock of a healthy, productive society, and COP15 explored links between land and other key sustainability issues. The Conference built on the findings of the 2nd edition of the Global Land Outlook, and aimed at offering a concrete response to the interconnected challenges of land degradation, climate change and biodiversity loss as we step into the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. In the scope of the COP15, also a report Drought in Numbers, 2022 was released to mark the upcoming Drought Day. It calls for making a full global commitment to drought preparedness and resilience in all global regions a top priority. The report creates a compelling call to action. For example:
- Since 2000, the number and duration of droughts has risen by 29 %
- From 1970 to 2019, weather, climate and water hazards accounted for 50% of disasters and 45% of disaster-related deaths, mostly in developing countries
- Droughts represent 15% of natural disasters but took the largest human toll, approximately 650,000 deaths from 1970-2019
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Unless action is stepped up:
- By 2030, an estimated 700 million people will be at risk of being displaced by drought
- By 2040, an estimated one in four children will live in areas with extreme water shortages
- By 2050, droughts may affect over 3/4 of the world’s population, and an estimated 4.8-5.7 billion people will live in areas that are water-scarce for at least one month each year, up from 3.6 billion today. And up to 216 million people could be forced to migrate by 2050, largely due to drought in combination with other factors including water scarcity, declining crop productivity, sea-level rise, and overpopulation
We are at a crossroads. We need to steer toward the solutions rather than continuing with destructive actions, believing that marginal change can heal systemic failure. Needed as well are:
- Sustainable and efficient agricultural management techniques that grow more food on less land and with less water
- Changes in our relationships with food, fodder and fiber, moving toward plant-based diets, and reducing or stopping the consumption of animals
- Concerted policy and partnerships at all levels
- Development and implementation of integrated drought action plans
- Set up effective early-warning systems that work across boundaries
- Regular monitoring and reporting to ensure continuous improvement
- Mobilize sustainable finance to improve drought resilience at the local level
- Invest in soil health
- Work together and include and mobilize farmers, local communities, businesses, consumers, investors, entrepreneurs and, above all, young people
