Understanding and managing drought risks, from exposure and vulnerability to impacts and adaptation

Convener: Davide Cotti | Co-conveners: Mariana Madruga de BritoECSECS, Shahana BilalovaECSECS, Letícia Santos de Lima

“Severe”, “creeping”, “multisectoral”, “widespread”, “complex”: drought risks and impacts are diverse and disruptive at all latitudes, creating direct and cascading effects for people, sectors and ecosystems. Drought risks and impacts emerge from the interplay of multiple hazards (e.g. precipitation deficits, low flows, flash droughts, snow droughts, etc.), direct and indirect exposures, and diverse dimensions of vulnerability (e.g. social, environmental, infrastructural, etc.). This complexity is further amplified by the fact that drought risks and impacts propagate across temporal and spatial scales, driven by human actions and decisions (e.g., water use and demand) and by interconnected systems (e.g., food production and trade, energy production, navigation, etc.), ultimately contributing to globally networked risks.
As we enter a future of shifting patterns of water availability, growing water uses and demands, and evolving societal and environmental vulnerabilities, do we fully understand the extent of drought risks and impacts (including their drivers, root causes, trends and dynamics)? And to what extent does this understanding translate into prospective and systemic solutions? This session aims to advance our knowledge of how systemic drought risks emerge and manifest (especially for the most vulnerable), and to inform pathways for drought risk management and adaptation. We invite contributions that connect science, policy, and practice to:
i) deepen our understanding of the systemic nature of drought vulnerability, risks and impacts, including their root causes and social dimensions such as equity and justice;
ii) showcase new methodological approaches for the assessment and monitoring of drought risks (including Impact-based EWS or forecasting) and impacts (including impact data collection);
iii) explore innovative approaches for comprehensive and systemic drought risk management and adaptation, including governance systems that can anticipate, coordinate across scales and sectors, and adapt to systemic drought risks..
We welcome perspectives from socio-hydrology, hydrosocial studies, behavioral science, disaster risk management, social sciences, and adaptation, and we encourage case studies from all regions, especially Global South, less represented geographical contexts and differential vulnerabilities.