EU Warns Water Scarcity and Drought Are 'Already Threatening Lives' Across Europe and Beyond

The European Union has warned that drought and water scarcity are no longer distant risks but a present danger, with one senior official declaring that the crisis is 'already' affecting lives across the continent and beyond.

The warning came as the bloc called for stronger global action to restore degraded land and protect water resources at the 17th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP17), which opened this week in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, and runs until 28 August.

Why Europe's Water Crisis Is Already Here and Getting Worse

Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy Jessika Roswall said Europe's latest heatwave was proof the crisis had arrived. 'This summer is another powerful reminder that drought and water scarcity are not distant threats,' she said.

'They are already threatening lives, health, economies and ecosystems in the EU and beyond,' Roswall added. She said the bloc needed to change its approach entirely. 'We need to move from managing drought emergencies to building resilience before crises hit,' she said, adding that restoring land and managing water sustainably were 'essential parts of that effort'.

Already, 13 EU member states have declared themselves affected parties under the UNCCD, a convention that spans 197 parties worldwide and has operated since 1994. The EU noted that Europe is warming faster than any other continent, with extreme heat and low rainfall straining water supplies, agriculture, energy production and river transport.

From Mongolia's Lost Livestock to $300BN Annual Losses

The EU's warning lands against a backdrop of a much larger global crisis. According to UN News, 40 per cent of the world's land is currently facing degradation and drought, threatening the livelihoods of 3.2 billion people.

UN Executive Yasmine Fouad, speaking ahead of COP17, said land underpins nearly everything societies depend on. She described the issues as no longer 'distant environmental concerns', warning they are 'already affecting the food we produce, the water we depend on, the resilience of our economies and the ability of communities to build secure futures'.

The financial toll is already measurable. Degradation and drought are costing the global economy close to $900 billion every year, with droughts alone, which have risen by almost a third since 2000, responsible for an estimated $300 billion in annual losses.

Mongolia, the host nation, illustrates how severe the crisis can become. Around one third of Mongolians depend on pastoralism, yet nearly 77 per cent of the country's land is now degraded. In 2023 and 2024 alone, Mongolian farmers lost more than seven million livestock to severe summer droughts followed by extreme winters.

Rangelands, which provide close to 70 per cent of the world's livestock feed, are also under strain. Around two billion people rely on them for food, making their degradation a direct threat to global food supplies.

The $278BN Question of Who Pays for Land Restoration

Both the EU and UN framed private investment as central to closing the gap between what is needed and what is being spent. An estimated $355 billion is required annually for land restoration and resilience building, yet current investment sits at just $77 billion, leaving a shortfall of $278 billion.

The private sector currently contributes only around six per cent of global funding in this area, despite depending heavily on stable land and water supplies. The EU said it would work through its Global Gateway initiative to support projects such as Africa's Great Green Wall, while promoting the use of Copernicus satellite data to track drought conditions worldwide.

For UK readers, the EU's warning is not abstract. Water scarcity and land degradation in Europe have direct knock-on effects for food prices, agricultural imports and energy costs that reach British households and businesses.

As COP17 continues in Mongolia, decisions over funding commitments and drought resilience frameworks will determine whether governments move from pledges to measurable action or whether the $278 billion finance gap identified by both the EU and UN continues to widen.