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TA3.HLO1 - To develop multidisciplinary analyses and indicators of past trends and present state of natural resources use in Europe and its global interdependencies

TA3.HLO3 - To develop information infrastructures and systems (INSPIRE, SEIS, GEOSS, GMES) necessary to share environmental observations, information and analytical models and outcomes and promote interoperability and standard setting as foreseen in the Digital Agenda for Europe and 'Integrated Industrial Policy for the Globalisation Era'.

TA3.HLO4 - Serve the EU's internal and external policies by monitoring environmental situations and conditions, building capacity, encouraging good governance and underpinning EU goals for global environmental stewardship

Drought and desertification are important threats for the environment and society and are most likely to increase under climate change. In recent years, this has been widely recognised and the need for timely information and for the implementation of mitigation measures has triggered action on different political levels. While drought is a natural phenomenon, water scarcity and desertification are coupled human-environment issues where drought is a major natural driver. Action DESERT covers the different aspects of these coupled phenomena from regional to global scales.

The UNCCD Conference of the Parties in Madrid 2007 (COP8) launched a process to reform the implementation of the Convention and especially to strengthen its scientific basis (Decisions 3, 13, and 14/COP(8)). Currently the UNCCD lacks consistent scientific knowledge allowing policy makers to take informed decisions on the basis of facts and figures. In this context, Action DESERT provides scientific and technical support and advice to the Commission, as a signatory of the Convention, in order to strengthen the reform process. To do so, Action DESERT participates in different European and global expert networks on the development of indicators and monitoring systems and is developing a new global atlas and information system on desertification.

Drought and water scarcity are serious threats to natural ecosystems, society, and the economy. While drought describes the natural hazard resulting from the natural variability of water availability, water scarcity refers to long-term imbalances between natural water supply and human demand. As a consequence of recurrent droughts and situations of water scarcity in many parts of Europe, the Commission has issued a Communication to the European Parliament and Council on “Addressing the Challenge of Water Scarcity and Droughts in the European Union” (COM(2007) 414), asking for action on drought monitoring and mitigation throughout Europe. Action DESERT responds to this need by developing the prototype of a European Drought Observatory (EDO) and by providing scientific and technical support to DG Environment and DG Regional Development. In the long run, EDO should become a cornerstone of a Global Drought Early Warning System currently under discussion in the scientific and stakeholder communities.

As Climate Change will most likely exacerbate problems related to desertification and drought in many regions of the world, including Europe, methodologies for monitoring and assessment successfully tested in Europe are transferred to other continents, especially Africa and Latin America, in order to develop a consistent approach at the global scale.

Action DESERT provides a coherent approach to the assessment and monitoring of desertification, land degradation and drought in Europe and globally and addresses the following long-term objectives:

• Provision of scientific and technical support to the implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) under its 10-year Implementation Strategy.
• Development of a new World Atlas and Information System of Desertification.
• Development of benchmarks and indicators for drought and desertification assessment and monitoring.
• Development of a European Drought Observatory.
• Contribution to the development of global Monitoring Networks and Early Warning Systems (EWS) for drought and desertification.
• Training and capacity building in the assessment, monitoring and mitigation strategies for staff and scientists from countries affected by drought and desertification.


Action DESERT supports DG Environment and DG Development and Cooperation – EuropeAid (DEVCO) in the implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). The Action is the main JRC point of contact for desertification-related issues and provides scientific and technical support and advice in response to the priorities and needs identified by the Convention’s stakeholders. The provision of scientifically-based information on the environmental state (biophysical and socio-economic parameters) over large areas as well as on possible degradation trends is important also for other Commission services and international stakeholders.

In the past years, Action DESERT provided state-of-the-art reports on scientific issues and targeted policy recommendations to the Convention bodies and supported the UNCCD Secretariat and more than 50 countries in their reporting tasks, serving as the Regional Reference Centre for the northern Mediterranean countries (Annex 4), the Central and Eastern European Countries (Annex 5), and those countries not linked to a regional annex (e.g., USA, Canada and Hungary). The Action further regularly contributes to the EU Working Party on International Environmental Issues – Desertification.

As a core activity, Action DESERT performs research in monitoring and assessing desertification, land degradation and drought from regional to global scales. The Action works on the selection and improvement of indicators and benchmarks for the assessment and monitoring of desertification and co-ordinates the compilation of a new World Atlas and Information System for Desertification, which will provide a benchmark for global assessments.

In the global context, Action DESERT provides support to international collaboration of DG DEVCO in Latin America (EurocLima Administrative Arrangement), and plays a key role in the DG RTD project on “Improved Drought Early Warning and FORecasting to strengthen preparedness and adaptation to droughts in Africa (DEWFORA)”. While in Latin America the focus is on knowledge transfer and capacity building in monitoring and assessing land degradation and drought, the focus in the African project is on the development of methods and tools, including a pan-African monitoring and forecasting system.

In the European context, the Action supports DG Environment in the implementation of its policies related to drought and water scarcity in Europe and through active contributions in Drought and Water Scarcity-related expert networks. Also here, the DESERT Action serves as the main JRC point of contact for drought related issues.
Responding to the follow-up process of the Communication “Addressing the Challenge of Water Scarcity and Droughts in the European Union” (COM(2007) 414), Action DESERT is developing a prototype of the European Drought Observatory (EDO) for detecting, monitoring, assessing, and forecasting drought at a range of spatial scales and in close collaboration with international, Member State, and regional authorities. At the same time, Action DESERT supports DG Environment in the development of indicators related to drought and water scarcity as a member of the Water Scarcity and Drought Expert Group under the Common Implementation Strategy for the Water Framework Directive (WFD-CIS). The study of water scarcity requires robust socio-economic data and competences. The Action, therefore, seeks collaborations with competent institutions such as the European Environment Agency (EEA) and Eurostat in order to cover the multi-disciplinarity of this topic.

Experiences gained in drought monitoring, assessment and forecasting in Europe are transferred and tested outside of Europe, especially in Africa and Latin America, with the goal to provide consistent information at a global scale and to contribute to a Global Drought Early Warning System.

International Activities with a European Dimension:

• Support to the UNCCD, specifically the two regional annexes covering the Northern Mediterranean countries (Annex IV) and the Central and Eastern European countries (Annex V) as well as the group of European Donor countries.
• Collaboration with the global Desertification Research Community through the DesertNet International network (http://www.european-desertnet.eu/).
• Collaboration with the Environmental Agency of Slovenia (EARS). EARS hosts the Drought Management Centre for South-East Europe (DMCSEE), established by the UNCCD and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).
• Collaboration with EU Member States on the development of the European Drought Observatory through the Water Scarcity & Drought Expert Group (WS&D EG) under the Common Implementation Strategy for the Water Framework Directive.
• Collaboration with the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) through R&D on drought products, including the use of meteorological ensemble forecasts.
• Collaboration with institutions and stakeholders throughout Europe in the frame of the EuroGEOSS project and the Preparatory Action on the Climate in the Carpathian Region.


International Activities outside Europe:

• Development of the new World Atlas on Desertification with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and a global network of experts.
• Collaboration with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the Group on Earth Observations (GEO), the U.S National Drought Mitigation Centre (NDMC) and other stakeholders on the development of a Global Drought Monitoring and Early Warning System.
• Contributing to the Work Programme 2012-2015 of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO), especially in the field of global drought monitoring and forecasting.
• Collaboration with the UNCCD Secretariat and the UNCCD Committee on Science and Technology to provide scientific and technological input on monitoring and assessing desertification and drought from national to global scales.
• Collaboration with a wide range of institutions and stakeholders on drought and desertification related issues in Africa and Latin America in the frame of the DEWFORA research project and the EuroCLIMA collaborative agreement.
• Support to DG DEVCO with a focus on the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries as well as Latin America.
• Contribution to the implementation of the EU-African Union strategic partnerships on “Science, Information Society and Space” and on “Climate Change”.
• Training and capacity building activities targeted to experts from ACP countries, Latin America and South Eastern Europe.