‘The next pandemic’: drought is a hidden global crisis, UN says

Countries urged to take urgent action on managing water and land and tackling the climate emergency

Drought is a hidden global crisis that risks becoming the next pandemic" if countries do not take urgent action on water and land management and tackling the climate emergency, the UN has said.

At least 1.5 billion people have been directly affected by drought this century, and the economic cost over roughly that time has been estimated at $124bn (89bn). The true cost is likely to be many times higher because such estimates do not include much of the impact in developing countries, according to a report published on Thursday.