56. The Creeping Paralysis of Drought

In the latest of her series for Gresham College, Professor Carolyn Roberts focused on the ramifications of drought. Pointing out that this is a world-wide phenomenon, and spared neither rich country nor poor. What really mattered was resilience and institutional arrangements if we were to avoid significant damage to the economy or fatalities. Analysis showed that given a like for like drought situation (theoretically), developed countries fared much better. In the UK context of worsening weather events, there remains the issue of sacrifice – restricting domestic, agricultural, business use – and the incentives of the private sector water companies in England and Wales to act fairly.