„Running dry? Climate Change in Drylands and How to Cope with it“, published by the GTZ, is a dense yet detailed account of the connectedness between land degradation and climate change. Quick to read and digest, it is broken down into seven sections, each expanding upon a specific topic. The sections each provide in-depth information not only on the current topics and studies presented, but also on the position of the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). While some of the positions are controversial, they draw more attention to the factors of sustainability on earth which the book focuses on: climate change and land degredation. By focusing our attention to these facets, the authors of „Running dry?“ hope to increase the understanding the general public has of just how connected they are and how necessary organized efforts to combat them are.

The book begins by simply laying out statistics which show how the factors exacerbate each other ans shows how soil erosion, forestry, agriculture and green house gas emissions influence climate change in drylands. The book acknowledges that efforts are currently underway, but stresses the necessity for organized endeavors to curtail climate change and land degradation. Statistics, case scenarios and various other examples compound the arguments and suggestions made within the book. It should be noted that the book suffers – along with the whole discipline – from a severe scarcity of data specific to dryland climate information. Nonetheless, the book is an important contribution in that it collects and convincingly connects data and information on the topic for the first time.

The concise Executive Summary sums up the book nicely, preparing the reader for the following six sections which cover contributions on drylands to climate change, climate change mitigation through sustainable land management and adaptation to climate change. The impacts and interlinkages between all these topics pervade the whole book. Informational scenarios and case studies delve deeper and examine possible answers to the pressing issues. Whether an expert or someone newly interested in these topics, the book most assuredly has something for any reader and is current enough with its content to compete well with similar books in its field. Its special focus makes it a unique publication which is strongly recommended to anyone interested in tomorrow’s issues of global concern.

Hannah Correll