Abstract

Chile shows low progress on the three pillars of proactive drought management. Mitigation and response, the most advanced, presents a medium level, drought monitoring and early warning presents a low level of progress, while vulnerability, risk, and impact assessment remains undeveloped. It is necessary to design a strong political strategy that consists of gradually decentralizing drought management, involving those affected by the effects of the drought, generating local capacities and changing the crisis management approach to a preventive risk management model. This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of drought management in Chile drawing from the significant analysis and perspectives offered by all contributors. It indicates that the current strategy primarily employs a crisis management approach. Specifically, the assessment identifies challenges that need to be addressed to transition towards a risk-management approach. Furthermore, it highlights a range of policy instruments that must be considered to address previously inadequately managed challenges. And it provides a global assessment of the legal and institutional framework for drought management in Chile and its challenges, identifying the main lessons that, from comparative experiences, could be reviewed in Chile. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025.