Anticipated population growth and changing consumption patterns are likely to increase global freshwater demands beyond sustainable thresholds in the future, especially in the semi-arid and arid regions of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Southeast Asia, and Australia. From a Pan-European viewpoint, southern regions, particularly those in the Mediterranean, are markedly vulnerable to imminent freshwater shortages. The escalating temporal and spatial unpredictability of freshwater supplies due to climate change will intensify this scarcity through seasonal droughts.