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The geographical scope of this report is the Western Balkans – the regional delineation defined by the EU as the group of the countries in south-eastern Europe that are not part of the EU. The report presents current state, trends and future estimates that shape water availability, uses, opportunities and water related risks in the Western Balkans region. It also supports forward-looking knowledge by exploring different plausible futures and contributes to regional forward-looking analyses. The time frame of the report expands from the current state and trends to the mid-term (2031–2060) and long-term future (2061–2090), respectively. Climate change in terms of temperature, precipitation as well as future water availability (modelled discharge) has been assessed for 12 distinct catchments covering almost 80 % of the Western Balkans. Changes in water availability are accentuated in all scenarios, with discharges almost always lower in the long-term future. Even though the river discharges will most likely decrease, modelled projections indicate an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme hydrological events. The close proximity to the EU and the potential of many countries to join it provides the region with additional opportunities to cope with challenges of climate change. Common foreign policies should make the region stronger in relationship with international partners as well as provide a better environment to deal with transboundary and complex issues.

Reducing disaster risks and adapting to climate change are ever more important policy goals in Europe and worldwide. The commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and complementary multilateral frameworks, including the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, has galvanized pursuits for policy coherence. The report Climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction in Europe: enhancing coherence of the knowledge base, policies and practices of the European Environment Agency identified several ways for how coherence and resilience can be built through knowledge sharing, collaboration and investments.

This report provides for the first time a European overview of the role of forests in water retention, based on the Water Accounts Production Database developed at the EEA. The results represent 287 sub-basins hosting more than 65 000 catchments across Europe. The impact of forests on water retention is measured according to three parameters/characteristics: forest cover (measured in hectares), forest types (coniferous, broad-leaved, mixed), and the degree of management of the forests (‘protected’ versus unprotected/commercial forests). The estimation of the water-retention potential is derived from the relationships between input (rainfall) and output (water run-off into rivers and lakes) as affected by these three forest characteristics.