Cities from London to Beijing and New Delhi and all around the planet are increasingly vulnerable to drought caused by climate change, according to Nushrat Rahman Chowdhury of Christian Aid.

Poor populations in places like Harare, Zimbabwe, and Kabul, Afghanistan, would bear the brunt of water shortages, according to the organization. It calls for the creation of an international fund to compensate for losses and damages caused by climate change.

According to the report, only around 3% of the planet's water is acceptable for drinking, with the majority of it trapped in ice caps and glaciers.

Only 0.01% of the world's water is readily available for human consumption in lakes, rivers, dams, and aquifers, according to the charity, but worldwide water consumption surged at more than twice the pace of population growth over the 20th century.

More than half of the earth's population already lives in cities, with that number anticipated to climb to 68% by 2050, and many are already experiencing water scarcity.

Drought is not a new phenomenon, but its severity and frequency have grown in recent decades as a result of global warming.

After a prolonged drought in 2018, Cape Town, South Africa, came within days of becoming the first major city on earth to run out of water, and citizens have been queuing for water in New Delhi despite a blistering heatwave.

Experts predict that London and England's South East, in the "popularly rainy UK," will run out of water in 25 years, with a catastrophic drought costing the capital's economy £330 million per day.

Climate change increases the intensity and frequency of droughts in the  London region, which already receives about half as much rain as New York City. With a burgeoning population, the capital's aging water supply system may be put under severe strain.

It looks at the future of water resources for consuming, washing, and cultivating crops to feed ten major cities throughout the world, and warns that unless greenhouse gas emissions are reduced and the danger of climate-related drought is reduced, the poor would be the heaviest affected.

According to Christian Aid, low-income city people may have to pay significantly more for their water from private vendors, capitals are more vulnerable in impoverished nations because they have limited resources to adapt to climate change, and water shortages can lead to unrest.

Drought will continue to threaten cities' water supply unless net greenhouse emissions are reduced.