The Near East and North Africa region is one of the world's driest and most water-scarce regions. In many areas in the region, demand for water already outstrips supply. To some degree, the region has an advantage in that its inhabitants have been adapting to high temperatures and water scarcity for thousands of years, and have developed strategies for coping with these environmental constraints. The region is a repository of traditional and institutional knowledge that could be widely applied in efforts to address climate change across the globe.