Human Migration and Natural Resources: Global assessment of an adaptive complex system [Factsheet]

Minerals, arable land, water and energy delivery are key resource drivers of human mobility. While an abundance of these resources can attract immigration, resource scarcity can either trap populations or lead to emigration (when this is possible). Property rights to resources, as well as opportunities for international migrant remittance flows, can be key determinants of migrants’ mobility decisions. From a broader perspective, resources can be an intervening variable between global environmental change (including climate change) and human mobility. This means that resource scarcity measurements can serve as an early warning system for the potential impact of global change on proximate indicators of migration.