Water, migration and environment in a Mediterranean perspective

The objective of this paper is to assess if human mobility is influenced by environmental changes in the Mediterranean area, particularly those caused by water scarcity. Emphasis has been given to non European Mediterranean countries belonging to the region known as West Asia and North Africa (WANA). Migration from African and Asian countries that directly affect the WANA region and indirectly the Mediterranean area have also been considered. Human mobility due to the economic, social, political and security characteristics of the WANA countries has always been a prominent feature of this geographic area, this, combined with the impact that climate change (within which water scarcity plays an important role) could have on migration, may pose broader security and geopolitical challenges in the Mediterranean area. The paper starts with a brief description of the migration phenomenon and the drivers of migration and move to the analysis of the link between water scarcity, conflicts and migration. Water scarcity has hence been considered holistically as one of the many environmental/climate changes, which can influence migration and consequently the nexus environment/climate change migration has been examined. The idea that climate changes will result in massive migration has been examined in the conclusion, arguing that the equation climate changes = mass migration outside the region does not consider the migration history of the area, while underestimating the possibility of adaptation of the population groups and countries affected by them, as well as underestimate the action that the institutions can put in place to prevent or respond to the events