2Mobility

Despite a drop in the birthrate, the increase in world population continues at a steady pace, reconfiguring ancient demographic balances. The regions which, both now and in the decades to come, experience the highest rises, are those that are poorest, whose societies are the most fragile and most exposed to environmental, economic, social and health risks.

More than half the world’s population now lives in cities whose growth, both in numbers and surface area, is aggravating the problems of housing, traffic, pollution, energy consumption and social inequality. International organizations, NGOs and civil societies are calling for public policy changes in order to effect a transition to cities with low carbon emissions—cities that are more compact, more resource-efficient, and socially fair.

The history of humanity is one of permanent mobility. Some of its movements remain obscure. The types of mobility were varied—voluntary or forced—with different spatial and time scales, and with a greater or lesser capacity to transform societies and regions. But all of them demote the myths of purity in the face of the evidence of mixed-race humanity.

The growing numbers of migrants, with their diverse origins, profiles and causes of departure defy any simple explanation. The transnational networks of migrants seeking work are a means of fighting poverty, as well as bringing about social change and the hybridization of societies.

It is no longer in any doubt that environmental damage and climate change have consequences for migration. Nevertheless, the multiple causes of population movement make it difficult to label certain migrations as environmental, just as they hinder the implementation of legal tools designed to protect persons displaced for environmental reasons. Re-politicizing environmental migration is therefore crucial for devising public policies that are capable of supporting and protecting the most vulnerable.

The proliferation and duration of conflicts and political crises throughout the world is giving rise to ever increasing flows of people who are victims of forced displacement (65.5 million in 2016). The strict separation between economic poverty and political poverty, which come under different legal rights, no longer functions in a world of generalized communication and growing inequality where these two forms of violence sustain and reinforce one another.

In 2017, over 40 million people were displaced internally—exiled in their own countries to protect themselves from violence and persecution. Perpetually condemned to destitution, wandering from one camp to another, they can only return to their homes if they are guaranteed a minimum of security. Failing this, they will become future migrants or refugees as soon as they are able.