This study explores the connections between climatic and environmental factors and internal net migration in Europe, addressing a topic that has received growing political, academic, and public interest.
Previous research has focused mainly on the Global South or on international migration in the Mediterranean region, but this study concentrates on internal migration within 19 European countries between 2004 and 2019, using municipalities as the unit of analysis.
Using panel regression models, the authors examine the relationship between internal net migration and a wide range of climatic factors (sunshine, temperature, precipitation) and environmental indicators (pollution, vegetation, wildfires), while controlling for economic drivers.
The authors find that climatic and environmental factors significantly contribute to explaining internal migration patterns, with strong regional and national differences. These factors have the greatest explanatory power in Southern Europe but also matter in other regions.
This also supports the concept of amenity migration, suggesting that Europeans move toward more favorable and away from less favorable climatic and environmental conditions. It becomes evident that climate- and environment-related migration is already a reality within Europe and should be recognized as such to ensure that mobility remains voluntary and adaptive rather than forced or maladaptive.
Learn more about this study here: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-025-02484-9
Reference
Link, A.-C., & Brenner, T. (2026). Climatic and environmental factors matter for internal European net migration: A panel regression analysis of 19 European countries from 2004 to 2019. Regional Environmental Change, 26(1)