Why New Zealand could be the most resilient country against global societal collapse

According to the study, New Zealand would have the greatest potential to survive a global collapse. Photo: AFP

A new study has identified the most resilient places in the world in the event of a major economic or climate collapse. Islands with temperate climates and small populations like Iceland and New Zealand top the list.

"Human civilisation has undergone a continuous trajectory of rising sociopolitical complexity since its inception; a trend which has undergone a dramatic recent acceleration. This phenomenon has resulted in increasingly severe perturbation of the Earth System, manifesting recently as global-scale effects such as climate change.

"These effects create an increased risk of a global ‘de-complexification' (collapse) event in which complexity could undergo widespread reversal," state the scientists behind the research.