5th ISA Forum of Sociology (6-11 July 2025)

The role of climate change and its resulting environmental hazards, undoubtedly, is important in current studies of migration and mobility. Environmental disasters have displaced countless people and have rendered them among the most vulnerable population, in countries prone to environmental hazards. Massive displacement of people has created “environmental refugees,” with most of them unable to return to their homelands. Along with this is the loss of shelter, livelihood, food sources that have impacted many of these people. Needless to say, climate change-induced migration is intertwined with political and economic factors, which only increased social inequalities and exacerbated the conditions of an already vulnerable population, especially in countries in the Global South.

How do we mitigate the impact of natural disasters resulting from climate change as they affect large numbers of people and communities? What kind of interventions are needed? This regular session welcomes papers that interrogate the impacts of climate change on human lives and human mobility as well as suggest possible solutions addressing this. This session also aims to encourage a rethinking of current migration theories and concepts that examine this critical social issue.