Climate Migration: A Christian Call to Action in a Warming World

As environmental catastrophes around the world force people from their homes, how will Christians respond?

As rising seas and extreme temperatures force millions to flee their homelands, the church faces a defining moral question: Will Christians welcome the stranger, or will they embrace false narratives that demonize those seeking refuge?

Climate Migration: A Christian Call to Action in a Warming World makes a compelling case for the former. The author, theologian Chris Doran, laments how many Christians in the Global North fail to treat climate change as an existential threat―even as communities across the Global South are pummeled with climate disasters, with migration often their only path to survival. Doran urges believers in the Global North to listen to what Christian theology has to say about climate migrants―and to follow God’s call from apathy to loving action.

Through careful examination of Scripture’s migration narratives as well as core Christian virtues―hospitality, solidarity, courage, justice, and hope―Doran develops a powerful theological rationale for supporting those who are fleeing the ravages of climate change. As readers engage with Doran’s reflections, they become better equipped to empathize with and advocate for those who have been displaced.

Climate Migration: A Christian Call to Action in a Warming World is essential reading for anyone who cares about contemporary theological ethics, including scholars, students, and faith leaders. Timely and transformative, this book will reshape how readers think and act toward climate migrants.

Chris Doran is professor of religion and sustainability at Pepperdine University. He is the founder and coordinator of Pepperdine’s sustainability academic program, which is the largest multidisciplinary program in the history of the university; it incorporates courses in theology, science, literature, international and domestic policy, philosophy, communication theory, and more. He is the author of Hope in the Age of Climate Change: Creation Care This Side of the Resurrection and Climate Migration: A Christian Call to Action in a Warming World.