'Precarious Lives': Climate Change and Ecoprecarity in Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin's Global

Abstract: This research paper offers a close reading of Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin's Global (2023) which is a graphic fiction that articulates the complex, interconnected reality of anthropogenic climate change and ecoprecarity. Ecoprecarity is the material and psychological state of insecurity induced by environmental instability and resource depletion. The narrative oscillates between the Sunderbans and the Arctic juxtaposing geographically disparate, Global South and North yet linked by climate change and it’s ensuing crises such as the flooding of the Sunderbans with the ever-rising sea water level and the melting permafrost in the Arctic. Global strongly dismantles the perception of climate change as a distant, abstract threat by fostering an intensified sense of global empathy and localized urgency in its readership. The analysis focuses on the parallel ‘precarious lives’ of Yuki and Sami and their dependence upon “precarious environments, people and processes” (Nayar 7) as Yuki an Inuit girl navigates an Arctic landscape ravaged by rapid ice melt and threats by the hybrid grolar bears and Sami, a boy facing the immediate socio-economic collapse of his Bay of Bengal fishing community due to rising sea levels and cyclonic intensification. This juxtaposition serves to illustrate two critical facets of the climate crisis: the destruction of pristine wilderness and the displacement of vulnerable populations. The characters' struggles are shown to be products of a shared, systemic failure, demonstrating that environmental breakdown is a non-linear, multi-scalar phenomenon. The study argues that the graphic novel's structure acts as a literary call to action. By making the climate catastrophe intimate and immediate through the eyes of relatable, resilient young protagonists, the dual narrative model transcends mere illustration to become a powerful mechanism for educating readers on the necessity of collective, transnational responses to the global precarity crisis. Keywords: Precarious lives, climate change, eco precarity, resilience, ethical responsibility