SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND CLIMATE ACTION IN FICTION

Abstract

The relationship between fiction and sustainability has received more scholarly attention as a result of the growing urgency of environmental deterioration and climate change. This chapter looks at how fictional stories depict ecological catastrophes, environmental ethics, and human obligations to the natural world in order to address the interrelated topics of sustainable development and climate action. The chapter examines how fiction develops consciousness of environmental injustice, biodiversity loss, resource depletion, and climate change using ecocritical and environmental humanities viewpoints. It examines how literary works promote readers' ecological knowledge, challenge unsustainable development patterns, and envision sustainable futures. In order to convey complicated environmental issues and promote empathy for impacted communities and ecosystems, the chapter delves deeper into the use of characterization, narrative techniques, and symbolic representations. The study shows that fiction can be a motivator for social participation and climate action in addition to reflecting environmental reality by emphasizing the transformational power of literature. In the end, the chapter makes the case that by encouraging ethical responsibility, environmental stewardship, and group action toward a more sustainable future, literary narratives significantly contribute to global sustainability discourses.