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Julia Kopec

Mrs. Atsitty de Gonzales

ENC 1101-0006

30 June 2022

Greta Thunberg: A speech to the United Nations world leaders

For the last 30 years, climate change has been an enormous issue in the world. It is one

the greatest threats that we, in the 21st century, are facing right now. Unfortunately, there are

still people who remain silent throughout the development of this issue and choose not to

believe in the scientific proof supporting climate change. Recently, many people in power, or

world leaders, are focusing on economic developments instead of ecological ones. However,

there are people who take action and fight for what they believe in. Greta Thunberg, a Swedish

activist who challenges world leaders to take action against climate change, delivered a speech

during the climate action summit of 2019. Her speech was a call to action for world leaders to

address the rising conditions of climate change that have been ignored for the past years. Greta

Thunberg’s speech is a good example of creating powerful words by using literary strategies.

Thunberg begins her argument by using pathos to appeal to the audience’s emotions, following

it with a usage of the rhetorical devices, and closing it with the other rhetorical appeals; her

speech uses these strategies to create a valid argument for the importance of their environment.

Thunberg has been an well-known activist since she was 15, after she protested outside

the Swedish parliament. In her speech, Greta Thunberg starts off by using rhetorical appeals,

with the usage of pathos, she projects a sense of guilt and ignorance onto the audience. The

UN climate change summit is held to “bring together governments, the private sector, civil

society, local authorities and other international organizations, to develop ambitious solutions in

six areas: a global transition to renewable energy; sustainable and resilient infrastructures and

cities; sustainable agriculture and management of forests and oceans; resilience and adaptation

to climate impacts; and alignment of public and private finance with a net zero economy” (Global
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Water Partnership, 2019). The UN climate action summit was held at the United Nations

headquarters in New York on September 23, 2019. Thunberg was sixteen when she delivered

the speech in which she expressed concerns that she was fighting for the generations to come

instead of learning at school like all the other kids. She reinforced this concern by explaining

how world leaders had turned their backs against science. Thus, suggesting that younger age

groups were more concerned with the status of the ecosystem than the world leaders were.

She manipulates emotional responses from her audience with her facial and body expressions.

To emphasize how disappointed and uneasy she feels about the situation, she mentions “You

say you hear us and that you understand the urgency. But no matter how sad and angry I am, I

do not want to believe that. Because if you really understood the situation and still kept on failing

to act, then you would be evil. And that I refuse to believe.” Thunberg mixes her emotions,

specifically, by using breaks in her voice as well as changing and raising her tone throughout

the entirety of the speech. Thunberg's serious tone strikes fear, discomfort, and doubt into her

audience and forces them to feel uneasy and guilty for ignoring the facts and providing “empty

words.” Thunberg continues to develop a stronger sense of guilt by using words and phrases

such as “fail”, “betrayal”, and “you have stolen my dreams and my childhood.” The emotions that

Thunberg portrays helps the audience to understand the stress that she, and others like her, are

under. As young adults and children, they can no longer expect these issues to be taken care of

by the current people of power. This idea is portrayed through her firm yet emotional tone that

she carries throughout her speech. In all, she argues that the leaders are not “mature enough to

tell it like it is”, and reprimands them for failing the future society and their future leaders. She

specifies them not standing up and doing their jobs, which ultimately brings guilt into the hearts

of the members of the UN.

Not only does Thunberg give the United Nations a rude awakening with harsh words, but

she attacks them with direct questions and knowledgeable facts, asking yet again why they

haven't done their job. Although she does a great job at informing on the subject of rising
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climate levels, she also takes the opportunity to state that this shouldn’t be her job. Throughout

her speech, Thunberg continues to repeat the reprimanding phrase “how dare you”, and

exclaims that “This is all wrong. I shouldn’t be up here. I should be back in school on the other

side of the ocean. Yet you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you!”. While

shaming the world leaders for doing less than a younger generation, she explains to this

audience that she should not be lecturing the ones who are supposed to be making the world a

better place for her generation. Thunberg implies that these roles should be reversed; students

should not have to make up for the lack of preparation from those who came before them. It is

implied that the fact that she, a young girl, has to leave school to teach world leaders that the

planet that they live on is more important than economic growth is embarrassing for them.

Thunberg‘s repetition of “how dare you” builds a feeling of shock and disbelief for the audience.

She continues to ask “how are they” doing nothing in order to stop the climate change that is

causing a negative effect on the earth and society’s youth. During the speech, Greta Thunberg

tries to gather herself with short pauses, but still maintains eye contact. She is determined to be

firm with her words and show her emotions at the same time.

Additionally, Thunberg incorporates the other two rhetorical appeals in her speech by

presenting well-researched and clear evidence on why the world leaders need to do their jobs.

She emphasizes that “The popular idea of cutting our emissions in half in 10 years only gives us

a 50% chance of staying below 1.5C degrees, and the risk of setting off irreversible chain

reactions beyond human control.” Thunberg also brings up that “the world had 420 gigatons of

CO2 left to emit back on January 1st, 2018. Today that figure is already down to less than 350

gigatons.” Greta Thunberg creates a need for action when she states that with today’s

emissions levels, that remaining CO2 budget will be entirely gone within less than 8 ½ years.”

By using numbers and specific time framing Thunberg convinces world leaders to question their

current actions, or rather their lack of action. Providing factual evidence engages them to
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understand the importance that they must be cautious with the decisions that should be made

for the future of their ecosystem.

It is made known to the audience that ignoring the factual evidence presented before

them could result in drastic issues for the future. Thunberg suggests that the world leaders “rely

on my generation sucking hundreds of billions of tonnes of your CO2 out of the air with

technologies that barely exist. So a 50% risk is simply not acceptable to us — we who have to

live with the consequences.” She emphasizes that it is up to her generation to fix the issues that

government officials deliberately look away from. Since Thunberg established her right to

comment on this situation as the future age group to deal with these issues, she appeals to the

ethos rhetorical device. She uses personal experiences and research in climate change to

establish her credibility. At this point, the audience gains a better understanding of the

importance of who the speaker is and why it matters to their generation.

Towards the end of her speech, Thunberg fails to call out the citizens who are also

turning their backs against science and refusing to acknowledge that climate change is an

issue. She points out that the younger generations will never “forgive you” [world leaders] for

turning a blind eye and refusing to help, yet she refused to call out the younger generation that

is also not helping the ecosystem and refusing to understand the serious issue that is going on.

In conclusion, Greta Thunberg reveals the flaws within UN leaders’ priorities and their

actions regarding climate change with the use of rhetorical appeals and devices. In this

rhetorical situation, Thunberg is projecting fear, guilt, and anger into her audience. Thunberg as

a young teen takes a leading role in the development of better solutions for climate change.

Taking advantage of the Leader's feelings and evoking a sense of guilt provided an exigence for

the UN members. Greta Thunberg’s speech emphasizes her sadness and utter disappointment

in those who are supposed to be in charge. Additionally, she addresses the actions world

leaders can take to help take care of the rising climate change, they are her audience and her
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speech is a call for help. Finally, she points out that her generation will have to live with the

consequences of the ignorance of those who have turned their backs on science.
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Works Cited

Bitzer, Lloyd F. “The Rhetorical Situation.” Philosophy & Rhetoric, vol. 25, 1992, pp. 1–14.

JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40237697.

Kamarck, Elaine. “The Challenging Politics of Climate Change.” Brookings, Brookings, 23 Sept.

2019, https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-challenging-politics-of-climate-change/.

St. Louis Community College. “Pathos, Logos, and Ethos.” St. Louis Community College,

stlcc.edu/student-support/academic-success-and-tutoring/writing-center/writing-resources/

pathos-logos-and-ethos.aspx. Accessed 25 June 2022.