Greta Thunberg Climate Change Speech

Rhetorical Criticism On Greta Thunbergs Speech At The Un Climate Action Summit

Abstract

The biggest threat humans are being faced with today is climate change and its detrimental life threatening effects. In order to address the urgency of a plan to reduces the effects if global warming and climate change, a summit is held where advocates and leaders advocate for a change. The United Nations Climate Summit conference is held every year to address the urgency for action towards rapid climate change. The summit calls to action world leaders and governmental officials to address a global climate emergency. This paper analyzes Greta Thunbergs climate activist speech given at the U.N Climate summit calling on world leaders for action.

Introduction

Background

Altogether, these nine concepts will formulate a rhetorical analysis on the rhetorical artifact.

Analysis

Assessment

References

‘change Is Not Going To Come From Inside There’

Speaking at a protest outside of the COP26 complex earlier this week, Thunberg once again slammed world leaders for not doing enough to meet the demands of the climate emergency.

“This COP26 is so far just like the previous COPs and that has led us nowhere,” Thunberg said on Monday as she addressed climate activists.

Greta Thunbergs Speeches A Timeline Summary

Gretas first talks were in Stockholm in September 2018. In these small climate rallies, youll see the makings of what was to come. They came about after her initial Strike for Climate sit-in outside the Swedish Parliament which she started on 20 August 2018.

For a short while she flew under the popular radar, even after a remarkable TED Talk in November of 2018.

A major turning point was her speech at the UN Climate Change Conference in December 2018. Only solidified by her talk shortly after at the World Economic Forum in January 2019.

Here was a teenager, someone who was going inherit the outcomes of these meetings, giving a blunt and damning assessment of where things were at and what those delegates were actually doing about it. Those rebukes went viral on the internet. Awareness of Greta and her message went from there.

She was asked to speak in some of the major seats of power in the Western world parliaments at the European Union, France, the UK, and the US. All in the space of a year. And was unrelenting at each opportunity.

Our compilation covers that period her rise from the first talks in September 2018 through to March 2020

But lets start at the beginning those early speeches. She was 15 years old. They are still among her best.

Our Lives Are In Your HandsGreta Thunbergs speech transcript

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Failing The Young And Future Generations

4. My message is that well be watching you. This is all wrong. I shouldnt 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!

5. You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet Im one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!

6. You are failing us. But the young people are starting to understand your betrayal. The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us, I say: We will never forgive you. We will not let you get away with this. Right here, right now is where we draw the line. The world is waking up. And change is coming, whether you like it or not. At the UN Climate Action Summit on September 23, 2019.

What Did World Leaders Say

Mr Guterres, who organised the meeting, said the world was “in a deep climate hole” and that urgent action was needed.

“Time is running out, but it’s not too late,” he said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her country would double to â¬4bn it financial commitment to fight global warming.

BBC Weather examines what effects a warming world could have had on 2019’s extreme weather

French President Emmanuel Macron said international organisations had pledged to release $500m in additional aid to protect tropical forests.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said things “are starting to turn around” in the country.

“Our gross emissions peaked in 2006, over 80% of our electricity already comes from renewable hydro and wind, and we have begun an ambitious agenda.

“We have introduced in parliament the zero carbon bill, the purpose of which is to ensure New Zealand lives within the threshold of 1.5C of global warming necessary to avoid catastrophic weather events for our Pacific neighbours.”

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On Being Given False Hope

10. You lied to us. You gave us false hope. You told us that the future was something to look forward to. And the saddest thing is that most children are not even aware of the fate that awaits us. We will not understand it until its too late. And yet we are the lucky ones. Those who will be affected the hardest are already suffering the consequences. But their voices are not heard.

11. The climate crisis is both the easiest and the hardest issue we have ever faced. The easiest because we know what we must do. We must stop the emissions of greenhouse gases. The hardest because our current economics are still totally dependent on burning fossil fuels, and thereby destroying ecosystems in order to create everlasting economic growth. In an address to the British Parliament on April 23, 2019.

Blah Blah Blah: Greta Thunberg Lambasts Leaders Over Climate Crisis

Exclusive: Activist says there are many fine words but the science does not lie CO2 emissions are still rising

Greta Thunberg has excoriated global leaders over their promises to address the climate emergency, dismissing them as blah, blah, blah.

She quoted statements by Boris Johnson: This is not some expensive, politically correct, green act of bunny hugging, and Narendra Modi: Fighting climate change calls for innovation, cooperation and willpower but said the science did not lie.

Carbon emissions are on track to rise by 16% by 2030, according to the UN, rather than fall by half, which is the cut needed to keep global heating under the internationally agreed limit of 1.5C.

Build back better. Blah, blah, blah. Green economy. Blah blah blah. Net zero by 2050. Blah, blah, blah, she said in a speech to the Youth4Climate summit in Milan, Italy, on Tuesday. This is all we hear from our so-called leaders. Words that sound great but so far have not led to action. Our hopes and ambitions drown in their empty promises.

The Cop26 climate summit starts in Glasgow, UK, on 31 October and all the big-polluting countries must deliver tougher pledges to cut emissions to keep the goal of 1.5C within reach.

Research published on Monday showed that children born today would experience many times more extreme heatwaves and other climate disasters over their lifetimes than their grandparents, even if countries fulfil their current emissions pledges.

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We Need To Act As If The World Is On Fire

7. Our house is on fire. I am here to say, our house is on fire.

8. You say nothing in life is black or white. But that is a lie. A very dangerous lie. Either we prevent 1.5 degree of warming or we dont. Either we avoid setting off that irreversible chain reaction beyond human control or we dont. Either we choose to go on as a civilisation or we dont. That is as black or white as it gets. There are no grey areas when it comes to survival.

9. Adults keep saying: We owe it to the young people to give them hope. But I dont want your hope. I dont want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then I want you to act. I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if the house is on fire. Because it is. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on January 25, 2019.

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What Did Greta Thunberg Say

In an emotional speech, she said: “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?

“You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words,” the 16-year-old said.

And she urged world leaders to act urgently, saying: “We will be watching you.”

The moment Greta Thunberg saw President Donald Trump

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Species Named In Thunberg’s Honour

The following species have been described and named after Greta Thunberg:

• Nelloptodes gretae, by Michael Darby, Natural History Museum, UK, December 2019, a new species of beetle from Kenya in the family Ptiliidae. Its long antennae bear a passing resemblance to her braided pigtails.
• Craspedotropis gretathunbergae, by Schilthuizen et al., 2020, a new species of land snail from Borneo in the family Cyclophoridae.
• Thunberga greta, in a new genus Thunberga gen nov, both by Peter Jäger, June 2020, a new species of huntsman spider in the family Sparassidae. By 2021 the new Thunberga genus contained twenty-five newly described spiders, all from Madagascar and Mayotte, many in honour of other inspirational young people.
• Opacuincola gretathunbergae, by Verhaege & Haase, 2021, a new freshwater snail from New Zealand in the family Tateidae.

The Importance Of Greta Thunbergs Speeches

Such powerful speeches from someone so young has helped the world think more clearly about the world our kids and grandkids will inherit. They have starkly reminded those with the power to make things better in the present to take responsibility for that future.

Whats possibly most remarkable is that Greta Thunbergs speeches are grounded in the science of climate change. And her persistent message is to remind politicians, business leaders, journalists and others to listen to the science. And of course act on it.

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How Dare You: Greta Thunberg At The United Nations

Speaking at the United Nations climate summit, the teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg delivered a speech criticizing world leaders for their inaction on protecting the environment.

This is all wrong. I shouldnt 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. You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. Yet Im one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying, entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you. You are failing us. But the young people are starting to understand your betrayal. The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us, I say, we will never forgive you.

Greta Thunberg, the teenage climate activist from Sweden who delivered a much-watched speech at the United Nations on Monday, has been celebrated for her activism on climate change, including galvanizing the worldwide, youth-led protests of the last week. But she has also become a lightning rod, drawing attacks by television and social media commentators.

Fox News apologized after a pundit, Michael Knowles, called her a mentally ill Swedish child on one of its programs on Monday. The network called the comment disgraceful, and a spokeswoman said Fox had no plans to invite Mr. Knowles back.

In Popular Culture And Art

Thunberg has been depicted in popular culture and art.Greta and the Giants, a book by Zoë Tucker and Zoe Persico, published by Frances Lincoln Children’s Books, was inspired by the life of Thunberg.Argentinian artist Andrés Iglesias unveiled an 18 meter mural of Thunberg above Mason street, near Union Square in San Francisco. American painter Elizabeth Peyton chose her 2019 portrait Greta Thunberg as the leading image of one of her shows. She has been depicted in multiple murals. In Bristol, a 15-metre-high mural of Thunberg by artist Jody Thomas, portrays the bottom half of her face as if under rising sea water since May 2019. Thunberg was featured on the Time magazine cover in May 2019 issue, where she was described as a role model and one of the “Next Generation Leaders“. She and fifteen others were featured on the cover of the fashion magazine Vogue created by guest editor Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in September 2019.

Make the World Greta Again is a 30-minute documentary released by Vice featuring interviews with a number of youth protest leaders in Europe, and showing the run-up to the .

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What Is Her Background

Thunberg has Asperger syndrome, a developmental disorder, and has described it as a gift. She said being different can be a “superpower”.

Thunberg’s mother, Malena Ernman, is an opera singer and former Eurovision Song Contest participant.

Her father Svante Thunberg, is an actor and a descendant of the scientist who created a model of the greenhouse effect.

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Understand The Latest News On Climate Change

A more extreme monsoon.South Asias annual monsoon is inextricably linked, culturally and economically, to much of Asia, bringing life-giving water to nearly one-quarter of the worlds population. But climate change is making the monsoon more erratic, less dependable and even dangerous, with more violent rainfall as well as worsening dry spells.

A drier, hotter summer.Human-caused global warming has made severe droughts like the ones this summer in Europe, North America and China at least 20 times as likely to occur as they would have been more than a century ago, a new study found. Its the latest evidence of how climate change is imperiling food, water and electricity supplies around the world.

Wildfire smoke pollution.Smoke from wildfires has worsened over the past decade, potentially reversing decades of improvements in Western air quality made under the Clean Air Act, according to new research. Some areas in the Western United States had increases in particulate pollution from smoke that were about the same amount as the improvements in air quality from regulating factories and other sources of pollution.

Relinquishing a fortune.Yvon Chouinard, the founder of the outdoor apparel maker Patagonia, transferred ownership of his company to a trust and an organization devoted to fighting climate change. The move comes at a moment of growing scrutiny for billionaires whose rhetoric about making the world a better place often dont match reality.

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May 201: Austrian World Summit R20

In May 2019, Thunberg met with Arnold Schwarzenegger, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, and Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen at the launch of a conference organised by Schwarzenegger to speed up progress toward the Paris Agreement. Quoting the most recent IPCC report she said: “If we haven’t made the changes required by approximately the year 2030, we will probably set off an irreversible chain reaction beyond human control. Then we will pass a point of no return which will be catastrophic.” 17,000 people attended the event from 30 different countries.

On World Leaders Over Their Promises To Address Climate Change

1. Build back better. Blah, blah, blah. Green economy. Blah blah blah. Net zero by 2050. Blah, blah, blah. This is all we hear from our so-called leaders. Words that sound great but so far have not led to action. Our hopes and ambitions drown in their empty promises.

2. But theyve now had 30 years of blah, blah, blah and where has that led us? We can still turn this around it is entirely possible. It will take immediate, drastic annual emission reductions. But not if things go on like today. Our leaders intentional lack of action is a betrayal toward all present and future generations.

3. We can no longer let the people in power decide what is politically possible. We can no longer let the people in power decide what hope is. Hope is not passive. Hope is not blah, blah, blah. Hope is telling the truth. Hope is taking action. And hope always comes from the people. At the Youth4Climate summit in Milan, Italy, on September 28, 2021.

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