On September 23, 2019, the UN hosted a summit that brought together world leaders to discuss future strategies to reduce the impact of humanity on climate. Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg took part in the UN climate change summit in New York. At its opening, she delivered a fiery speech in which she accused world leaders of betrayal. According to Thunberg, they are not making enough efforts to combat global warming and protect the environment.
Greta Thunberg had several goals during her speech at the UN Climate Action Summit 2019. Firstly, she wanted to blame the older generation, saying that they are letting down their descendants by not fulfilling their promises, which can lead to an environmental disaster in the future. In addition, her task was to convey to the younger generation that it was time to pay attention to the problem of ecology.
In her speech, Thunberg skillfully used various stylistic devices that helped to give weight to her words. For example, at the very beginning of her speech, Thunberg uses a reflexive device (Zarefsky, 2019), saying that now she should be at school instead of at this summit. In this way, she gives listeners the opportunity to imagine her situation better. The activist used accurate statistics throughout her speech, including dates, percentages, numbers, and other facts. This is an effective way to confirm what has been said and focus the attention of the audience on it. For example, when Thunberg talks about the popular idea of halving humanity’s emissions, it will only take 50% of the result to stay below 1.5 degrees (Spark and Bloom studio, 2019). She emphasizes that such a result will not suit anyone, and the facts she cites strengthen the argument. One of the main specific language choices in Thunberg’s speech was the active voice. This helped to focus what was said on specific people who, in her opinion, did nothing to improve the world’s environmental situation. Another example of a stylistic language would be a signature, as defined by Zarefsky (2019). This is a unique style of speech that differs from person to person, and it is very well expressed for the eco-activist since the emotionality and liveliness of statements distinguish all her speeches.
Another obvious trick that the activist uses is emotionality. She plays an essential role in the speech as she reinforces Thunberg’s accusations against the older generation for ruining the childhood of all future generations. In addition to this, Thunberg also evokes emotions in listeners when he starts talking about how on the verge of a massive catastrophe, all the public is talking about is money and the economy (Spark and Bloom studio, 2019). This makes people feel guilty, and they pay more attention to what is said. One can also trace the word economy in her speech as Thunberg chooses his words well and does not say anything superfluous. Therefore, she conveyed all the main thoughts to the audience in a short speech that lasted no more than five minutes. Thunberg directly calls the world community to action using rhetorical forthrightness. The activist demonstrates to the world what is the civic duty of every person to take care of the environment.
In addition to the aforementioned language choices, Thunberg resorts to repetition in his speech. Thus, she repeatedly exclaims “how dare you” to the global community (Spark and Bloom studio, 2019). This makes an additional impression on the audience, making them remember the performance. Such appeals to world leaders, combined with emotionality, result in the right connotation that contributes to giving meaning to what has been said. This technique worked effectively because even several years after the speech, these words are still associated with the activist’s speech. These are not the only examples of specific language choices that Miss Thunberg uses to express her opinion. As Terrill (2003) argues, “irony relies on juxtapositions of potentially conflicting images that are made to occupy the same field of vision” (p. 221). From this point of view, Thunberg uses irony in her speech when he compares two generations. The eldest ruined the planet, and the youngest will have to feel and correct the resulting environmental catastrophe.
Thunberg emphasizes that the young community will keep a close eye on the actions of world leaders (Spark and Bloom studio, 2019). Here the speaker uses a warning to the audience as part of his message. In general, Thunberg’s speech sounds aggressive and indignant, further emphasizing the speaker’s seriousness. Greta Thunberg spoke about the data over the past few years that showed the consequences of global warming on the planet. Her speech was remembered for its sharp criticism of governments and a call to action for the younger generation. This speech is effective because the speaker uses many stylistic devices, due to which what was said is remembered.
References
Spark and Bloom studio. (2019). How dare you Greta Thunberg UN climate action summit 2019. Web.
Terrill, R. (2003) Irony, Silence, and Time: Frederick Douglass on the Fifth of July, Quarterly Journal of Speech, 89:3, 216-234. Web.
Zarefsky, D. (2019). The Practice of Argumentation Effective Reasoning in Communication. Northwestern University.