Sixteen-year-old Greta Thunberg was invited to give a speech at the UN Climate Action Summit after her activism and speeches garnered international attention. The purpose of Greta’s speech was to call world leaders to action and shame them for their contribution and negligence regarding climate change.

An analysis of the rhetorical situation by Audrey Schroeder states that “the exigence is the lack of action and responsibility taken by world leaders to combat climate change.” Schroeder further discusses how Greta faced constraints, including her age, her autism, and her audience’s differing generational beliefs (Schroeder, 2021). But these constraints didn’t stop her from delivering her speech to those world leaders.

Greta establishes ethos by saying “I should be back in school…,” which tells the audience she is young and, more importantly, that she is part of the youth who want change and instead feel betrayed by adults. She expresses an overwhelming amount of pathos, describing how her audience has “stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words.” Through her words, she conveys disappointment, anger, and urgency. She remarks, “People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing,” piling on the guilt and shame the world leaders should be feeling. These words made the audience applaud and cheer for her, showing support and acknowledgment. Greta doesn’t just state how current actions are failing—she demonstrates it through logos by giving facts and data: “The popular idea of cutting our emissions in half in 10 years only gives us a 50% chance of staying below 1.5 degrees [Celsius]…” This makes Greta and her speech more credible.

A very notable and iconic use of anaphora appears in this speech. Greta repeats the phrase “How dare you!” four times. This repeated phrase would become the most popular moment in her speech, eventually becoming a meme. During her speech, the phrase “How dare you!” brought impact and expressed direct shame to her audience. An analysis by Rouabhia notes that she structures her speech with declarative statements and rhetorical questions (Rouabhia, 2024). Furthermore, she structures the flow of her speech by first stating the problem, next providing evidence, third giving a “solution,” and lastly offering a conclusion and a demand. The “How Dare You?” speech doesn’t employ any notable non-Western framework; instead, Greta uses a traditional Western framework of problem-solution, call to action, and persuasive speech.

The pace of the speech makes it easily digestible through pauses—whether from Greta reading her manuscript or the audience applauding. She emphasizes words by making her voice a little louder and using her tone to stress words of importance by sounding angry or urgent. Greta does well by keeping eye contact, occasionally looking down at her manuscript. Eye contact was important in this speech, as Greta’s own emotions were visible to the audience. She was visibly upset and looked like she was going to cry.

Immediate reception of Greta’s 2019 UN speech was marked by worldwide support, emotional impact, acknowledgment, and criticism. The Guardian shared thoughts from people at the event, like Alden Meyer, director of strategy at the Union of Concerned Scientists: “Very emotional and grounded in science…If I were a world leader I’d feel very uncomfortable. But we’ve seen nothing from the big national leaders, the G20 players. It’s hard to say the summit moved the needle on the emissions curve” (2019).

The speech would prove culturally significant, being shown in classrooms and reaching other youth through social media. Moreover, this speech motivated other young people to take part in activism, creating a movement and adding to the “Greta effect.” Later references to the “How Dare You?” speech have turned it into a meme. Even if her “How dare you!” statement was mocked, it still demonstrates the cultural impact that this speech and Greta Thunberg have made on the world. And perhaps this iconic line will make a reappearance in some form to shame our world leaders today.

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Greta Thunberg gave the “How Dare You?” speech because she wanted to call out world leaders for failing to act on climate change despite clear scientific warnings. She used the UN Climate Action Summit to express the anger and fear of young people, accusing leaders of making empty promises while delaying the urgent action needed to protect their future.

Greta Thunberg’s central argument was that world leaders are failing to act on climate change despite knowing its severe consequences, and that this inaction is betraying younger and future generations. Her purpose was to demand urgent, science-based climate action and hold leaders morally accountable—channeling her emotions into something meaningful.

A clear appeal during Greta’s speech was her use of emotion (pathos). At around 0:29 in her speech, she says, “People are suffering, people are dying.” She appeals to emotion by using this phrase to provoke a sense of guilt, fear, and empathy, emphasizing that in a way, it is our fault people are dying and suffering. Another appeal we see in this speech is her use of ethos. When she says, “We are at the beginning of a mass extinction,” she isn’t giving a personal opinion—she’s repeating what many scientists have stated.

In terms of notable devices and techniques, Greta uses metaphor when she states, “You have stolen my dreams and childhood,” describing the impact of climate inaction in emotional, non-literal terms. She also uses anaphora through the repetition of phrases like “How dare you!” at the start of successive sentences.

Greta’s organizational structure begins emotionally with a hook, then presents evidence (logos), then personalizes and appeals to morality (ethos/pathos), and finally ends with a strong call to action. Her signposts are very clear, with her repeated phrase “How dare you!” directly addressing her audience and guiding them through her argument.

Her delivery elements were some of the most impactful parts of this speech. Her pitch and tone conveyed true anger and emotion without acting out of character or shouting, making her words more meaningful. As for her physical delivery, it was outstanding. Since the speech was delivered in 2019 when she was still very young, her ability to stand with confidence and project authority while speaking was remarkable.

Greta’s immediate reception was intense. Her speech went viral globally and was widely covered by media outlets. She was praised for her passion and clarity by climate activists. Although her speech didn’t have the biggest tangible impact—things are still just as bad in many ways—it increased public awareness and urgency around climate science and pressured governments to pledge stronger climate commitments, though progress has been uneven.

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Today I will talk about a speech that many have heard in the classroom and many have seen online. But first, I’d like to talk about Greta herself. She is a Swedish environmental activist who has become a global figure for climate change and an urgent call for help in society. At age fifteen, she started a protest at her local school for climate change. She wasn’t doing it with others but alone, holding a sign that said “School Strike for Climate.” Others would have said she was crazy for doing it alone, but her spirit said otherwise. She has a passion for change and a passion for saving our world. She has currently been in Palestine, volunteering and helping those going through pain in that terrible war. People in Palestine adore her for her open arms and willingness to help others.

Greta was known for her “How Dare You?” speech, which she delivered in 2019 at the UN Climate Action Summit. There she was, a sixteen-year-old activist passionately confronting world leaders for their inaction on climate change. She accused them of stealing her childhood with their “empty words” while ecosystems collapsed and people suffered. She demanded they take real action instead of offering “fairy tales of eternal economic growth.” She mentioned how the future of her generation is at stake, meaning the people in power now won’t take accountability, but the new generation will bear the consequences. People look away when others ask for help, and this happens in many situations.

In her powerful speech, she says: “How dare you! You have stolen my dreams, my childhood with your empty words, and yet I’m one of the lucky ones. People are suffering, people are dying, and our ecosystems are collapsing. We are at the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and the fairy tale of economic growth. How dare you!”

This speech has always stuck with me, not only because it was a great speech but because it made me want to change how I do things in life—with trash, with electricity. These are big parts of our ecosystem, and it’s very important to remember that there’s always a chance to save our planet.

Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg is a Swedish climate activist who describes herself as "autistic and bipolar." Born January 3, 2003, in Stockholm, she was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome at age 11—a condition she has called her "superpower" for its role in shaping her uncompromising focus on climate science. In August 2018, at age 15, Thunberg began a solo "school strike for climate" outside the Swedish Parliament, holding a hand-painted sign reading "Skolstrejk för klimatet." Her protest sparked the global Fridays for Future movement, inspiring millions of young people worldwide to participate in climate strikes. Thunberg's influence—sometimes called the "Greta effect"—is credited with elevating climate change as a political priority and mobilizing unprecedented youth engagement in environmental activism. In 2019, she received the Right Livelihood Award "for inspiring and amplifying political demands for urgent climate action reflecting scientific facts." That same year, she sailed across the Atlantic to attend the UN Climate Action Summit, refusing to fly due to aviation's carbon emissions. As of 2025, Thunberg has expanded her activism to include humanitarian causes, including advocacy for Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

On September 23, 2019, Greta Thunberg addressed the United Nations Climate Action Summit at UN Headquarters in New York City. UN Secretary-General António Guterres convened this special summit under the theme "A Race We Can Win. A Race We Must Win" to accelerate global efforts to implement the Paris Agreement and limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. The summit brought together over 100 world leaders, government officials, business executives, and civil society representatives to announce concrete plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Three days earlier, on September 20, over four million people participated in the Global Climate Strike, the largest climate demonstration in history, adding pressure on political leaders to deliver meaningful commitments. Thunberg, then 16 years old, had traveled to New York by sailboat across the Atlantic—a two-week voyage from Plymouth, England—to avoid the carbon emissions of air travel. Her appearance at the summit came one year after she began her solo "school strike for climate" outside the Swedish Parliament, a protest that had since grown into the global Fridays for Future movement inspiring millions of young people worldwide.