Barack Obama: UN Paris climate change conference 2015 - speech analysis PDF

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Melissa Hinrichs

Speech analysis

31.08.2021

What dangers does Obama envisage?   

He points out that nothing else poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change. He mentions that 2014 was the planet’s warmest year on record. At that, 14 of the 15 warmest years registered were in the first 15 years of the 21st century. Scientists all around the globe say that our actions cause climate change. Without drastic changes, we will continue to see rising oceans, longer, hotter heat waves, dangerous droughts and floods, and massive disruptions that can trigger greater migration, conflict, and hunger worldwide. The Pentagon says that climate change poses immediate risks to our national security.

Barack Obama, the former president of the US, held a speech at the Parc des Expositions du Bourget in Le Bourget, Paris, on Nov. 30, 2015. The occasion was the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21). He points out the excessively high emissions and other human behavior that contributes to future temperature rises caused by climate change. Thereby, he urges his fellow world leaders to take the right measures for reducing environmental damage.

Obama’s main concern is to deliver the message that in a few centuries the earth will not be worth living on anymore. If we do not take immediate action against climate change, natural catastrophes will intensify. They will be one of many reasons why people will seek refuge in other countries. So, he tries to convey urgency about what is at stake. His arguments are based on firsthand experiences in countries affected by climate change like Alaska with its melting glaciers. Also, he states facts proven by international scientists for example that fourteen of the fifteen warmest years recorded were in the 21st century. By reasoning with these arguments, he makes it clear for the audience that time is running out and our planet will not withstand our drastic impacts forever. The ex-president presents his speech in a formal, self-confident way but nervously about the dangers he mentions. His voice is loud and clear, he talks slowly and emphasized. Throughout his speech, Obama employs several stylistic devices to underline his point of view. In total, he often makes use of inclusive language to put himself and the audience on the same level and help them to identify with the goal. A different recurring one in the excerpt of his speech is anaphora. He uses it to highlight the importance of his statements. Initially, he uses anaphors to give hope to the audience “that this is a turning point” (ll.6 ff.) and the power to change something should be used: “Right here. Right now.” (ll.39 f.). To show that the negotiators care, we should “act here, [...] act now” (l.128). But because some people do 1

Melissa Hinrichs

Speech analysis

not feel addressed by the issue of climate change, Obama clarifies with an alliteration (l.18) and antithesis (ll.18 f.) that “no nation - large or small, wealthy or poor - is immune” the consequences of it. Afterwards, he creates a picture of a chaotic world in a possible future with ellipses and enumerations (ll.30 ff.). That “that future” will not look so bright for fractile states is stressed by another anaphora (ll.26 ff.). Parallelism used in a quote of an American governor says: Regardless of how far that future lies ahead of us, we are “‘the last generation that can do something about it’” (ll.43 f.). Despite these warnings, Obama also lists progress made in the last seven years “in clean energy, and [...] carbon emissions” with alliteration (ll.52 f.). Furthermore, he states with antithesis that “our economic output” reached their “all-time highs” and “carbon pollution” sank “to its lowest levels” (ll.56 ff.). Another alliteration combined with parallelism (ll.65 ff.) shows how that “strong economic growth” and a “safer environment” can work out “with one another”. These accomplishments are not supposed to be a “stopgap solution”, underlined by alliteration (l.72), but the start of a low-carbon future. Another aspect that concerns the ex-president is the next generation who watches the steps of the politicians. At a town hall in Malaysia, he encountered a young Indonesian woman asking him about a global problem, “and it wasn’t” terrorism, the economy or human rights, but about climate change as emphasized with anaphora (ll.110 ff.). Similarly, with one more anaphora (ll.117 f.), he desperately wants to take action for her to be heard and make an impact on everyone, “men and women, rich and poor”, as said with antithesis (l.120). If they do put their short-term interests behind right away, then it will not be too late for the younger generation as spoken in an enumeration (ll.128 ff.). For motivating his “fellow leaders” (l.135), said to let them feel involved in the whole climate conflict, Obama uses a rhetorical question (ll.143 ff.). It should convince them that there is no more worthy reward than knowing our future generation will profit from the deals the lawmakers could conclude here. He also asks them to get to work and send a signal (l.103, l.158). Finally, he ends with an accumulation of adjectives (l.155 ff.) that describe the world they could create by handling the biggest global issue, climate change.

In short, Barack Obama succeeds in captivating his audience as a talented speaker and convincing them to take action against climate change. He makes use of various well-used stylistic devices like anaphors, alliterations and inclusive language. Through this, the listener feels involved and the urge to make an impact. Hot topics require gifted rhetoricians, so Obama was a properly chosen representative for the US back then. Many people could take him as an example for their speeches.

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