social justice2019• UN Climate Action Summit, New York

How Dare You — UN Climate Action Summit

Greta Thunberg

At sixteen, after sailing across the Atlantic to avoid air travel, Greta Thunberg addressed the UN Climate Action Summit. The four-minute speech was less an appeal than an indictment — delivered to an audience of world leaders she explicitly refused to flatter. Her subsequent appearances at COP24 (2018), the World Economic Forum (2019), and COP26 (2021) extended the same rhetorical mode: moral outrage from a generation that did not cause the crisis but will inherit it.

Watch the Speech

Speech Structure

Refusal of the role

Opens by stating she should be in school, not at the UN — rejecting the platform she has been given.

The accusation

'How dare you' — direct, repeated indictment of leaders for empty words and inaction.

The data

Cites IPCC carbon budgets and probability figures to ground emotion in science.

The moral charge

Frames inaction as a betrayal of children — generational injustice as the central frame.

Closing — The world is watching

Closes with the warning that her generation will not forgive failure.

Rhetorical Techniques

Anaphora

"Repeated 'How dare you' across the speech."

Transforms a four-minute address into a hammered indictment — the phrase became the speech's identity.

Refusal of the script

"Opening with 'This is all wrong. I shouldn't be up here.'"

Subverts the expected rhetoric of gratitude and humility, immediately establishing moral authority.

Data as accusation

"Citing exact IPCC carbon budgets and a 50% probability of staying below 1.5°C."

Pre-empts dismissal as emotional — the science becomes part of the prosecution.

Generational framing

"'You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words.'"

Reframes climate from policy issue to intergenerational injustice — harder to ignore, harder to negotiate.

Key Quotes

"This is all wrong. I shouldn't be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean."

"How dare you. You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words."

"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."

"The world is waking up. And change is coming, whether you like it or not."

Delivery Analysis

Pace

Variable — slow and trembling at moments, sharp and forceful at others. The unevenness is part of the effect.

Tone

Furious, audibly emotional, refusing the diplomatic register.

Pauses

Long pauses charged with visible anger — leaders shifted uncomfortably in the silences.

Gestures

Minimal — the stillness amplified the words. A widely-screenshotted glare became an icon of the speech.

Why It Works

Authority through refusal

By rejecting the conventions of the venue, Thunberg gained authority that polite speech could not have produced.

Emotional credibility

Visible anger from a sixteen-year-old read as authentic in a way that polished adult oratory could not.

Science plus moral charge

Pairing IPCC data with direct accusation made the speech impossible to dismiss as either alarmist or technocratic.

Lessons for Your Speech

Subvert the expected register

If your audience expects gratitude, refuse it. Breaking the convention of the venue can give your message far more power than meeting it.

Pair emotion with data

Anger alone is dismissible; data alone is forgettable. Together they become an indictment that cannot be brushed aside.

Repeat your strongest line

'How dare you' worked because she returned to it. Find your line and let it become the speech.

Legacy & Impact

The speech became one of the most-shared political moments of the late 2010s and helped trigger global school strikes for climate involving millions of students. Thunberg was named Time Person of the Year in 2019 and her direct, accusatory style influenced a generation of youth activists across causes. The 'How dare you' clip is now a fixture in rhetoric and political communication courses as an example of how subverting expected register can amplify a message.