Rhetorics of climate action from the South: analysis of the discourses of COP25 decision makers

Abstract

The Conferences of the Parties function as transnational platforms to plan and implement mechanisms for climate action. The objective of this article is to analyze the discourses of the Global South in the context of COP 25, to unveil the environmental rhetoric of decision makers. For this, thematic content analysis was carried out on 60 statements of the high segment of COP25. It was possible to identify three rhetorics about climate action: urgent; ethical; cooperative, and two rhetorics about the climate regime from the South: the historical responsibility of the North and vulnerability as a condition that hinders climate action from the South. It is concluded that within the parties' discourses, a hegemonic rhetoric of climate inaction prevails, one which is focused on decision makers, is unable to implicate other actors, and reproduces the current logic of the climate regime.