ABSTRACT
The 21st Conference of the Parties in late 2015 (COP21) was widely regarded as a pivotal moment in the international effort to curb climate change (CC) and deal with its consequences. On November 30, at the start of the conference, 150 leaders of state and government convened at the Leaders Event to mark the start of the negotiations (UNFCCC 2015). Among them were the leaders of China, India, South Africa, and the United States. All four countries are significant emitters of greenhouse gases (GHG), but their historical responsibilities for emissions and levels of economic development are vastly different. The author uses two main theoretical tools in his analysis: (1) Flottum and Gjerstad's approach to CC narratives (2013a, 2013b), and (2) the Scandinavian theory of linguistic polyphony, or ScaPoLine. He explains the theoretical framework, before the analysis, which is organized according to the narrative structure, beginning with the initial situation and ending with the final situation.
