Rhetorical devices

In his speech for the COP 26 Launch, Boris Johnson uses several rhetorical devices to enhance his speech and make it more impactful. 

Johnson uses a metaphor to show that so much CO2 has been released into the atmosphere that it covers the Earth just as a tea cosy covers a teapot: “we’ve poured so much CO2 into the atmosphere collectively that our entire planet is swaddled in a great tea cosy of the stuff” (ll. 47-48). The metaphor helps to offer a memorable and humorous mental image of the Earth as a giant teapot covered in a tea cosy. Moreover, using a very British object for his metaphor, Johnson aims to appear approachable and likeable. 

Another element that adds humor to Johnson’s speech is his reference to “a certain visionary mayor” (l. 39) when he is discussing the 2008 campaign to intro...