Are we currently facing the ‘end of reason’?

In his keynote speech at the inaugural RIFS conference, Jürgen Trittin, former Federal German Minister for the Environment and long-serving politician with Alliance 90/The Greens, analysed the development of the climate debate from broad consensus to deep polarisation. He opened with the question of whether we are facing the "end of reason". He then explained that the climate debate is now dominated by a well-organised minority that deliberately stir up fears and deny facts. This group, supported by the fossil fuel lobby, uses the media, social media algorithms and populist rhetoric to divide the public.