Zero: The Climate Race
Bloomberg
Zero is about the tactics and technologies taking us to a world of zero emissions. Each week Bloomberg’s award-winning reporter Akshat Rathi talks to the people tackling climate change – a venture capitalist hunting for the best cleantech investment, scientists starting companies, politicians who have successfully created climate laws, and CEOs who have completely transformed their businesses. The road to zero emissions has many paths and everyone’s got an opinion about the best route. Listen…
Recent Episodes
Inside China’s $7 trillion green finance market
Sep 17, 2026Ma Jun, chairman of the Hong Kong Green Finance Association and former chief economist of China's central bank, discusses how China became a green-finance superpower with $7 trillion in outstanding green finance. The conversation covers China's central bank policies that mandate green lending reporting, the growth of green bonds and panda bonds, transition finance for hard-to-abate sectors like steel and cement, and how other nations can accelerate their own climate transitions through finance innovation and technology deployment.
Free Solo climber Alex Honnold's next mission: solar for everyone
Sep 10, 2026Alex Honnold, the acclaimed free solo climber from the Oscar-winning documentary, discusses his observations of climate change's impact on mountains worldwide and his parallel mission through the Honnold Foundation to bring solar energy to underserved communities globally. Since founding the foundation in 2012, Honnold has committed $23 million across 200 projects, ranging from solar lanterns in East Africa to electric boats in the Amazon, and explains his philosophy of combining action-oriented philanthropy with his climbing career.
Do-it-yourself energy traders are gaming the grid: Big Take
Sep 7, 2026Bloomberg's Senior Climate Reporter Akshat Rathi discusses a growing phenomenon of residential energy traders—homeowners with solar panels and batteries who are using dynamic electricity pricing and automation tools to buy low and sell high, generating side income while supporting grid stability. The episode explores how three key shifts (falling solar/battery costs, dynamic pricing access, and AI-enabled automation) have enabled ordinary consumers to become prosumers, and how startups, utilities, and even major tech companies are reshaping the energy market.
Nepal disaster shows how mountains are becoming less stable
Aug 31, 2026Lou Del Bello, Bloomberg News correspondent based in New Delhi, discusses the August 26 glacial collapse in Nepal's Himalayas that triggered a catastrophic flash flood, killing hundreds and leaving thousands missing. The episode explores the links between climate change, glacier destabilization, and increasing disaster risk in mountain communities, alongside geopolitical complexities in data sharing and development priorities across India, Nepal, and China.
How to fix our vulnerable food system
Aug 27, 2026Paul Behrens, a British Academy Global Professor at the Oxford Martin School, discusses how climate change and extreme weather are threatening global food security and driving up prices. He explores the vulnerabilities of the current agricultural system—which accounts for 25% of planetary emissions and drives biodiversity loss—and outlines solutions ranging from plant-rich diets and policy reform to emerging technologies like precision fermentation. Behrens argues that high-income countries must transition away from livestock-heavy agriculture while supporting lower-income countries to avoid repeating the same damaging production systems.
More than AI, this century’s growth story is climate action
Aug 20, 2026Lord Nicholas Stern, professor of economics and government at the London School of Economics, discusses his latest book 'The Growth Story of the 21st Century'—a follow-up to his landmark 2006 Stern Review on climate economics. He argues that sustainable, inclusive growth driven by climate action represents the greatest economic opportunity of this century, addresses why global emissions have continued to rise despite the evidence, and explains how developing countries like India can pursue clean growth trajectories that avoid the pollution-intensive path taken by China.
When climate change threatens national security
Aug 13, 2026Caroline Lucas, former leader of the UK Green Party and 14-year MP for Brighton Pavilion, discusses how climate change poses an escalating threat to national security and reflects on four decades of climate politics. She explores why political consensus on climate action has fractured in the UK, arguing that the green movement must reframe its messaging around adaptation and community resilience rather than technocratic language like "net zero." Lucas advocates for local, people-centered climate solutions and warns against the rise of far-right parties exploiting climate as a culture war issue.
The Iran war revealed that China has a new oil weapon
Aug 6, 2026Javier Blas, Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering energy and commodities, discusses why oil prices remained around $100 per barrel during the Iran-US conflict despite early predictions of $200/barrel prices. He explains China's role as a 'swing consumer' that reduced crude imports by 50%, acting as a stabilizing force in global oil markets, and explores the geopolitical implications of the war for energy politics and the energy transition.
When AI and climate anxieties collide to make beautiful stories: Imagine Series
Jul 30, 2026Helen Phillips, award-winning author and Brooklyn College creative writing professor, discusses her climate fiction novel 'Hum,' winner of the 2026 Climate Fiction Prize. The novel explores a dystopian future where AI-powered robots provide labor and surveillance, and a woman named May loses her job to automation, then undergoes an experimental procedure to fund a family trip to one of the last remaining natural spaces. Phillips discusses how anxieties about AI, climate change, and capitalism informed the book, the challenge of making climate change narratively compelling, and her philosophy on balancing technology in writing and life.
Bloomberg Australia: Lessons from the world's cleanest air
Jul 23, 2026David Stringer, managing editor of Asia at Bloomberg Green, discusses his recent visit to Cape Grim, a remote climate monitoring station on Tasmania's northwestern tip that samples some of the world's cleanest air. The episode explores how nearly 50 years of atmospheric data from this site—one of only three premier global air pollution observatories—informs our understanding of climate change and has enabled significant policy interventions. Stringer also covers Australia's climate politics, emissions trends, and the country's unique role in the upcoming COP31 climate negotiations in Turkey.
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