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
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.
Ditching net zero to win the climate argument
Jul 20, 2026Dale Vince, founder of Ecotricity and major Labour Party donor, discusses why net zero has become politically toxic and proposes three energy market reforms to halve UK energy bills without government spending. He argues the government should break the link between gas and renewable energy prices, apply contracts for difference to North Sea oil production, and regulate network operators—while pivoting away from net zero messaging toward 'green economy' framing to maintain political consensus.
The selfish case for supporting foreign aid
Jul 16, 2026Philippe Valahu, CEO of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), discusses the critical role of development finance in bringing electricity, water, and infrastructure to emerging markets across Africa and Asia. The episode explores how PIDG mobilizes both public and private capital to fund climate-focused infrastructure projects, the misconceptions about risk in developing economies, and the case for overseas development aid as enlightened self-interest for Western nations facing migration, unemployment, and political instability.
Is the world prepared for the 'super' El Niño?
Jul 9, 2026Professor Ming Funkting from Columbia University discusses the science of El Niño and the upcoming 'super' El Niño expected in 2026. The episode covers how El Niño works as a natural climate oscillation, its global impacts on weather patterns including droughts, flooding, and wildfires, and how the world's preparedness compares to the devastating 1877-1878 Great Famine. Funkting also addresses how climate scientists are responding to political attacks on climate science and the emerging field of extreme weather attribution.
Is the world becoming too hot for summer sports?
Jul 2, 2026Jessica Murphy, a researcher and professor at the University of North Carolina, discusses the intersection of sport and climate change. The episode explores how rising temperatures threaten athletic performance and event viability—from heat stroke risks to infrastructure challenges—while examining sport's substantial carbon footprint, particularly from fan travel at mega-events like the World Cup. Murphy and host Akshat Rathi examine both the physiological impacts on athletes and the systemic changes sports organizations must make, from rule modifications and event scheduling to confronting fossil fuel sponsorships.
Solar and batteries are thriving — even in Trump’s America
Jun 25, 2026Kevin Smith, CEO of Cypress Creek Renewables, discusses the state of the US renewable energy industry under the Trump administration. Despite policy headwinds including tariff increases and removal of tax credits, Smith argues that solar and battery deployment are thriving, with 90% of new grid capacity coming from renewables in 2025-2026. The conversation covers his $350 million Steel River Energy Center project in Arkansas, US manufacturing capacity for solar panels and batteries, and why renewables remain cheaper than natural gas even without subsidies.
The energy transition debate we need to have
Jun 18, 2026Jean-Baptiste Fressoz, a historian at the French National Center for Scientific Research, discusses his book "More and More and More," which challenges the concept of "energy transition" as a myth. Fressoz traces the historical origins of the energy transition narrative to 1950s nuclear scientists and its popularization by President Jimmy Carter in 1977, arguing that the world has never actually transitioned away from fossil fuels but rather added new energy sources on top of existing ones. The episode explores why this framing matters for climate action and whether true energy transitions are possible at country levels, ultimately arguing that meaningful climate progress requires reducing consumption rather than relying on technological solutions.
Ice cream fight: Can companies have a social conscience in 2026?
Jun 11, 2026Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben and Jerry's ice cream, discusses the company's 50-year history as a values-led business and his current campaign to separate Ben and Jerry's from Magnum Corporation (owned by Unilever). The conversation covers the 2021 decision to halt sales in occupied Palestinian territories, the subsequent corporate restructuring, and Cohen's argument that social mission—not just product quality—is central to the brand's value and customer loyalty. Cohen also addresses the tension between ice cream's dairy emissions and climate action.
How Asia’s ‘Ukraine moment’ is supercharging the energy transition
Jun 4, 2026Akshat Rathi, climate and energy reporter for Bloomberg News, discusses how the closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran—disrupting nearly 20% of global oil and gas supply—is accelerating the energy transition across Asia, paralleling Europe's response to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The episode explores how dual energy shocks (1970s, 2022, 2026) drive structural policy changes, renewable deployment, and individual consumer action, positioning this as Asia's pivotal moment toward electrification and energy security independence.
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