Zero: The Climate Race

Hosted by Bloomberg

Business Technology Science

Website RSS feed Instagram TikTok YouTube

Episodes

247

Latest episode

Aug 2026

Language

About the show

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 in.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

August 13, 202636 min

When climate change threatens national security

The impacts of climate change are becoming not just unignorable, but unbearable. Yet the political consensus around climate action is fracturing, as leaders debate the speed and scale of the changes needed. This week on Zero , Akshat Rathi speaks with Caroline Lucas, the former head of the UK’s Green party and a member of parliament for 14 years, about the increasing threat climate change poses to national security, and what she’s learned from four decades at the frontline of climate politics. Explore further: Caroline’s series for The Rest Is Politics Zack Polanski on Zero Dale Vince on Zero Lieutenant General Richard Nugee on Zero Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green . Our producer is Oscar Boyd. Special thanks to Summer Maxwell, Sommer Saadi, Alyssa McDonald and Laura Millan. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/green . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

August 6, 202643 min

The Iran war revealed that China has a new energy weapon

The Middle East conflict is now in its fifth month, deepening the oil and gas supply shock. Early in the war, analysts worried that the oil price would rise to $200 a barrel, causing a global recession and widespread panic, but that didn’t happen. This week on Zero , Akshat Rathi is joined by Bloomberg Opinion columnist Javier Blas to discuss why oil prices stayed around $100 per barrel and why the war is the start of a new paradigm in energy politics. Explore further: Javier Blas’ columns The Global Oil Cushion Isn’t Really Hitting ‘Tank Bottoms’ Another Critical Oil Waterway Is About to Close Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green . Our producer is Oscar Boyd. Special thanks to Summer Maxwell, Sommer Saadi, Alyssa McDonald and Laura Millan. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/green . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

July 30, 202635 min

When AI and climate anxieties collide to make beautiful stories: Imagine Series

How should we navigate a world in which anxieties about AI, climate change and capitalism collide? This week on Zero, Akshat Rathi speaks with Helen Phillips, author of Hum and the second-ever winner of the Climate Fiction Prize. Rathi asks Phillips how she’s transformed her anxieties into captivating prose, how her relationship to technology has changed through writing and what humanity loses out on if we rely on AI too much. Past episodes of Zero’s Imagine series: Abi Dare on finding the best climate stories Julia Wolfe on How Music can Inspire Climate Action George Saunders on Climate Guilt, AI and Critical Thinking Kim Stanley Robison on Abundance, Adequacy and Better Climate Futures Artist Monira Al Qadiri on the End of Oil Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green . Our producer is Oscar Boyd. Special thanks to Summer Maxwell, Sommer Saadi, Alyssa McDonald and Laura Millan. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/green . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

July 23, 202615 min

Bloomberg Australia: Lessons from the world's cleanest air

On a windswept cliff at the edge of Tasmania, scientists are quietly tracking the future of our planet. This week, host Rebecca Jones speaks with David Stringer, managing editor of climate and ESG news in Asia, about Kennaook/Cape Grim — home to some of the cleanest air on Earth and one of the world’s most important climate monitoring stations. Learn how decades of data are reshaping our understanding of climate change, why the site matters to governments and investors, and what Australia’s role could be in the global climate fight. Read more: Listen to our episode with Dale Vince about how the UK can lower energy bills Sign up to the Bloomberg Australia podcast See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

July 20, 202639 min

Ditching net zero to win the climate argument

Andy Burnham has become the UK’s sixth prime minister in just 10 years. When it comes to energy and climate, Labour Party’s Burnham will inherit many of the same challenges of his predecessors: high energy prices, security of supply and an increasingly polarized debate over the UK’s ambitions to reach net zero. This week on Zero, Akshat Rathi sits down with Dale Vince, founder of Ecotricity and major donor to Labour, to ask can a new UK government make energy cheap? Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green . Our producer is Oscar Boyd. Special thanks to Summer Maxwell, Sommer Saadi, Alyssa McDonald and Laura Millan. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/green . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

July 16, 202632 min

The selfish case for supporting foreign aid

Hundreds of millions of people around the world have no access to reliable electricity, a problem that doesn’t seem to be going away. Since US President Donald Trump started his second term, Western countries have cut development funding, including for climate projects. This week on Zero, Bloomberg’s Akshat Rathi asks Philippe Valahu, chief executive officer of Private Infrastructure Development Group, why it is still so hard to secure climate finance for developing countries. Explore further: Zero: How the Financial System Can Work for Climate - Bloomberg Zero: Ethiopia's Extraordinary Electric Car Boom - Bloomberg Bloomberg Green’s extreme heat series Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green . Our producer is Oscar Boyd. Special thanks to Summer Maxwell, Sommer Saadi, Alyssa McDonald and Laura Millan. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/green . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

July 9, 202633 min

Is the world prepared for the 'super' El Niño?

The great famine of the 1870s killed 50 million people – and El Niño was a key driver. Another El Niño phase has just begun and it’s expected to be among the strongest. There are five times as many people in 2026 as there were in the 1870s and the planet is 1.4C hotter. So are we better prepared? Bloomberg’s Akshat Rathi speaks with Mingfang Ting, professor of climate at Columbia University, about the natural phenomenon and its interaction with human-caused climate change. Read more: Bloomberg Green's deep dive on extreme heat Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green . Our producer is Oscar Boyd. Special thanks to Sommer Saadi, Mohsis Andam, Alyssa MacDonald and Laura Millan. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/green . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

July 2, 202632 min

Is the world becoming too hot for summer sports?

From hydration breaks at this year’s FIFA World Cup to the Tokyo Olympics moving its marathon 1,000km northward, climate change is affecting sport. And sport is affecting climate, as events grow in size and carbon emissions. To talk about the future of sport on an overheating planet, this week on Zero, Akshat Rathi is joined by Jessica Murfree, professor at the University of North Carolina, who studies the intersection of sport and climate change. Read more: David Pocock on Zero: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/zero-the-climate-race/id1621556928?i=1000582465514 Climate Activists Say Big Oil Is Taking Cycling Fans for a Ride - Bloomberg Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green . Our producer is Oscar Boyd. Special thanks to Sommer Saadi, Mohsis Andam, Alyssa MacDonald, Sharon Chen and Laura Millan. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/green . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

June 25, 202632 min

Solar and batteries are thriving — even in Trump’s America

The common narrative is that the US renewables industry is struggling. But that’s not the case for the whole sector. This week on Zero , Akshat Rathi talks with Kevin Smith, chief executive officer of Cypress Creek Energy, which recently secured $3.5 billion in financing to build one of the biggest solar and battery projects in the US. Even as the current American administration dismantles clean-energy policies, Smith sees a bright future for solar and batteries. Explore further: Big US Solar and Battery Project Lines Up $3.5 Billion Financing - Bloomberg Biggest US Wind Project Nears Completion With SunZia Wind Farm in New Mexico - Bloomberg Trump Erases Another $765 Million in Offshore Wind Leases - Bloomberg Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green . Our producer is Oscar Boyd. Special thanks to Sommer Saadi, Mohsis Andam, Sharon Chen and Laura Millan. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/green . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

June 18, 202644 min

The energy transition debate we need to have

The key to tackling climate change is moving away from burning fossil fuels to using renewable energy. But in his book More and More and More , French historian Jean-Baptiste Fressoz argues that the world has never actually managed a successful energy transition before and current plans are unrealistic. Many have taken his writing to mean that stopping global warming is impossible, however, he tells Akshat Rathi this week on Zero, his view is actually quite different. Explore further: Jean-Baptiste’s book, More and More and More: https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/306358/jean-baptiste-fressoz Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green . Our producer is Oscar Boyd. Special thanks to Sommer Saadi, Mohsis Andam, Sharon Chen and Laura Millan. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/green . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.