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 in.
Episodes
Mentioned books
13 snips
Mar 26, 2026 • 52min
Zack Polanski’s plan to tax billionaires and make energy affordable
Zack Polanski, leader of the Green Party in England and Wales and a climate-focused politician, outlines plans to cut bills, expand renewables and retrofit homes. He discusses taxing unearned wealth to fund relief, rethinking security to include climate and cyber risks, and boosting local energy, public ownership and green manufacturing through mission-led policy.
29 snips
Mar 24, 2026 • 17min
Big Take: The energy crisis is speeding up clean tech adoption worldwide
Todd Woody, Bloomberg reporter on clean energy and transportation, and Akshat Rathi, Bloomberg climate and clean energy analyst. They discuss surging fuel prices after Middle East conflict and the jump in EV interest. They cover used EV supply, manufacturing limits, and Asia’s accelerating demand. They explore rising interest in heat pumps and rooftop solar and how policy and economics are reshaping adoption.
22 snips
Mar 19, 2026 • 40min
The future of climate science without US support
Professor Jim Skea, chair of the IPCC and veteran climate scientist, discusses the panel’s evolution and its stance on science versus advocacy. He explores AR7 priorities like 1.5°C overshoot, carbon removal feasibility, and timing with the global stocktake. He also covers impacts of US funding cuts on participation, how recent extremes fit projections, and AI’s role in report writing.
Mar 12, 2026 • 35min
‘Everywhere I looked, climate change bled’ Abi Daré on writing fiction: Imagine series
Abi Daré, British–Nigerian novelist and founder of the Louding Voice Foundation, discusses how climate change kept surfacing in her research and shaped her storytelling. She explains choosing a teenage narrator, research into drought-hit rural Nigeria, how fiction bridges city readers to rural realities, and the practical climate solutions and education efforts she’s seen.
39 snips
Mar 3, 2026 • 39min
War with Iran is a nightmare for oil and gas. What does it mean for clean energy?
Jason Bordoff, director at Columbia’s Center on Global Energy Policy and former White House energy adviser, breaks down energy geopolitics. He talks about how the Iran war affects oil and gas markets. He explores risks for LNG and gas-dependent countries. He examines clean-tech supply chain vulnerabilities and how EVs change oil demand.
56 snips
Feb 26, 2026 • 43min
Lessons to avoid societal collapse, from 5,000 years of history
Luke Kemp, researcher at Cambridge and author of Goliath's Curse, studies 5,000 years of societal collapse and long-term risk. He contrasts Hollywood myths with historical patterns, explores inequality and power as core drivers, and outlines four risk factors shaping collapse. He also discusses democratic reforms like citizens' juries and how global interconnectedness and technology change modern vulnerabilities.
Feb 22, 2026 • 17min
(Sponsored Content) Evolving Money: Blue Chip Meets Blockchain
Amanda Aghadi, Chief Investment Officer at PNC Asset Management Group, who builds institutional access to crypto and blockchain products. She recounts why PNC moved into crypto and the internal regulatory debates that followed. She explains the strategic Coinbase partnership and the client-driven paths to access crypto. She outlines risk, volatility trade-offs and blockchain use beyond tokens.
26 snips
Feb 19, 2026 • 33min
Ethiopia’s fossil fuel car ban is a vision of the future
Yuma Sasaki, founder and CEO of Dodai and an e-mobility entrepreneur in Ethiopia, describes building electric two-wheeler manufacturing and battery-swapping networks. He talks about why two-wheelers suit Addis Ababa, how policy changes spurred rapid EV adoption, and the logistics of local assembly, sourcing, and scaling in a challenging market.
8 snips
Feb 12, 2026 • 33min
Do artists have a duty to be political? Imagine series
Julia Wolfe, Pulitzer Prize–winning composer known for large-scale works and the climate oratorio unEarth, discusses using orchestra, voice and text to explore climate and habitat loss. She explains the three movements—Flood, Forest, and a protest-like finale. Conversation covers research, shifting meanings over time, using words with music, and collaborating with performers and youth voices.
26 snips
Feb 5, 2026 • 39min
Electricity is now holding back growth across the global economy
Manoj Sinha, CEO of Husk Power Systems, a founder scaling mini-grids and distributed energy in Asia and Africa. He discusses mini-grids, solar-plus-storage and biogas as fast paths to electrify underserved areas. He explains how DERs can ease grid bottlenecks, support industry and data centers, and the policies and payments tech that help systems scale.
