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
11 snips
Oct 1, 2026 • 35min
Inside the little-known world of China's clean tech startups
Tonny Xie, an environmental engineer and chairman of the Bluetech Clean Air Alliance, has spent two decades tackling China’s pollution and climate challenges. He discusses the country’s dramatic air-quality gains, the emerging ecosystem of climate-tech startups, funding gaps, homegrown breakthroughs, and why Chinese innovators are increasingly looking to global markets.
11 snips
Sep 28, 2026 • 21min
UK energy secretary on net zero and cheaper power: live from New York
Miatta Fahnbulleh, the UK’s Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, discusses Britain’s clean-power transition. She explores making climate action affordable, creating jobs and community benefits, and turning households toward solar, batteries, heat pumps and electric vehicles. The conversation also covers the 2030 clean-power target, North Sea workers, grid upgrades and public influence over energy networks.
33 snips
Sep 24, 2026 • 40min
How to build an electrostate
Arthur Downing, energy writer and author of Power and the People, explores how to build an affordable, reliable, clean electricity system. He examines why cheap renewables do not always mean lower bills, how Britain’s history and privatization shaped today’s energy crisis, and whether centralized planning or decentralized ownership offers a better path forward.
Sep 17, 2026 • 37min
Inside China’s $7 trillion green finance market
Ma Jun, a Chinese economist and climate-finance specialist, explains how policy, technology and finance propelled China’s clean-tech boom. He explores central-bank incentives, green bonds and transition finance for heavy industry. The conversation also covers clean AI data centers, Hong Kong’s finance hub, panda bonds, climate adaptation and turning projects in emerging markets into investable opportunities.
6 snips
Sep 10, 2026 • 34min
Free Solo climber Alex Honnold's next mission: solar for everyone
Alex Honnold, the American climber famed for his rope-free ascent of Yosemite’s El Capitan, is taking on a new challenge: expanding solar access. He discusses melting glaciers, hidden mountain hazards, protecting public lands, and his journey from Chad to founding the Honnold Foundation. The conversation also explores community-led clean energy, philanthropy, and turning fear into action.
6 snips
Sep 7, 2026 • 17min
Do-it-yourself energy traders are gaming the grid: Big Take
Akshat Rathi, Bloomberg senior climate reporter and clean-energy specialist, explores the rise of DIY energy traders. Homeowners are using solar panels, batteries, dynamic pricing and AI to buy, sell and time their electricity. The conversation examines virtual power plants, Big Tech’s growing role in energy markets, and how flexible grids could turn more consumers into prosumers.
7 snips
Aug 31, 2026 • 29min
Nepal disaster shows how mountains are becoming less stable
Lou Del Bello, a Bloomberg News reporter covering energy, climate and environmental risks in South Asia, investigates Nepal’s deadly glacial-collapse flood. She explores how warming is destabilizing the Himalayas, why dense communities face growing danger, and how roads, dams and tourism development amplify risks. The conversation also examines monitoring challenges and community-led alternatives.
73 snips
Aug 27, 2026 • 41min
How to fix our vulnerable food system
Paul Behrens, British Academy Global Professor at the Oxford Martin School studying food, energy and economic systems. He discusses why crop models have downplayed climate damage. He warns about Super El Niño regional risks. He examines harmful subsidies and the need for plant-rich diets. He highlights promising tech like precision fermentation and what resilient, low-emission agriculture could look like.
25 snips
Aug 20, 2026 • 43min
More than AI, this century’s growth story is climate action
Lord Nicholas Stern, economist and LSE professor famed for the Stern Review, outlines climate action as this century’s growth story. He reframes growth to include health, education and environment. He contrasts China’s shift with India’s clean growth potential. He explains why green investments pay beyond emissions and how cheap clean energy and AI will reshape global economic geography.
20 snips
Aug 13, 2026 • 37min
When climate change threatens national security
Caroline Lucas, former UK Green Party leader and long-time MP known for decades of climate and nature activism. She links climate to national security and social justice. She explains why political consensus fractured and why reframing climate as a security risk matters. She discusses local resilience, North Sea drilling, adaptation measures and how politics must change to keep climate action alive.
