96 episodes

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.

Zero: The Climate Race Bloomberg

    • Business
    • 4.7 • 122 Ratings

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher

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 on Apple Podcasts
Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher

    A legally binding treaty to fight the plastic problem

    A legally binding treaty to fight the plastic problem

    The plastic problem is everywhere: in our oceans, communities, even inside our bodies. Plastic is abundant and very cheap, and the amount we produce is expected to triple by 2060 from 430 million tons a year to 1.2 billion tons, according to the OECD. The large amount of plastic could produce four billion tons of greenhouse gases, so a fix is becoming increasingly necessary. This week, Bloomberg Green senior reporter Akshat Rathi sat down with Inger Andersen, head of the UN’s Environment Program, to talk about an upcoming treaty that tackles increasing levels of plastic. You can read the transcript of this conversation here.

    Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Oscar Boyd and our senior producer is Christine Driscoll. Special thanks to Kira Bindrim, Leslie Kaufman and Tiffany Tsoi. 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.

    • 25 min
    Listen Now: The Big Take

    Listen Now: The Big Take

    The Big Take from Bloomberg News brings you inside what’s shaping the world's economies with the smartest and most informed business reporters around the world. The context you need on the stories that can move markets. Every afternoon.
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 1 min
    Making renewables a profitable bet… everywhere

    Making renewables a profitable bet… everywhere

    When Brookfield Asset Management launched a $15 billion fund to expand clean energy in 2021, it was the largest private fund of its kind in the world. Now Brookfield is starting a second fund with billions from Alterra, which is backed by the United Arab Emirates. Zero host Akshat Rathi sat down with Brookfield Renewable Partners CEO Connor Teskey to talk about making climate finance work. You can read the transcript of the conversation here. 

    Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producers are Tiffany Tsoi, Sommer Saadi and Magnus Henriksson. Special thanks this week to Kira Bindrim and Jessica Nix. 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.

    • 36 min
    Climate change can't overcome capitalism, and that's OK

    Climate change can't overcome capitalism, and that's OK

    It is now cheaper to save the world than destroy it. But is capitalism up to the challenge of preventing the climate crisis? 

    In his new book Climate Capitalism, Zero host Akshat Rathi introduces a dozen people who are already steering capitalism to solve the climate crisis: from the engineer who shaped China's electric car policies and the politician who helped make net-zero a UK law to the CEO who fought off a takeover attempt so he could stick with a sustainability strategy. Akshat argues that not only is capitalism capable of taking on the climate crisis, but harnessing it is the only way to solve the climate crisis in the time we have available. 

    And yet while some improvements have been made over the past few years, the world is off track to meet its 2050 climate targets. So today on Zero, Bloomberg’s Greener Living editor Kira Bindrim sits down with Akshat to discuss his new book, and asks him: If climate capitalism is so doable, why does it seem so difficult? 

    Read more: 


    Order Akshat’s new book, Climate Capitalism
    Listen to the interview with Fatih Birol that Akshat mentions 
    Hear Akshat and Kira talk about the reality of carbon footprints
    Read a transcript of this episode


    Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Oscar Boyd and our senior producer is Christine Driscoll. Special thanks to Anna Mazarakis, Gilda di Carli and Kira Bindrim. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit bloomberg.com/green. 
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 30 min
    John Kerry, the Forrest Gump of climate, bows out

    John Kerry, the Forrest Gump of climate, bows out

    John Kerry is the Forrest Gump of climate. The guy you’ll find at every important turn in history doing something impactful. For the last three years, he has been the US special presidential envoy for climate and tasked with restoring the US’s global credibility on climate action. In a conversation with Akshat Rathi, Kerry reflects on those efforts, his frustrations and what still keeps him going at 80.

    Read Bloomberg Green's feature looking at Kerry's work in the envoy role.

    Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producers are Tiffany Tsoi, Sommer Saadi and Magnus Henriksson. Special thanks this week to Kira Bindrim and Jen Dlouhy. 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.

    • 30 min
    Introducing: The Deal with Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly

    Introducing: The Deal with Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly

    The Deal, hosted by Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly, features intimate conversations with business titans, sports champions and game-changing entrepreneurs who reveal their investment philosophies, pivotal career moves and the ones that got away. From Bloomberg Podcasts and Bloomberg Originals, The Deal is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, Bloomberg Carplay, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also watch The Deal on Bloomberg Television, and Bloomberg Originals on YouTube.
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 1 min

Customer Reviews

4.7 out of 5
122 Ratings

122 Ratings

PSB1947 ,

A Plus

Highly informative, in depth, every episode investigates a piece of the complex puzzle with high quality informants.

Reid, NYC ,

The EV episode was a wild ride

The title itself makes no sense, and they even admit as much during the podcast, if not in so many words. Is the future of cars electric? Yes. Is the future of transportation electric cars? No way, and they even say it at the end. A few points: The guest seems to think that air quality effects from ICE vehicles only comes from tailpipe emissions, when in fact, a very large contributor to air pollution is tire wear. This is an even worse problem with EVs because they are so much heavier than ICE cars. They also suggest that the increase in EV sales is down to customer demand, but then go on to state that policy is really moving the needle and more needs to be done. After blathering on about the ins and outs of the expanding EV market, the guest mentions at the very end that an all-of-the-above approach for future transport is what is really needed, to include the umbrella of active transport (walking, biking, etc.) and public transit. OK, that makes sense. So why does most of the transportation part of the IRA go towards electrifying passenger cars and the needed infrastructure to make that possible? They state explicitly that we are absolutely not on track for our carbon goals, yet decided to make a celebratory report of the rapidly expanding EV market. EVs will do one thing well: they will help rescue the car industry. They will NOT single-handedly help us meet climate goals. They will cause the same traffic as ICE cars, will likely cause worse wear on roads and infrastructure (which by itself is massively expensive and hugely carbon intensive), and will likely play a role in the actual safety crisis of traffic fatalities and injuries that is happening today (since they are heavier, they are generally deadlier). Also, the data cited from the Netherlands is pulled so far out of context as to be laughable. It makes sense such a large percentage of kms are traveled in car because that’s what cars are generally good for: going long distances. Most NL cities are designed in such a way that longer commutes are not necessary, so people travel less far to begin with, about 20% lower than the US, on average. And the modal share of ‘active’ transport over these shorter trips is astronomically higher than countries like the US. All that because of policy and planning. It’s not a “tricky” question like the guest suggests.

Jxk269 ,

Game show

Not a fan of the format; the loud laughing is off putting

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