Zero: The Climate Race

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Tasmania’s electric shipping bet: Bloomberg Australia Oct 08, 2026

Show notes

Zero is on a break this week, so we’re bringing you an episode from the Bloomberg Australia podcast. A shipyard in Tasmania has delivered the world’s largest electric ship, a 130-metre ferry powered by more than 250 tons of batteries. Host Rebecca Jones talks to David Stringer, Asia Managing Editor for Bloomberg Green and ESG, who toured the vessel and met veteran shipbuilder Robert Clifford. They explore what Tasmania’s maritime innovation could mean for an industry under pressure to cut emissions.

Vote for Zero in the Signal Podcast Awards:

We’re excited to announce that Zero has been selected as a finalist for the Signal Podcast Awards in the Sustainability & Environment category. Now we need your vote to help us win. Vote for Zero at https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2026/shows/genre/sustainability-environment. Thank you.

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Inside the little-known world of China's clean tech startups Oct 01, 2026

Show notes

China is a hotbed of innovation, filling nearly half of the world’s new patents every year. Much of that work is in the world of clean tech and a whole ecosystem is growing to help make these breakthroughs commercial. This week on Zero, Akshat Rathi is joined by Tonny Xie, chairman of Bluetech Clean Air Alliance, a China-based nonprofit organization that’s helping to grow the next era of climate startups.

Read more:

Bluetech Clean Air Alliance website
Zero: Inside China’s $7 Trillion Green Finance Market

Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Oscar Boyd. Special thanks to Lili Pike, Sommer Saadi and Alyssa McDonald. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/green.

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UK energy secretary on net zero and cheaper power: live from New York Sep 28, 2026

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Miatta Fahnbulleh, the UK Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, discusses the country's energy transition, the push for affordable and secure power and the UK’s role in the global climate action with Bloomberg's Aaron Rutkoff at Bloomberg Green New York 2026.

Watch the video of this conversation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdgTzMIgS9g

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How to build an electrostate Sep 24, 2026

Show notes

How to make electricity cheap is a question that’s bedeviling policy makers around the world, particularly in the US and Europe. Some countries, however, have figured it out, including Iceland, Norway and China. So how do we get to that point? And what is the role of government versus the role of technology? This week on Zero, Akshat Rathi is joined by Arthur Downing, author of Power and the People, to discuss how to build an electrostate.

Explore further:

Read Arthur’s Substack: https://energynetworks.substack.com/
Find a copy of Arthur’s book: https://amzn.eu/d/0dSrRHty

Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Oscar Boyd. Special thanks to Sommer Saadi and Alyssa McDonald. 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.

Inside China’s $7 trillion green finance market Sep 17, 2026

Show notes

When it comes to green tech, China is a list of superlatives. It produces more solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles and batteries than anywhere else in the world. But is finance the real climate hero? This week on Zero, Akshat Rathi is joined by Ma Jun, chairman of the Hong Kong Green Finance Association and former chief economist of China’s central bank. They discuss how the country became a green-finance superpower and how other nations can speed up their own transitions.

Explore further:

The Hong Kong Green Finance Association website
China’s $6.8 Trillion Green Finance Boom Seen Advancing Further - Bloomberg

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Free Solo climber Alex Honnold's next mission: solar for everyone Sep 10, 2026

Show notes

Climber Alex Honnold is best known as the star of Free Solo, an Oscar-winning documentary that followed his rope-free ascent of the 3,000-foot (1,000-meter) face of Yosemite’s El Capitan. But he has also established the Honnold Foundation to bring solar power to those who most need it. This week on Zero, Bloomberg’s Akshat Rathi asks Honnold how he gets big things done and why helping communities get clean energy has become his other passion in life.

Explore further:

Honnold Foundation website
Alex Honnold's website
Free Solo trailer

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Do-it-yourself energy traders are gaming the grid: Big Take Sep 07, 2026

Show notes

Energy consumers are used to a pretty simple transaction with utility companies: get electricity to power your home, pay up every month. Now, more consumers are stockpiling their own energy using solar panels and batteries. And some are even making money by selling that energy back to the grid. On last week's Big Take podcast, host Sarah Holder talked with Zero host Akshat Rathi about a new class of at-home energy trader that’s vibe coding its way to daily energy savings and big profits.

Read the full feature story here.

Find all episodes of The Big Take podcast here.

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Nepal disaster shows how mountains are becoming less stable Aug 31, 2026

Show notes

On the morning of August 26, a glacial collapse in the Himalayas triggered a flash flood that sent ice, mud, rocks and fast-moving water through a valley in Nepal, wiping out entire communities. This week on Zero, Akshat Rathi is joined by Lou Del Bello, who has been reporting on the disaster for Bloomberg News from New Delhi. They discuss what can be done to keep mountain communities safe, and why events like this are likely to become more frequent in a warming world.

Explore further:

Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Oscar Boyd. Special thanks to Sommer Saadi, Laura Millan and Alyssa McDonald. 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.

How to fix our vulnerable food system Aug 27, 2026

Show notes

Extreme weather events this year are starting to hurt food production in serious ways, which is likely to push up everyone’s food prices. That’s before the weather-wrecking super El Niño has really kicked in. So how do we build a food system that is more resilient, more secure and has lower emissions? Paul Behrens, British Academy Global Professor at the Oxford Martin School, joins Akshat Rathi on Zero to discuss.

Explore further:

The Best of Times, The Worst of Times: https://drpaulbehrens.com/books/
Mingfang Ting on Zero: Is the World Prepared for Super El Niño?
George Monbiot on Zero: The Food System Needs a Radical Rethink

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More than AI, this century’s growth story is climate action Aug 20, 2026

Show notes

It’s 20 years since the Stern Review declared that the costs of inaction on climate change are much higher than the costs of action. So why are emissions continuing to rise? Lord Nicholas Stern tells Bloomberg’s Akshat Rathi why he is optimistic about our ability to tackle climate change and what makes those actions the growth story of the 21st century.

Explore further:

Read for free: The Growth Story of The 21st Century

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