Zero: The Climate Race

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Big Take: The energy crisis is speeding up clean tech adoption worldwide Mar 24, 2026

Show notes

As the war with Iran drags out and oil prices remain turbulent, it raises the question of whether — and how — prolonged conflict in the Middle East might impact global fossil fuel dependence and the future of renewable energy.

This week on Big Take podcast, Bloomberg reporter Todd Woody and Zero podcast host Akshat Rathi join Sarah Holder to discuss early signs that the high cost of oil is reigniting consumer interest in electronic vehicles and other clean energy technologies, and how companies and countries are beginning to respond.

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Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Julia Press; Reported by Todd Woody and Akshat Rathi; Edited by Tracey Samuelson. Fact-checking by Eleanor Harrison-Dengate; Engineering by Alex Sugiura.
Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.

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The future of climate science without US support Mar 19, 2026

Show notes

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is responsible for collating our shared scientific understanding of how global warming is impacting the planet. But the body now faces a challenge after the US withdrew funding for its scientists to participate. Professor Jim Skea, who chairs the IPCC, joins Akshat Rathi on Zero to talk about the body’s future, whether the organisation can survive the US pullback, and what questions the next set of reports are going to answer.

Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Oscar Boyd. Special thanks to Olivia Rudgard, Eric Roston, Sommer Saadi, 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.

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‘Everywhere I looked, climate change bled’ Abi Daré on writing fiction: Imagine series Mar 12, 2026

Show notes

In the latest episode of Zero’s Imagine series, Akshat Rathi is joined by Abi Daré, winner of the inaugural Climate Fiction Prize. Abi is the bestselling author of And So I Roar, which tells the story of the teenager Adunni as she confronts superstition, lack of education and the impacts of climate change on the rural communities of Nigeria. Abi joins Zero to talk about the role climate change plays in her storytelling, and how she has seen Nigeria adopt climate solutions as it develops rapidly.

Explore further:

Abi Daré’s website: https://abidareauthor.com/
The Climate Fiction Prize: https://climatefictionprize.co.uk/

Past episodes in the Imagine series:

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.

War with Iran is a nightmare for oil and gas. What does it mean for clean energy? Mar 03, 2026

Show notes

Many consider a widespread war in the Middle East the worst-case scenario for the global oil and gas markets. That war is here, and it could have wide-ranging, long-lasting impacts on energy and climate policy. This week on Zero, Akshat Rathi speaks with Jason Bordoff, director of the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University and former energy and climate advisor to President Barack Obama to try to understand what those impacts could look like. Will countries double down on fossil fuels or will they speed up the clean-energy transition?

Links and more:

For all of Bloomberg's coverage of Iran, visit: https://www.bloomberg.com/uk
What the War With Iran Means for Renewable Energy Deployment

Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Oscar Boyd. Special thanks to Eleanor Harrison-Dengate, 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.

Lessons to avoid societal collapse, from 5,000 years of history Feb 26, 2026

Show notes

Societal collapses happen more often than you think, and there’s much we can learn from the past to avoid or, at least, delay another one.

This week’s guest on Zero is Luke Kemp, author of Goliath's Curse, which draws lessons from the rise and fall of societies over 5,000 years of human history. Akshat Rathi asks Luke whether our current moment — with climate change and AI — makes us uniquely vulnerable to societal collapse or more resilient than we might think.

Explore further:

Luke’s book, Goliath’s Curse
The MOROS database

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(Sponsored Content) Evolving Money: Blue Chip Meets Blockchain Feb 22, 2026

Show notes

Crypto has become increasingly integrated into the financial system, from the use of stablecoins for payments, to the trading of tokenized equities on blockchains, to the adoption of crypto holdings by corporate treasuries. We explore how PNC Bank, one of the first movers in this space, has been expanding access to crypto and the challenges it has had to overcome.

This episode is sponsored by Coinbase.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ethiopia’s fossil fuel car ban is a vision of the future Feb 19, 2026

Show notes

In 2024, Ethiopia did something revolutionary. It banned the import of fossil fuel cars and cut tariffs on electric vehicles. This week on Zero, Akshat Rathi talks with producer Oscar Boyd and Ethiopia-based EV entrepreneur Yuma Sasaki about the EV boom that ensued and what that tells us about the growth of EVs in rapidly developing countries like Ethiopia.

Read more:

Electric Vehicle Sales Boom as Ethiopia Bans Fossil-Fuel Car Imports
Dodai's website: https://dodai.co

Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Oscar Boyd. Special thanks to Fasika Tadesse, Sommer Saadi, Laura Millan, and Sharon Chen. 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.

Do artists have a duty to be political? Imagine series Feb 12, 2026

Show notes

How can music be used to communicate the climate crisis and its solutions? This week on Zero, Akshat Rathi talks with Pulitzer Prize winning composer Julia Wolfe about her recent work, unEarth, which explores climate change and habitat loss through orchestra, voice and poetry. Wolfe discusses how she did her research, captured the clash between humanity and nature, and what the piece means at a time when her home country of the US seems to be moving ever further from climate action.

Listen to unEarth:

If you'd like to listen to the full performance of Julia Wolfe’s unEarth, it will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on Thursday, 12 February at 7.30pm UK time, and will be available on BBC Sounds, at least for those here in the UK, for the next month.

Explore further:

Julia Wolfe’s website: https://juliawolfemusic.com/
Past episodes in the Imagine series:

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Electricity is now holding back growth across the global economy Feb 05, 2026

Show notes

Major economies around the world are grappling with electricity grids under stress from equipment bottlenecks and workforce shortages. What can be done to solve it? This week on Zero, Akshat Rathi talks with Manoj Sinha, CEO of Husk Power Systems, about distributed energy resources and their potential to bring electricity to where it is needed most — from energy-poor regions in the Global South, to energy-hungry data centres in rich countries.

Bottlenecks series:

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