Western economies need to electrify and fast, but where are all the skilled workers going to come from to install the heat pumps, solar panels and batteries needed? This week on Zero, Akshat Rathi talks with Olivia Rudgard about the shortage of labor in electrification industries, and why some experts are calling it an ‘existential’ crisis. This is the second episode in Bottlenecks, a new series exploring the lesser known obstacles standing in the way of our electrified future.

Explore further:
Read the Big Take: There Aren't Enough Engineers to Meet the World's Growing Hunger for Power
Previous episode in Zero’s Bottleneckes series: How a Shortage of Transformers Threatens Electricity Supply
Northvolt Hits End of Line After Failing to Reach Rescue Deal

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

Western economies need to electrify and fast, but where are all the skilled workers going to come from to install the heat pumps, solar panels and batteries needed? This week on Zero, Akshat Rathi talks with Olivia Rudgard about the shortage of labor in electrification industries, and why some experts are calling it an &lsquo;existential&rsquo; crisis. This is the second episode in Bottlenecks, a new series exploring the lesser known obstacles standing in the way of our electrified future.
Explore further:
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Read the Big Take: <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2025-bottlenecks-engineering-jobs/?sref=jjXJRDFv">There Aren't Enough Engineers to Meet the World's Growing Hunger for Power</a></li>
<li aria-level="1">Previous episode in Zero&rsquo;s Bottleneckes series:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-05-29/how-a-shortage-of-transformers-threatens-electricity-supply?srnd=undefined">How a Shortage of Transformers Threatens Electricity Supply</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-03-12/battery-maker-northvolt-files-for-bankruptcy-in-sweden">Northvolt Hits End of Line After Failing to Reach Rescue Deal</a></li>
</ul>
Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Oscar Boyd. Special thanks to: Jess Beck, Sommer Saadi, Mohsis Andam and Siobhan Wagner. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/green">https://www.bloomberg.com/green</a>.

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

Zero

A skilled worker shortage is becoming an ‘existential’ problem for the energy transition: Bottlenecks Series

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/13f5200d-0643-4e3c-bd26-b2f00113f530/transcript

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.

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&rsquo;s future, whether the organisation can survive the US pullback, and what questions the next set of reports are going to answer.&nbsp;
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 <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/green">https://www.bloomberg.com/green</a>.

The future of climate science without US support

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/0ffa4fd9-e69f-48e6-be3f-b41100b9bc98/transcript

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: 
Julia Wolfe on How Music can Inspire Climate Action
George Saunders on Climate Guilt, AI and Critical Thinking
Kim Stanley Robison on Abundance, Adequacy and Better Climate Futures
Artist Monira Al Qadiri on the End of Oil

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.

In the latest episode of Zero&rsquo;s Imagine series, Akshat Rathi is joined by Abi Dar&eacute;, 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:
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Abi Dar&eacute;&rsquo;s website: <a href="https://abidareauthor.com/">https://abidareauthor.com/</a></li>
<li aria-level="1">The Climate Fiction Prize: <a href="https://climatefictionprize.co.uk/">https://climatefictionprize.co.uk/</a></li>
</ul>
Past episodes in the Imagine series:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2026-02-14/julia-wolfe-on-how-music-can-inspire-climate-action">Julia Wolfe on How Music can Inspire Climate Action</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-29/george-saunders-on-climate-guilt-ai-and-critical-thinking">George Saunders on Climate Guilt, AI and Critical Thinking</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-02/abundance-or-adequacy-the-search-for-better-climate-futures">Kim Stanley Robison on Abundance, Adequacy and Better Climate Futures</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-09-18/bloomberg-zero-podcast-artist-monira-al-qadiri-on-the-end-of-oil">Artist Monira Al Qadiri on the End of Oil</a></li>
</ul>
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 <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/green">https://www.bloomberg.com/green</a>.

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

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/7f966e11-a441-4917-b1cd-b40500d931f2/transcript

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.

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:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>For all of Bloomberg's coverage of Iran, visit: <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/uk">https://www.bloomberg.com/uk</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-02/middle-east-conflict-what-it-means-for-the-green-energy-transition?srnd=undefined">What the War With Iran Means for Renewable Energy Deployment</a>&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
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 <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/green">https://www.bloomberg.com/green</a>.

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

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/5e20e434-9336-4d0a-bfce-b40200e0aac8/transcript

A skilled worker shortage is becoming an ‘existential’ problem for the energy transition: Bottlenecks Series

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