What if major economies all just agreed to quit fossil fuels  — together? To date, 13 countries have signed a fossil fuel nonproliferation treaty. The biggest is Colombia, which has a $40 billion economic transition plan to build up green sectors and replace oil and gas revenue. Now Colombia is hoping to recruit other large economies to follow suit. 

During a conversation at Climate Week in New York, Akshat Rathi sat down with Colombia’s environment minister, Susana Muhamad, and Brazil's chief climate negotiator, Liliam Chagas, to talk about what it will take for more nations to combat climate change. Brazil has not joined the treaty, yet, but as the designated host of COP30 in 2025, the country has signaled that it, too, wants to be a leader on climate change. 

Explore further:
Past episode about what Vice-President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are planning to do when it comes to climate
Past episode with Reclaim Finance’s Lucie Pinson about how to get banks to stop investing in fossil fuel projects
Past episode about the significance of COP28’s resolution to transition away from fossil fuels

Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Mythili Rao. Special thanks this week to Kira Bindrim and Matthew Griffin. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/green.

What if major economies all just agreed to quit fossil fuels  — together? To date, 13 countries have signed a fossil fuel nonproliferation treaty. The biggest is Colombia, which has a $40 billion economic transition plan to build up green sectors and replace oil and gas revenue. Now Colombia is hoping to recruit other large economies to follow suit. 
During a conversation at Climate Week in New York, Akshat Rathi sat down with Colombia’s environment minister, Susana Muhamad, and Brazil's chief climate negotiator, Liliam Chagas, to talk about what it will take for more nations to combat climate change. Brazil has not joined the treaty, yet, but as the designated host of COP30 in 2025, the country has signaled that it, too, wants to be a leader on climate change. 
Explore further:
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Past episode about what <a href="https://omnystudio.com/p/zero/clips/8fe00920-4028-4942-8f31-b1ef0105c449">Vice-President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are planning to do when it comes to climate</a></li>
<li aria-level="1">Past episode with <a href="https://omnystudio.com/p/zero/clips/9a19f137-edcb-4d40-bbad-b1b100ab0a2f">Reclaim Finance’s Lucie Pinson about how to get banks to stop investing in fossil fuel projects</a> </li>
<li aria-level="1">Past episode about <a href="https://omnystudio.com/p/zero/clips/e250263f-9ef9-412f-8a89-b0d7015a0599">the significance of COP28’s resolution to transition away from fossil fuels</a></li>
</ul>
Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Mythili Rao. Special thanks this week to Kira Bindrim and Matthew Griffin. 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

Colombia is quitting fossil fuels. Can it convince other countries to follow its lead?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/eb6a49bf-4e32-4e1f-8cd5-b1fd010eeeb6/transcript

Scientists have been trying to understand — and mimic — the way the sun produces energy for centuries. But recreating the energy-generating process of nuclear fusion here on Earth presents an array of technical challenges. Bob Mumgaard, CEO of Commonwealth Fusion Systems, began working on some of those challenges as a doctoral student at MIT. Now backed by more than $2 billion, CFS is well on its way to making the long-held dream of nuclear fusion a reality. On this week’s Zero, Mumgaard breaks down the science behind CFS’s bagel-shaped tokamak reactor, and explains why he believes the nuclear fusion industry is just getting started.

Explore further:
Past episode with Bill Gates on why he is investing big in nuclear power
Past episode with Tim Latimer about why he founded geothermal startup Fervo
Past episode with BNEF’s Claire Curry about how startups can succeed in a difficult investment environment

Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Mythili Rao. Special thanks this week to Kira Bindrim, Monique Mulima, and Jess Beck. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/green.

Scientists have been trying to understand — and mimic — the way the sun produces energy for centuries. But recreating the energy-generating process of nuclear fusion here on Earth presents an array of technical challenges. Bob Mumgaard, CEO of Commonwealth Fusion Systems, began working on some of those challenges as a doctoral student at MIT. Now backed by more than $2 billion, CFS is well on its way to making the long-held dream of nuclear fusion a reality. On this week’s Zero, Mumgaard breaks down the science behind CFS’s bagel-shaped tokamak reactor, and explains why he believes the nuclear fusion industry is just getting started.
Explore further:
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Past episode with <a href="https://omnystudio.com/p/zero/clips/5c03674f-ef34-4279-81a9-b19a00c73e8a">Bill Gates on why he is investing big in nuclear power</a></li>
<li aria-level="1">Past episode with <a href="https://omnystudio.com/p/zero/clips/537aaaf8-e89e-4463-8b2c-b1d9011a8da3">Tim Latimer about why he founded geothermal startup Fervo</a></li>
<li aria-level="1">Past episode with <a href="https://omnystudio.com/p/zero/clips/537aaaf8-e89e-4463-8b2c-b1d9011a8da3">BNEF’s Claire Curry about how startups can succeed in a difficult investment environment</a></li>
</ul>
Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Mythili Rao. Special thanks this week to Kira Bindrim, Monique Mulima, and Jess Beck. 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>.

Inside the race to open the world’s first nuclear fusion power plant

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/929aace6-ab34-4eeb-9a56-b1f600fabe49/transcript

In a little more than six weeks, Americans will cast their votes in a presidential election that has enormous stakes for the future of the planet. This week on Zero, Akshat Rathi sits down with energy and environment reporter Jen Dlouhy to talk about how Kamala Harris could advance US climate policy — and how Donald Trump could chip away at it.  “Starting on day one, he's already said he intends to direct federal agencies to begin repealing and replacing climate regulations,” she says.

At this stage of the campaign, Harris’s plans are still somewhat opaque. But if elected, her administration is expected to keep quietly pushing forward policies passed under President Biden. “There's still tremendous work to get the IRA's programs running to get dollars flowing,” Dlouhy says. “The Treasury Department still hasn't finished writing rules for how people can claim tax credits under the law, including those governing hydrogen production and clean electricity. So there's just a lot of administrative work to be done to kind of unstick this process to accelerate deployment.” 

Explore further:
Past episode with voting rights advocate Stacey Abrams on how middle and low-income families access the tax breaks that can help them affordably electrify their homes
Past episode with former Conservative Minister Chris Skidmore on how the UK’s Conservatives have given up on climate policy
Past episode with John Kerry, former US special presidential envoy for climate

Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Mythili Rao. Special thanks this week to Kira Bindrim and Matthew Griffin. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/green.

In a little more than six weeks, Americans will cast their votes in a presidential election that has enormous stakes for the future of the planet. This week on Zero, Akshat Rathi sits down with energy and environment reporter Jen Dlouhy to talk about how Kamala Harris could advance US climate policy — and how Donald Trump could chip away at it.  “Starting on day one, he's already said he intends to direct federal agencies to begin repealing and replacing climate regulations,” she says.
At this stage of the campaign, Harris’s plans are still somewhat opaque. But if elected, her administration is expected to keep quietly pushing forward policies passed under President Biden. “There's still tremendous work to get the IRA's programs running to get dollars flowing,” Dlouhy says. “The Treasury Department still hasn't finished writing rules for how people can claim tax credits under the law, including those governing hydrogen production and clean electricity. So there's just a lot of administrative work to be done to kind of unstick this process to accelerate deployment.” 
Explore further:
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Past episode with voting rights advocate Stacey Abrams <a href="https://omnystudio.com/p/zero/clips/fddf36b1-fe60-4500-b30d-b1ab015d2c0b">on how middle and low-income families access the tax breaks that can help them affordably electrify their homes</a> </li>
<li aria-level="1">Past episode with former <a href="https://omnystudio.com/p/zero/clips/575c8756-7918-4020-99c3-b17100e87097">Conservative Minister Chris Skidmore on how the UK’s Conservatives have given up on climate policy</a></li>
<li aria-level="1">Past episode with John Kerry, <a href="https://omnystudio.com/p/zero/clips/fddf36b1-fe60-4500-b30d-b1ab015d2c0b">former US special presidential envoy for climat</a>e</li>
</ul>
Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Mythili Rao. Special thanks this week to Kira Bindrim and Matthew Griffin. 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>.

Trump vs Harris: What you need to know about their climate plans

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/8fe00920-4028-4942-8f31-b1ef0105c449/transcript

Weather patterns have always had an impact on people and civilizations. Historians argue that El Niño may have contributed to the French Revolution, and climate variability could have led to weakening the Ottoman Empire. But as anthropogenic emissions make the planet hotter, faster, Berghof Foundation Executive Director Andrew Gilmour says the risk of conflict is growing. In the 30 years he spent working with the United Nations, Gilmour repeatedly saw how competition over resources such as land and water led to conflict, but he also sees opportunities for aligning peace-building with climate solutions. “The common solutions could be, for example, a solar powered irrigation scheme,” Gilmour tells Akshat Rathi. “It could be joint management of a wildlife reserve, it could be a desalination project.” 

Explore further:
Past episode with Harvard Medical School emergency physician Renee Salas about public policy approaches to mitigating the health impacts of heat waves
Past episode about the dramatization of the fight to represent developing nations’ interests at COP 3 in a new play called “Kyoto”
Past episode about the life of climate scientist and activist Saleemul Huq

Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Mythili Rao. Special thanks this week to Kira Bindrim, Jessica Beck, and Monique Mulima. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/green.

Weather patterns have always had an impact on people and civilizations. Historians argue that El Niño may have contributed to the French Revolution, and climate variability could have led to weakening the Ottoman Empire. But as anthropogenic emissions make the planet hotter, faster, Berghof Foundation Executive Director Andrew Gilmour says the risk of conflict is growing. In the 30 years he spent working with the United Nations, Gilmour repeatedly saw how competition over resources such as land and water led to conflict, but he also sees opportunities for aligning peace-building with climate solutions. “The common solutions could be, for example, a solar powered irrigation scheme,” Gilmour tells Akshat Rathi. “It could be joint management of a wildlife reserve, it could be a desalination project.” 
Explore further:
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Past episode with Harvard Medical School emergency physician Renee Salas about <a href="https://omnystudio.com/p/zero/clips/21381f2b-a997-48da-8619-b1cc0120b28c">public policy approaches to mitigating the health impacts of heat waves</a></li>
<li aria-level="1">Past episode <a href="https://omnystudio.com/p/zero/clips/d65860d5-e4b3-43f2-b524-b1a800ad4f78">about the dramatization of the fight to represent developing nations’ interests at COP 3 in a new play called “Kyoto”</a>  </li>
<li aria-level="1">Past episode <a href="https://omnystudio.com/p/zero/clips/53861565-1b3c-475d-ab5f-b0ae00da8272">about the life of climate scientist and activist Saleemul Huq</a></li>
</ul>
Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Mythili Rao. Special thanks this week to Kira Bindrim, Jessica Beck, and Monique Mulima. 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 and peace-building on a heating planet

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/7d1c8bf3-a9b4-4155-aec5-b1e800fc14b1/transcript

Colombia is quitting fossil fuels. Can it convince other countries to follow its lead?

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