What happens to the energy transition with the US exiting the Paris Agreement?
Zero: The Climate Race
Bloomberg
4.7 • 219 Ratings
🗓️ 30 January 2025
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
With President Donald Trump back in office, the US is leaving the Paris Agreement for the second time. Unlike in 2017, this withdrawal is set to have more lasting consequences, Akshat Rathi tells producer Mythili Rao. Meanwhile, even as the US gives up its climate leadership, China’s focus on clean energy is growing. A new report from BloombergNEF finds that global investment in the energy transition surpassed $2 trillion for the first time in 2024, with China driving two thirds of year-on-year growth. BNEF Deputy CEO Albert Cheung shares the report’s highlights, and reflects on the role international competition will play in this next phase of reaching net zero.
Explore further:
- Bloomberg Green's story The Global Climate Order Teeters Under Second Assault by Trump
- Bloomberg NEF’s energy transition investment trends 2025 report
- Reporter Zahra Hirji's roundup of the first slew of President Trump's climate moves
- Past episode with Yale historian Paul Sabin about what to expect in President Trump’s second term
Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Mythili Rao. Special thanks this week to Sharon Chen, Alfred Cang, Ewa Krukowska, John Ainger, Jen Dlouhy, Zahra Hirji, Lou Del Bello, Simone Iglesias, Amanda Hurley and Jessica Beck. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at [email protected]. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/green.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Zero. I'm Akshadrati. |
| 0:02.0 | And I'm Mythali Rao. |
| 0:03.0 | This week, moving past Paris. |
| 0:06.0 | So, Trump, So Trump has been in office for Jethra. Hello, Ushut. |
| 0:21.2 | Hi, Mithely. |
| 0:22.0 | So Trump has been in office for just over a week as we record this. |
| 0:26.7 | A lot has happened. |
| 0:28.3 | Bloomberg Green reporter Zara Hirji has a great piece summarizing all the big developments |
| 0:32.6 | and what Trump's flurry of executive orders means for climate, which I recommend listeners check out. |
| 0:39.1 | There will be more to come on all of that. But the big headline that's going to have some impact, |
| 0:44.7 | which everyone at Bloomberg Green is looking closely at and what you're writing about this week, |
| 0:49.4 | is Trump withdrawing from the Paris Agreement. Yes, it's something I'm working with lots of reporters across |
| 0:55.1 | Bloomberg News because this is the second time that Trump has withdrawn the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement. |
| 1:02.3 | And there is a lot that has happened since 2017 when he first attempted it. There are some similarities, |
| 1:09.4 | but many differences. Okay, let's go through what's the same and what's different from 2017. The first attempted it. There are some similarities, but many differences. |
| 1:13.4 | Okay, let's go through what's the same and what's different from 2017. |
| 1:19.1 | The first time it happened, there were all these rumors that once the U.S. exits, |
| 1:21.9 | it's the world's largest emitter, it's the world's largest economy. |
| 1:26.7 | Other countries that weren't really committed to climate will also leave. |
| 1:28.2 | Well, that didn't happen. |
| 1:33.1 | And even now, we are only a week out, it hasn't happened yet. |
| 1:38.4 | There are still rumors of countries like Argentina and maybe Russia that might want to pull out, |
... |
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