Transcript Zero Episode 29: Turning Climate Risks Into Golden Opportunities

Since the Human Development Index was established in 1990, it has trended gradually upward as people’s health, wealth and opportunities improve. But in 2019, the index went into a decline then made worse by the Covid-19 pandemic and the fallout from the war in Ukraine.

The impacts of these events on reversing human progress could be dwarfed by climate change, says Achim Steiner, head of the United Nations Development Programme, on Episode 29 of the Zero podcast. Solutions to the climate problem, however, also offer the potential to build a more inclusive and just future that lets humanity continue to thrive. Steiner and Bloomberg Green reporter Akshat Rathi discuss that potential, as well as the threats climate change poses to global development, how countries can plan for more climate refugees and what rising inequality means for a world facing multiple crises.