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Over the past decade, renewable energy has exploded. Technology is improving. Costs are plummeting. This is now the fastest energy transition in human history. But just as the world goes all in on renewables, the US is doubling down on fossil fuels. Does it risk being left behind in the race to power the future? Environmentalist and author Bill McKibben joins Ian Bremmer on GZERO World to discuss the sudden and overwhelming surge of clean energy installation and generation over the past two years, China’s push to dominate the renewable market, and whether the Trump administration’s policies will put the US at a disadvantage.
The White House has cancelled funding solar and wind projects and is pushing other countries to buy more oil and gas, but McKibben says the scale and pace of the global energy transformation is just too powerful to ignore. McKibben’s new book, "Here Comes the Sun," argues that renewables aren’t just a climate fix—they’re a political and economic opportunity to reshape our future. He has no doubt that 30 years from now, we’ll run the planet on sun and wind simply because of economics, but also warns the world will face serious problems if it takes that long to get there
“Fossil fuels become harder to get over time. Renewable energy is the opposite,” McKibben says, “We now live on a planet where the cheapest way to make energy is to point a sheet of glass at the sun.”
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, airs nationwide on US public television stations (check local listings).
New digital episodes of GZERO World are released every Monday on YouTube.Don't miss an episode: subscribe to GZERO's YouTube channel and turn on notifications (🔔). GZERO World with Ian Bremmer airs on US public television weekly - check local listings.
Is the clean energy revolution finally here? Over the past few years, the world has experienced a sudden and overwhelming surge in renewable energy installation and generation, outpacing even the most optimistic predictions from experts. This week on the GZERO World Podcast, Ian Bremmer talks to with Bill McKibben, an environmentalist and author, about the stakes and scale of the global energy transformation. His new book, "Here Comes the Sun," argues renewables aren’t just a climate fix—they’re a political and economic opportunity.
Costs from solar and wind have dropped so dramatically in the last 36 months that they’re now the cheapest way to produce electricity worldwide. And energy independence has become a national security issue amid so much global instability. But while China and Europe are pushing ahead in the race to power the future, the Trump administration is doubling down on fossil fuels. What happens if the US puts the brakes on clean energy, just as the rest of the world hits the gas? Or rather... plugs in the solar battery? Do we risk being left in the dark?
Subscribe to the GZERO World Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published
President Trump has made no secret of his distaste for wind and solar and preference for fossil fuels. His administration has canceled subsidies for renewable projects, lifted drilling restrictions on federal land, and is pressuring allies to buy more American oil and gas. On Ian Explains, Ian Bremmer breaks down the reality of the energy transition and whether US policies will slow down global progress in moving toward a renewable future.
No matter what the White House says, the incentives for renewables are hard to ignore. From Texas to Saudi Arabia, India to China, governments all over the world are embracing solar and wind not just for the planet, but for economic and security reasons. Clean energy is now the cheapest power source almost everywhere. And, amid rising instability, energy independence has become a safety and security issue. You can’t embargo the sun. No one controls the wind. Fossil fuels still matter, but the question is no longer if the world will transition. It's how fast.
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, airs nationwide on US public television stations (check local listings).
New digital episodes of GZERO World are released every Monday on YouTube. Don't miss an episode: subscribe to GZERO's YouTube channel and turn on notifications (🔔). GZERO World with Ian Bremmer airs on US public television weekly - check local listings.
What We’re Watching: Nepal’s protesters pick a leader, Trump courts Belarus
A member of Nepal army stands guard as people gather to observe rituals during the final day of Indra Jatra festival to worship Indra, Kumari and other deities and to mark the end of monsoon season.
Nepal’s Gen Z’s protestors pick their woman
Nepal’s “Gen-Z” protest movement has looked to a different generation entirely with their pick for an interim leader. Protest leaders say they want the country’s retired chief justice, Sushila Karki, 73, to head a transitional government. The demand comes just two days after the prime minister resigned amid swelling anti-corruption protests triggered last week by a social media ban. Karki has reportedly accepted, but is currently negotiating with the president and other powerbrokers to find a constitutional path to power. For an explanation of these protests which are not “mid", see GZERO’s feature from yesterday.
Trump’s Belarus courtship continues
The ultra-authoritarian Belarusian regime of Alexander Lukashenko has released 52 prisoners, reportedly at the urging of the White House. Meanwhile, the US says plans are afoot to normalize ties with the deeply isolated country, Russia’s closest ally. The Trump Administration has poured a lot of effort into relations with Lukashenko, whose 31-year reign, crackdowns on dissent, and election-rigging have earned him the moniker “Europe’s last Dictator.” Lukashenko has styled himself as a kind of “Putin Whisperer.” Is Trump seeking a bridge to the Russian president, or a potential wedge against him?
The Nepalese government’s decision last week to ban several social platforms has touched off an ongoing wave of deadly unrest in the South Asian country of 30 million.
The Nepalese government’s decision last week to ban several social platforms has touched off an ongoing wave of deadly unrest in the South Asian country of 30 million. The parliament has been burned, dozens of protesters have been killed, and earlier this week the prime minister resigned.
Nepal, which abolished the monarchy in 2008 after a decades-long Maoist insurgency, has been no stranger to political upheavals since then. But this is the first time such a strong and sustained protest movement has emerged, and it is being led by young people.
To understand why this so-called “Gen Z” revolution is taking place, let’s use three terms that will be familiar to our very-online, younger readers.
“Sus.”
“Nepo babies.”
“Securing the bag.”
Let’s start with “sus.” One of the underlying sources of resentment is corrupt politicians. How bad is it? A watchdog group ranked the Himalayan nation as one of the most corrupt countries in Asia.
The examples are manifold, but to take one good one: $71 million was embezzled during the construction of an airport completed last year. Corruption is reportedly rife among low-level police officers. And Nepali officials reportedly stole funds from people seeking work in the United States, promising to provide papers that would allow them to enter the US as Bhutanese refugees.
All of that is extremely “sus” behavior — small wonder that public trust of politicians in Nepal ranked 121 out 137 countries surveyed by the Center for South Asian Studies.
This bleeds into the resentment of “nepo babies” – ie, the rich kids of powerful elites. Nepal is one of the poorest countries in Asia, but that hasn’t stopped the children of politicians from living lavish lifestyles, which they often flaunt openly on social media. Ahead of the protests, compilation videos of government officials' children went viral on TikTok. In one, images of Sayuj Parajuli, the son of former Nepali Supreme Court Chief Justice Gopal Parajuli, was posted with the caption “Openly flexing luxury cars and watches on social media. Aren’t we tired of them by now?”
Underlying much of this resentment is the challenge of “securing of the bag”, ie, making a viable living. Many Nepalis, especially young ones, have a hard time finding jobs. The official unemployment rate is 12.6%, but youth unemployment is north of 20%. As a result, many young people have been forced to seek opportunities abroad, especially in construction and agriculture.
This all erupted last Thursday when the government banned 26 social media sites to quell the “nepo babies” videos and the targeting of politicians online. Thousands of young people, wearing school and college uniforms to emphasize their age, took to the streets. Although the ban was later lifted the unrest and uncertainty have continued.
Could outside players get involved? Nepal is sandwiched between Asian giants India and China, which have both vied for influence there in the past, in part because of Nepal’s ample hydropower resources. But for now, at least, Eurasia Group expert Rahul Bhatia says “China and India are taking a wait-and-watch approach.” Both countries have called for the restoration of peace and stability, but are avoiding direct intervention. “Any country seen as close to the Nepalese government would risk incurring the anger of the protestors,” says Bhatia.
So what’s next? Protesters are demanding accountability from the government. Discontent has grown toward Nepal’s two dominant political forces — the Nepali Congress and Prime Minister Oli’s Communist Party — which are governing together in a coalition for the first time. And after security forces killed 19 protesters, domestic and international institutions are calling for investigations into whether there was “unnecessary or disproportionate use of force.”
“It is unclear what the new Nepalese political order will look like,” says Bhatia. “ But one thing that’s clear is that the old guard of Nepalese politicians, who had taken turns at the helm, will not be a part of it.”
Or, to put it in the proper Gen-Z vernacular, “they’re cooked.”
One of the major factors that pushed Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to resign over the weekend was inflation. Although Japan’s headline figure of 3% may not seem all that high, the country had grown accustomed to rates at or below 1% between 2012 and 2022. What’s more, the headline figure masks soaring prices for a major staple Japanese food: rice. The cause? Extreme heat in 2023 and an earthquake last year spurred major supply shortages. Here’s a fine-grain look at rice price trends over the past year.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba adjusts his glasses during a press conference as he announces his resignation, in Tokyo, Japan, on September 7, 2025.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s resignation announcement on Sunday triggered the country’s second leadership battle in less than a year, plunging his center-right Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) deeper into a political crisis.
The party has held power for most of the last 70 years, but recently lost majorities in both houses of the National Diet and suffered a historic defeat in Tokyo’s city council elections. This string of defeats, combined with a stagnant economy and higher inflation, spelt the end for Ishiba.
The LDP must now select a new party leader, who is likely to replace Ishiba as prime minister. That process is likely to unfold in October, though it could come sooner given the urgency of the situation.
To better understand how the leader of Japan, the world’s fourth largest economy, got into this mess after less than a year in power, and who is most likely to replace him, GZERO spoke to one of the top experts on Japanese politics: Eurasia Group’s Japan Director David Boling.
GZERO: Why did Ishiba resign?
Boling: “Three strikes, you’re out,” is probably the most compelling argument against Ishiba. He basically was the leader of the party, and they had three elections where they lost. After that upper house election in July, there was a pretty hard push by a lot of conservatives to call for a special election. Ishiba has a three-year term that started last September, when he was elected. It is unprecedented for the LDP to call for basically a midterm intraparty election. Ishiba was able to stall that for a while, but the momentum started to come back strong.
Last week, they had set up a vote on Monday for whether to have a leadership election, and Ishiba saw the writing on the wall over the weekend. Instead of seeing how this special election would turn out, he could tell that he didn’t have the votes.
Who are the favorites to replace him, and what are their stances?
The two favorites to replace him are well known – they came in right behind Ishiba in the party leadership vote last September.
The person who finished second behind Ishiba was Sanae Takaichi. She is conservative, nationalistic, and a proponent of “Abenomics,” which is loose monetary and fiscal policy. But she’s probably best known for her nationalistic views. She’s a hawk. [She would also be Japan’s first female prime minister.] The person who placed third is Shinjiro Koizumi, a well known name in Japan because his father was prime minister. He’s young, charismatic, and popular. Since they are both members of the LDP, both candidates are broadly pro-US alliance, and right of center. I would put Koizumi as more moderate, and Takaichi as more conservative.
Last thing: what’s the biggest thing to watch out for going forward, once the new leader is determined?
Last October, the LDP and its junior coalition partner Komeito lost their lower house majority, so they now have to work with one of the opposition parties to have enough votes to elect the new LDP leader as prime minister again. I think that it is very likely that whoever is the LDP president will become the next Japanese prime minister, but there will have to be some sort of deal worked out with the opposition parties to have enough votes to approve that person as the next prime minister. The LDP-Komeito coalition may have to make concessions on items for the annual budget, agreeing to spending or taxing provisions favored by the opposition. So that will be the next big watch point.