Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus on Wednesday suggested creating a new life-style based on ‘zero waste and zero carbon’ to protect the planet from climate catastrophes, presenting his longstanding dream of creating a new world of three zeroes.
“In order to survive, we need to create another culture. A counter-culture which is based on a different lifestyle. It is based on zero waste. It will limit consumption to essential needs, leaving no residual waste,” he said while speaking at the opening session of the World Leaders Climate Action Summit in COP29, held in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.
This lifestyle will also be based on zero carbon where there will be no fossil fuel but only renewable energy, Prof Yunus said, adding there will be an economy that will be based primarily on zero personal profit like the social business, according to a message received in Dhaka.
Defining the social business as a non-dividend business addressed to solve social and environmental
problems, he said a vast part of social businesses will focus on protecting the environment and mankind.
“Human lives will not only be protected but qualitatively enhanced through affordable healthcare and education. It will facilitate entrepreneurship for the youth. Young people will get prepared through new education of entrepreneurship. Education of creating job seekers will be replaced by entrepreneurship-focused education,” the chief adviser said.
Mentioning that the safety of environment needs a new lifestyle, the 2006 Noble Peace Laureate said the lifestyle would not be imposed but it will be a choice.
He said the young people will love that lifestyle as a choice, while each young person will grow up as a three zero person - zero net carbon emissions, zero wealth concentration, through building social businesses only, and zero unemployment by turning themselves into entrepreneurs.
“Each person will grow up as a three zero person, and remain a three zero person all his/her life. That will create the new civilisation,” he said.
“It can be done. All we need to do is to accept a new lifestyle consistent with the safety of the planet and all who live on it. Today's generation of youth will do the rest. They love their planet.”
“I hope you'll join me in this dream. If we dream together, it will happen,” Prof Yunus said.
About the global climate change, the chief adviser said the climate crisis is intensifying and that is why the human civilisation is at grave risk as people continue to promote self-destructive values.
“We need to mobilise our intellectual, financial and youth power to lay the foundation for a new civilisation -- a self-preserving and self-reinforcing civilisation. We, the human inhabitants of this planet are the cause of the destruction of the planet,” he said.
Prof Yunus said the people are doing it deliberately and they have chosen a lifestyle which works against the environment, while they justify this with an economic framework, which is considered as natural as the planetary system.
“That economic framework thrives on limitless consumption. The more you consume the more you grow. The more you grow, the more money you make. Maximisation of profit is treated as the force of gravity which lets everything in the system to play its role according to our desire,” he added.
