Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus urged a shift towards a "zero waste, zero carbon" lifestyle to combat climate change, sharing his vision for a sustainable "three-zero" world at the World Leaders Climate Action Summit at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
“To survive, we need a counter-culture based on a new lifestyle of zero waste—limiting consumption to essentials and leaving no residual waste,” Yunus said.
He described this future as one where renewable energy replaces fossil fuels, and economies prioritise social good over personal profit, with social businesses playing a central role.
Social businesses, he explained, are non-dividend enterprises aimed at solving social and environmental challenges.
“They will protect human lives and enhance quality of life through affordable healthcare, education, and entrepreneurship opportunities, especially for youth,” he said, emphasising a shift from job-seeking to entrepreneurial education.
Yunus, a Nobel Peace Laureate, stressed that protecting the environment requires embracing this new lifestyle by choice, particularly among the youth. “Each young person will be a ‘three-zero’ individual—net-zero carbon, zero wealth concentration through social businesses, and zero unemployment by becoming entrepreneurs. Together, they’ll create a new civilisation.”
He added, “It can be done. All we need is to accept a lifestyle consistent with the planet’s safety. Today’s youth love their planet and will lead the way.”
Calling for collective dreaming, he said, “If we dream together, it will happen.”
Highlighting the urgent climate crisis, Yunus warned that civilization is at risk due to a self-destructive lifestyle based on excessive consumption. “This economic model thrives on limitless consumption and profit maximization, which is seen as essential as gravity,” he observed.
“We must mobilise our intellectual, financial, and youthful energies to lay the foundation for a self-preserving and self-reinforcing civilisation,” Yunus concluded.