Staff Correspondent

The government is considering incorporating the ‘three zero’ theory of Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Policymakers of the government have said it would be easy for the country to achieve the SDG targets by effectively applying the ‘three zero’ theory at public and private levels.

Professor Muhammad Yunus has made a compelling call to world leaders to build a "World of Three Zeros"- meaning zero poverty, zero unemployment and zero net carbon emissions.

The Three Zero theory is an elective and popular model to ensure economic emancipation, create workforce and protect environment in the present world, analysts said.

The three zero theory is a social and economic outlook. Youth endevour, use of technology, good governance and social business can help achieve the three zero goals, they said.

Founder of Grameen Bank and the Noble Peace Laureate Prof Yunus has been much appreciated around the world for his three zero theory.

About the ‘three zero’ theory, Principal Coordinator on SDG affairs told BSS that the government is trying to integrate the theory with SDG targets.

In this connection a workshop with public and private officials has already been held.

“We want to create awareness on the ‘three zero’ at all levels in the interest of sustainable development,” she added.

Mentioning that the theory is being considered in all activities of SDG implementation, Lamiya Morshed said Prof Yunus did not want to impose the theory on the activities but the government aims to encourage people to apply it.

So, she said, the government did not take any mega initiative on the theory except SDG implementation.

While addressing the climate summit (COP-29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, the Chief Adviser stressed the need for creating a new life-style based on zero waste and zero carbon aiming to protect the planet from climate catastrophes.

“In order to survive, we need to create another culture. A counter-culture, which is based on a different life-style. It is based on zero waste. It will limit consumption to essential needs, leaving no residual waste,” Yunus told the summit.

Prof Yunus said this life-style will also be based on zero carbon- no fossil fuel but only renewable energy- and this will be an economy based primarily on zero personal profit, for example on social business.

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.

He said the young people will love that life style 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 civilization,” he said.

According to Prof Yunus if poverty, unemployment and carbon emissions can be reduced to zero, a new livable and free of worries world will be created.

Lamiya Morshed, a long-time colleague of Prof Yunus, mentioned that the Three Zero Club would play a special role in developing Three Zero Persons. She believes that the members of this club become aware of the Three Zero Theory and eventually they will develop themselves as Three Zero Persons.

Lamiya Morshed, who also served as the director of the Yunus Center, said that there are currently about 4,600 Three Zero Clubs around the world, each of which is inspired by Prof Yunus's dream of a new civilization. Most of these clubs have been established in the universities.

Although Three Zero Clubs have been established in numerous prestigious universities across the globe, this club has not been developed equally in Bangladesh.

She said it was quite risky for any university student or any other person to show interest in forming this Three Zero Club during the dictatorship of Sheikh Hasina, who fled the country in the wake of mass uprising of students and people.

Even, a hostile circumstance had to be faced in conducting awareness-raising activities about Prof Yunus's Three Zero theory, she added.

In this regard, Lamiya Morshed said, “During the government led by Sheikh Hasina, there was hesitation among many people in forming the Three Zero Club in Bangladesh, but now that situation has been changed and it is expanding day by day.”

“Now many people are coming forward and there is a lot of response. Recently, the number of workshops on the Three Zeros theory has increased a lot,” she said, adding, “It is not a central initiative, rather it is being done by everyone on their own initiative from their perspective position. They just let people know through networking that we are doing this.”

She said anyone can’t be registered at the Three Zero Club if they want to do so, rather several factors are considered in this regard.

Registration is given only after seeing whether they are doing the work seriously what they are doing and it is sustainable or not.

Quoting Prof Yunus, one of the pioneers of the sustainable development, Lamiya Morshed said, "Sir (Prof Yunus) always says that we have created the problems in our society ourselves. The youth are the right persons to solve these problems, because they have many new ideas in their heads and they can move forward solving the problems using those.”

“For this, Dr Yunus told the persons aged from 12 to 35 years that you can form the Three Zero Club," Lamiya said mentioning that this club can be formed by 4 to 5 people.

Lamiya Morshed believes that social business is actually very important in implementing the Three Zero theory of Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus.

After microcredit and microfinance, she said, Prof Yunus's new campaign is social business, which mainly highlights that one will arrange his own job and also provide job opportunities to others.

It elaborated that someone started a business taking loan where 3-5 more people will work and they will have employment. The profit from this business will be spent on public welfare. The profit can be spent on health, education or environmental development.

“In this way, we can move towards sustainable development,” she commented.

Lamiya Morshed said that Prof Yunus always emphasizes on poverty alleviation, creating entrepreneurs and reducing environmental pollution.

“Dr Yunus always says that if there is no specific goal, then how we will move forward. So every work must have a specific goal,” she said.

She added, “Yunus’s development philosophy is not only about Bangladesh, but it focuses on the welfare and future of the whole world.”

The principal coordinator on SDG affairs said that the main theme of Professor Yunus's social business is- “I will not make any profit from this, but my primary capital must be returned so the money can be used for another social activity”.

She added, “Prof Yunus used to say that social activities should be continued with microcredit. Social activities give a lot of satisfaction to him because people are benefited a lot from it.”

She said there are Yunus Social Business Centers at 110 universities in 39 countries across the world where microcredit businesses are taught and Three Zero Clubs are being formed in their interest.

The main goal of this club is to achieve zero poverty, zero unemployment and zero carbon emissions.

Lamiya Morshed said that the topic of Three Zeros will be incorporated at the Youth Festival to be held in Bangladesh next January.

Mentioning that sports mostly work as a part of entertainment, she said process is on to find out way to convert it as a part of social activities.

She said, a lot of people usually take part in any event in our country. If we can give the theme of zero waste, meaning we don’t use plastic and throw the garbage on the street, it would bring a huge change in the society creating mass awareness, she said.

Giving an example, she said, if a player like Messi says that we will do for zero waste, then this message will spread all over the world. “We are trying to do some such work to create awareness about the Three Zeros theory, she added.

Dr MA Razzak, former chief economist of the International Trade Department of the Commonwealth Secretariat and chairman of the research organization Rapid, believes that the Three Zeros Theory of Prof Muhammad Yunus can play a leading role to build environment friendly country and achieve sustainable economic development.

He said, “I believe that the Three Zeros Theory will act as a catalyst in achieving the goals in all indicators of sustainable development.”

“Entrepreneurs are not being created in our country, although economic development is not possible without the development of entrepreneurs,” said Dr Razzak, adding, “if the Three Zeros Theory is implemented, entrepreneurs will be developed at all levels in the country and the desired development of the economy can be achieved.”