CENTRE FOR SELF-HELP DEVELOPMENT

Institute of micro-finance and cooperative development.

Professor Yunus believes that 3 zero club can be a panacea for controlling global warming and youth unemployment

Professor Muhammad Yunus, who was jointly awarded the Noble Peace Prize with Grameen Bank, Bangladesh in the year 2006  was also briefly present at Global Social Business Summit, 2021, Country Forum of Nepal on 9th November 2021 which the theme “Planting the Seeds of New Economy: Time is Now.” During the keynote address, he said, “It is a right time for us all to meet because UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties is currently being held in Glasgow, Scotland which has brought parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Paris Agreement was a continuation of the Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty, which was adopted in 1997, that aimed to reduce the emission of gases that contribute to global warming. The treaty advocates carrying out a binding agreement so that the temperature remains within 1.5 degrees Celsius from the pre-industrial revolution. The average global temperature has risen by 1.2 degrees Celsius from the onset of the industrial revolution. So if we do not act now we will not be able to save our planet from being extinct.”  He also focused on a new generation to take a lead role in this issue where he said, “Old generation is focused on profit maximization and have a proclivity towards fossil fuel. We should not use this planet solely for profit maximization and so we should let the youth take the front seat. Youth should design the destination where there is zero net carbon emission, no wealth concentration, and zero unemployment.” In order to bring this into fruition, he also shared the concept of 3 zero clubs, where he said, “Each  3 zero clubs will have 5 members and students of schools, colleges and universities should be encouraged to join this club. The club will develop networks within the country and also from countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, India, and other developed countries. The 3 zero clubs will implement as well as advocate and promote  the concept of zero net carbon emission, zero unemployment, and zero poverty.” He also tried to bridge a gap between social business and sports where he said, “In 2020 Tokyo Olympic I also made a speech which was watched by 1.5 billion people around the world. The Olympic body and particularly the sports world are inviting us to link social business with sports clubs as well as the federation of sports’ club. We will help the sports world to create a microcredit program or they will support us in expanding our microcredit program and linking other social business programs. Nobin program is an example of a social business program which we have extensively promoted.”

 

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Shankar Man Shrestha,  Chairman of the Centre for Self-help Development and Chair of the Forum said, “ We organized Social Business Day, Country Forum of Nepal on June 30, 2021, with the slogan ‘No Going Back. “To address extreme poverty, employment particularly with the youth and net carbon emission we had propagated 14 point action plan and developed a follow-up committee for monitoring the action plan. This Forum is to share new developments, issues encountered as well as discuss our current status, milestones and focus on challenges and remedial measures. Our priority is also on youth employment particularly in the agriculture sector where we have become a net importer of food grains from being a net exporter in the earlier days. Similarly, our neighboring countries have higher emission rates but we should not ignore carbon emission which could make us extinct solely due to our own cause.”


The Forum focused on a two-year action plan set by 11th Social Business Day, Country Forum of Nepal including milestones achieved by individual microfinance institutions. It also focused on the concept of 3 zero club as well as a method to enroll and implement activities through 3 zero clubs. Similarly, it also concentrated on effective and timely implementation of the action plans through periodic monitoring, supervision, and evaluation as well as the collaborative approach of academic institutions and microfinance institutions to make it more effective and result-oriented.
The Forum was attended by 378 people from the economic, social, education, and environmental sectors, women, NGOs, Youths, and students.

 

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