You are the cause of climate change, we are the result: Yunus to developed countries

The Paris Agreement, the global accord for limiting the effects of climate change, won't work as long as the world sticks with the current economic system, Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus said yesterday.

Speaking at the New York Times Climate Forward summit in New York, he said the system is centred on maximising profits, creating wealth for a tiny group of people and generating massive waste.

"The economic system we have built is key to the destruction of this planet," said Yunus. He added that humans had created a "self-destructive civilisation."

The New York Times Climate Forward summit was held in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Along with Yunus, Jane Goodall, an eminent zoologist and UN Messenger of Peace, and several other US government officials and business leaders were present as speakers at the event.

The Nobel laureate and pioneer of microfinance said no matter what changes were made to the agreement, it would not make a difference until the world's underlying systems were redesigned.

Developing countries like Bangladesh should not have to bear the burden of climate damage done by their wealthier counterparts, he said.

"Why should we carry the burden of all the destruction that you put on us?" Yunus said. "You are the cause, we are the result."

He added that individuals should also bear the responsibility of producing less waste and shrinking their fossil fuel footprint.