How to Reduce Food Waste and Promote Sustainability Sustainable development is the process of meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. One of the key challenges for sustainable development is to reduce food waste, which has significant environmental, social, and economic impacts.
Food waste refers to any food that is produced but not eaten by humans, either because it is discarded at the retail, food service, or household level, or because it is lost during production and supply chains. According to the UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2021, more than 930 million tonnes of food was wasted in 2019, representing 17 percent of all food available to consumers. This amount of food waste contributes to 8-10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, as well as land degradation, biodiversity loss, water pollution, and scarcity.
Reducing food waste can provide multiple benefits for both people and the planet. It can help mitigate climate change by avoiding unnecessary emissions and enhancing carbon sequestration. It can also improve food security and nutrition by increasing the availability and affordability of food, especially for the 690 million people who suffer from hunger and the three billion people who cannot afford a healthy diet. Moreover, it can save money for consumers, businesses, and governments, and create new opportunities for employment and innovation.
To achieve these benefits, countries need to take action to prevent and reduce food waste at all levels of the food system. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a global framework for this effort, particularly target 12.3, which aims to halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains by 2030.
To track progress towards this target, countries need to measure their food waste using a consistent and reliable methodology, as proposed by the UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2021. By doing so, countries can generate evidence-based strategies and policies to tackle food waste and enhance sustainable development.
References
1. news.un.org
2. unep.org
3. un.org
Comments