Every year, 570 million tons of food is wasted at the household level, according to the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Food Waste Index Report 2021. Over 800 million people are still hungry, and global food waste accounts for 8–10 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions. Food waste accelerates the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste – and experts warn that urgent action is needed to address this.
To tackle this global crisis, UNEP is working with cities and partners around the world to promote the use of green and digital technology to improve the shelf life of food and optimize its distribution. An integrated approach that connects policy, infrastructure and consumer behavior is needed to build the public-private partnerships that will enable the use of this green technology. Examples are wide-ranging and include solar-powered food storage devices, social media campaigns, virtual markets and urban farming.
UNEP also operates a Sustainable Food Systems Programme, which aims to raise awareness and catalyse action through roundtable discussions and policymaking. Last year’s first-ever UN Food Systems Summit resulted in nearly 300 commitments to transform food systems from civil society, farmers, youth, indigenous peoples and Member States.