UN aims to halve global food waste by 2030 in fight against climate change

The United Nations' Food Waste Breakthrough initiative aims to halve global food waste by 2030. Speaking at the Cop31 summit in Turkey, the UN's Clementine O'Connor told RFI why that target is achievable – and that it could provide a billion meals a year. Globally, each year households throw away more than the weight of the average person in food, wasting money and resources and contributing to global greenhouse gas emissions. Launched last year, the UN's Food Waste Breakthrough initiative aims to change that. RFI spoke to Clementine O'Connor – a Sustainable Food Systems programme management officer at the UN's Environment Programme (Unep) – about where progress is being made, and the potential to provide an estimated 1 billion meals from food we're currently throwing in the bin. RFI: What is the link between food waste and climate change? Clementine O’Connor: Food loss and waste is responsible for 8-10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. When food waste is sent to landfill, it emits methane as it decomposes. Methane is 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide, so it has a very strong short-term impact. Unep published the Overshoot report in September showing that the world is going beyond a 1.5C increase in temperature. It's our responsibility to bring us back down from that potential peak as soon as possible. Reducing food waste is a key way we can contribute to that. The UN Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 calls on us to halve food waste by 2030. RFI: What makes you think it's achievable? COC: Some countries have achieved substantial reductions, so we know that this is an achievable target. Japan already reached the target in 2022 and has increased its objective for the business sector, [aiming for] a 60 percent reduction by 2030. The United Kingdom and the Netherlands have achieved reductions of more than 20 percent over time. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's capital, is also doing remarkable work. It has introduced separate food waste collection and campaigns to encourage people to prevent waste. The Food Waste Breakthrough is bringing countries together to accelerate action in cities and food businesses. While all countries probably won't achieve the target by 2030, this is an ongoing objective with real benefits for countries, cities, businesses and households. We need to increase our ambition and continue to work together beyond 2030. EU clamps down on food waste, fast fashion RFI: How have these countries managed to reduce food waste? COC: There are several key solutions that have proved effective around the world. The first is having a public-private partnership that connects actors across the food chain with policymakers around a shared objective. Food waste can be shifted up or down the supply chain: a retailer can send food back to its supplier when it has over-ordered, or put a 'two for one' promotion in place that encourages customers to buy more than they need. By having a shared collective approach, hotspots of food waste can be identified. The Food Pact Network partnerships began in the UK and now exist in Indonesia, South Africa, Mexico, Brazil, Australia and the Netherlands. RFI: Which players need to be involved? COC: It's a challenge that requires everyone to get involved. The focus of the Food Waste Breakthrough is on cities and food businesses. By bringing stakeholders together at city level, you reach households more effectively. You can work with schools, the local retail sector and communities, as well as delivery apps and food e-commerce, to help people buy the right amount and use up the food they have bought. In the United States, we've been working with Walmart on the different ways that they can provide food, to provide the right portion sizes, to get the discounting and promotional strategies right so that they don't incite people to buy more food that they can eat. Food recovered from supermarkets ready to be distributed by a food bank in New York State, in 2024. AP - Seth Wenig Millions of Afghans to face food insecurity by next year, UN warns RFI: An estimated 1 billion tonnes of food are wasted every year. Is that figure increasing? COC: That's the figure for 2022. We're beginning to update it, and the new data will be published this time next year. EU member states are required to measure and report on food waste every year or two. As measurement systems become improve, they sometimes find more food waste. It's still difficult to show whether food waste is going up or whether measurement quality is improving. So we cannot tell at this stage whether globally food waste is increasing or decreasing. Food loss and waste occur across the supply chain, from the farm through transportation, cold chains and processing. It's also concentrated in the home. Around 60 per cent of food waste occurs in the home, which is 79kg per capita each year. That's more than the average person weighs. So we waste more than our own weight in food every year. It's really important to help households use their food more effectively, to reach people with things that resonate for them. Some are concerned about reducing their impact on the climate, while others want to reduce household costs. In the UK, [food waste] costs around £1,200 a year for a family of four. In the United States, it's about $3,000. So it's really important to help households [change their behaviour], by buying the right amount, using shopping lists, storing food effectively and using up leftovers so these things become habits. Americans waste 150,000 tons of food per day: study RFI: Are there significant geographical differences in food waste around the world? COC: We found no correlation [between] food wasted per capita and country income. When you compare high income, lower and upper-middle income countries, the average household per capita food waste was very similar. We found a small correlation with average country temperature: hotter countries had slightly higher food waste. [The heat] means you have less time to eat fresh food. The causes of food waste are similar around the world. If you're working two jobs and come home late, managing the food in your fridge is not a priority. There is also a universal instinct to be hospitable. Everyone wants to be a good host and put on a wonderful spread. RFI: According to 2026 figures from the Food and Agriculture Organization, around a quarter of the world's population faces food insecurity, including 20 percent of people in Africa. How many people could be fed if food waste were halved? COC: The data we have is that the food we're wasting could provide 1 billion meals, which is enough to provide 1.3 meals a day for every person experiencing hunger. RFI: How do you calculate food waste on a global scale? COC: We take a representative sample from a country. The minimum threshold for the Food Waste Index is 400 households per country, although ideally we would have many more. We collect data from cities and, where possible, rural areas, ensuring different socio-economic categories are represented. Food waste is collected from households over eight days. The first day's waste is thrown away because it could include waste from several days, then food waste is collected every day for the following seven days. We take the average, calculate the amount per person and scale that for the year. We've done this in Brazil and Serbia. Our partners recently conducted a study in Mexico involving 1,000 households from every region. Many countries around the world collect this data, including Japan, where every prefecture is required to report food waste from its municipalities. RFI: Some parts of the world, particularly conflict zones, are very difficult to monitor. How can you build a complete and reliable global picture? COC: Many countries don't collect food waste at the national level. So a data point could come from a university study, a research institute, a city or a region within a country. We had nearly 200 data points from over 90 countries around the world so we think that's relatively robust. But it's true we have few data points from low-income countries in the report. We didn't have enough. We need more. Food crisis 'looming' after global energy shock, UN agriculture fund says RFI: One year after its launch, how is the Food Waste Breakthrough initiative progressing? COC: We've had an intensive year mobilising resources around this topic, working with Unep. We'll have a new project creating a global community of practice around the Food Waste Breakthrough, helping countries, cities and food businesses on data and policy, finance and implementation, capacity-building and advocacy. We'll have in-depth country implementation in two new countries, Colombia and Mauritius. We're working closely with Brazil through its Alimenta programme. It brings together a network of over 1,000 cities in Brazil to work on sustainable urban food systems. And we're supporting a mentoring programme to provide one-to-one support on food waste reduction... in retail, food service, school and community. The IKEA Foundation will support action around the world, including in Brazil, Kenya and India. Next year, there will be announcements about funding and investment for new countries. The Food Waste Breakthrough is one of the most impactful actions we can take on near-term global warming. This interview was based on the original version in French by Géraud Bosman-Delzon.