UN Climate Change News, 29 September 2020 – Today marks the first ever observance of the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste. The day’s theme “Stop food loss and waste. For the people. For the planet” recognizes not only the fundamental role that sustainable food production plays in promoting food security and nutrition in a world where the number of people affected by hunger has been slowly rising since 2014, but also how food waste contributes to climate change.

Reducing food loss land waste requires the attention and actions of all, from food producers, to food supply chain stakeholders, to food industries, retailers and consumers. Action taken in observance of this new International Day can contribute to achieving no less than three Sustainable Development Goals: Goal 2 – zero hunger; Goal 12 - sustainable consumption and production – and Goal 13 – climate action.

Today, an estimated one-third of all the food produced in the world ends up as rubbish before it even gets to the table, according to the United Nations. And when food goes to the landfill and rots, it produces methane—a greenhouse gas even more potent than carbon dioxide. The latest report from the lntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) titled ‘Climate Change and Land’ estimates that loss and waste of food caused between 8 and 10% of the emissions of the gases responsible for global warming in the period 2010-2016.

In turn, problems in the future resulting from climate change — such as lower yields, higher prices, a loss of nutritional value and supply chain disruptions — will increasingly affect food security. The effects will differ by country, but the consequences will be most dramatic in the low-income countries of Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.

The urgent need to reduce food loss and waste was underlined by the findings of the latest UN report on The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, which states that nearly 690 million people are hungry, or 8.9% of the world population – up by 10 million people in one year and by nearly 60 million in five years.

Consumers can play a major role in addressing food waste. Much of the food purchased by households is discarded because of a misunderstanding of date marking and improper storage of these household food items. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has come up with 15 tips to help you reduce food waste and make not wasting food a way of life.

Visit FAO’s official page for the Observance.