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BY KARL S. - DEC 15, 2023
COP28 has just finished. World leaders convened in the UAE over the last few weeks to look at climate change and take action. With varying degrees of success.
Food waste is finally getting some of the focused attention it deserves. But are the world’s leaders doing enough? This week we round up some of the food waste news that has come out during COP 28.
Let’s get started.
Photo by Dan Meyers on Unsplash
I. COP28: UN targets agri-food industry with new climate recommendations
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has published a food systems roadmap for the world to stick to with a 1.5 degree temperature increase.
The plan outlined “10 priority areas” that need “mobilized climate finance without delay”. Areas include livestock, soil and water, crops, and fisheries.
Targets for 2030 include reducing methane emissions from livestock by 25 per cent; ensuring the world’s fisheries are sustainably managed; safe and affordable drinking water for all, halving food waste and eliminating use of traditional biomass for cooking.
But some say the measures do not go far enough. Emile Frison of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems said it would not move the world from the “high-pollution, high-fossil-fuel, high-hunger track we are on”.
Source: Irishtimes.com
II. 134 Countries Sign the Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture at COP28
On December 1st the UAE announced that 134 countries have signed the Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action. Which is a commitment to integrate food into their climate plans by 2025.
Ani Dasgupta, President & CEO of World Resources wrote, “There’s perhaps no bigger area where the world’s injustices play out than in our food. While many in richer countries eat an excess of food, hundreds of millions of others are starving. And through this injustice we’re burning the planet: our food system causes at least one third of global emissions, which drives further droughts and floods that destroy farmers’ crops. The cycle is vicious.”
Mr Dasgupta continued, “The launch of this declaration is the moment when food truly comes of age in the climate process, sending a powerful signal to the nations of the world that we can only keep the 1.5 degree goal in sight if we act fast to shift the global food system in the direction of greater sustainability and resilience.
Source: WRI.org
Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash
III. The Money Food Needs To Fight Climate Change is Finally Rolling In
More than $3 Billion in climate finance has been committed to food and agriculture during Cop28 in Dubai.
Governments, philanthropies and private money are now, finally, putting food higher on the climate agenda.
“Even if you were able to fix the just energy transition and go completely renewable, you still wouldn’t be able to reach the 1.5 degrees if you don’t solve the food systems issue,” said Mariam Almheiri, the United Arab Emirates minister for climate change and the environment. “That’s how big of a cause this is. Food systems will now be center stage in all future COPs.”
It looks like the world’s leaders are finally waking up to food waste. But if they are really going to tackle this issue, they have to stay the course.
Source: Bloomberg.com
IV. Talk to LightBlue
If your organization needs consultation and training services to help fight food waste, talk to LightBlue. We have worked with many organizations over the years, educating them in fighting food waste and providing them the technology and services they need to do it.
Get in touch via email on contact@lightblueconsulting.com.
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