•However, the food shortage dropped sharply last year during the lockdown as people began eating leftovers, planning meals and freezing food, than throwing it away.
•Once lockdown ended, food waste rose again. The gas produced is methane which is more potent than carbon dioxide.
Urgent action is needed to address food waste that accelerates the triple planetary crisis of climate change, experts have warned.
A report by the United Nations Environmental Programme shows food wastage is accounting for 8-10 per cent of greenhouse emissions leading to climate upheaval.
The report shows as 800 million people starve, 570 million tonnes of food are wasted every year.
However, the food shortage dropped sharply last year during the lockdown as people began eating leftovers, planning meals and freezing food, than throwing it away.
Once lockdown ended, food waste rose again. The gas produced is methane which is more potent than carbon dioxide.
About a third of all the world’s food is wasted.
This food either leaves the farm, gets lost or spoiled during distribution, or is thrown away in hotels, grocery stores, restaurants, schools, or home kitchens.
It totals 1.3 billion tons of fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy, seafood, and grains and could be enough calories to feed every undernourished person on the planet.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, if food waste were a country, it would have the third-biggest carbon footprint after the US and China.
Unep is urging cities and partners around the world to promote the use of green and digital technology to improve the shelf life of food and optimise distribution.
“An integrated approach that connects policy, infrastructure and consumer behaviour is needed to build the public-private partnerships that will enable the use of this green technology,” the report said.
Examples of these technologies are wide-ranging and include solar-powered food storage devices, social media campaigns, virtual markets and urban farming.
Preventing food waste is the most effective way to shrink its impact on the planet.
If we avoid producing food that we don't eat, we can save the land, water, and energy that would have been used to make it.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris