they waste millions of tons of food

NAIROBI.- The Food waste is a global tragedysince only in 2022 more than 1,050 million tons were wasted60% coming from homes, according to a report from the UN Environment Program (UNEP).

That waste happened in a year when a third of humanity was facing food insecuritysays the UN report.

“Food waste is a global tragedy, millions of people will go hungry today due to food waste around the world,” said Inger Andersen, executive director of UNEP.

They present the 2024 Food Waste Index

The report on the Food Waste Index 2024, made jointly with partner organization WRAP, is titled “Think, Eat, Save. Tracking progress to halve global food waste.”

Presents a global estimate of food waste at the retailer and consumer level.

Additionally, it suggests best practices in order to halve waste by 2030 in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) set by the United Nations.

According to UNEP, in 2022, 1,050 million tons of food waste (including inedible parts), which is 132 kilograms per capita and almost a fifth of all food available to consumers.

Most food waste comes from households

Of the total food wasted, 60% (631 million tons) comes from households28% from food services and 12% from retail.

Each person wasted 79 kilograms of food per year and the equivalent of one billion meals was wasted in homes every day, or in other words, 1.3 meals a day for people affected by hunger in the world.

In turn, food waste generates 8 to 10% of global emissions. greenhouse gaseswhich is almost five times more than the total emissions of the aviation sector.

Food waste “fuels” climate change

Food waste continues damaging the world economy and fueling climate change, the loss of nature and pollution, although UNEP recalled that it is not only a problem of rich countries.

On average, the countries of different income levels They waste a similar amount of food per person.

On the other hand, only four countries in the Group of Twenty (G20, bloc of rich and developing economies), Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United Statesin addition to the European Union (EU), have adequate estimates of food waste to track progress by 2030.

Faced with this situation, the general director of WRAP, Harriet Lamb, advocated for greater coordinated action on all continents and supply chains.

“This is critical to ensuring food feeds people, not landfills,” he added.