The Food Waste Index Report 2021 released March 4, 2021. It revealed that 17 per cent of all food available at consumer levels was wasted in 2019. That year, some 690 million people had to go hungry.
The UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in June 1972.
UNEP's mission is to provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations.
The report presents the most comprehensive food waste data collection, analysis and modelling to date, generating a new estimate of global food waste.
It also publishes a methodology for countries to measure food waste, at household, food service and retail level, to track national progress towards 2030.
In contrast to the Food Loss Index, the Food Waste Index measures total food waste (rather than loss or waste associated with specific commodities).
The Report aims at supporting the goals of SDG 12.3. It does so by presenting the most comprehensive food waste data collection and analysis.
An estimated 17% (931 million tonnes) of total global food production was wasted in 2019. Among them, 61% of the global waste came from households, 26% from food service and 13% from retail.
Household per capita food waste generation is broadly similar across country income groups. It suggests that action on food waste is equally relevant in high, upper‐middle and lower-middle-income countries.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations has convened a Food Systems Summit to be held in 2021.
The UN Food Systems Summit aims to launch bold new actions to transform the way the world produces and consumes food, as part of the Decade of Action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
The Summit will launch bold new actions to deliver progress on all 17 SDGs. Each of the actions relies to some degree on healthier, more sustainable, and equitable food systems.
A number of Food System Summit Dialogues are planned leading up to the summit, including Member State Dialogues organized by national Governments. The outcomes of these will be of use in developing pathways to sustainable food systems and a valuable contribution to the various work streams in preparing for the Summit.
The Food Loss Index (FLI) focuses on food losses that occur from production up to (and not including) the retail level.
It measures the changes in percentage losses for a basket of 10 main commodities by country in comparison with a base period. It contributes to measure progress towards SDG Target 12.3.
