Timed with COP27, the 123 Pledge will accelerate action on reducing food waste worldwide, the World Resources Institute (WRI) says.
WRI says the Pledge challenges governments, businesses, chefs and other important actors in the food system to commit to concrete steps that will make reducing food loss and waste a part of their action agendas on greenhouse gas emissions.
The 123 Pledge is coordinated by Champions 12.3, UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). It is also supported by WRAP, WWF and Rabobank.
WRI says that the groups taking the 123 Pledge must meet requirements designed to ensure impact, progress and transparency toward a worldwide goal of halving food loss and waste by 2030, in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goal 12.3.
The commitments must include a climate angle, be time-bound and measurable, the non-profit organisation says.
Those taking the Pledge must commit to providing annual progress reports, which WRI says will contribute to the Global Stocktake (GST) that concludes at COP28 in 2023.
Helping citizens and companies reduce food loss and waste has never been more salient given the global food crises we are all facing.
Commitments must also tie to at least one of five priority areas, which include integrating food loss and waste reduction into country and company climate strategies; reducing food loss and waste along supply chains;
stimulating action at the national and city level; measuring, reporting and creating policy and regulatory frameworks for food loss and waste reduction; and supporting behaviour change at the consumer level through awareness, education and enabling conditions.
In addition to promoting key climate action, the Pledge’s organisers say they hope to ultimately help families save money during times of high food prices by spurring actions that will help them understand how to ensure more of what they buy gets eaten
Commenting on the 123 Pledge, Richard Swannell, Interim CEO of WRAP, said: “I fully support the 123 Pledge given the critical importance of tackling food loss and waste if we are to deliver against our collective climate goals. To deliver this we need action across the supply chain, from farm to fork.”
“Helping citizens and companies reduce food loss and waste has never been more salient given the global food crises we are all facing. WRAP will work with governments, businesses and people to reduce costly food waste at home and across the supply chain as part of our shared global ambition to reduce the enormous contribution food waste makes to climate change, and keeping 1.5 alive.”
