About 24 percent of all calories currently produced for human consumption are lost or wasted. This paper examines the implications of this amount of loss and waste, profiles a number of approaches for reducing it, and puts forth five recommendations for how to move forward on this issue. "Reducing Food Loss and Waste" is the second installment in the series that forms the foundation of the “World Resources Report 2013-14: Creating a Sustainable Food Future.”

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that 32 percent of all food produced in the world was lost or wasted in 2009. This estimate is based on weight. When converted into calories, global food loss and waste amounts to approximately 24 percent of all food produced. Essentially, one out of every four food calories intended for people is not ultimately consumed by them.

Food loss and waste have many negative economic and environmental impacts. Economically, they represent a wasted investment that can reduce farmers’ incomes and increase consumers’ expenses. Environmentally, food loss and waste inflict a host of impacts, including unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions and inefficiently used water and land, which in turn can lead to diminished natural ecosystems and the services they provide.

Big inefficiencies suggest big savings opportunities. We estimate that if the current rate of food loss and waste were cut in half―from 24 percent to 12 percent―by the year 2050, the world would need about 1,314 trillion kilocalories (kcal) less food per year than it would in the business-as-usual global food requirements scenario described in The Great Balancing Act, the first installment of this World Resources Report working paper series. That savings--1,314 trillion kcal--is roughly 22 percent of the 6,000 trillion kcal per year gap between food available today and that needed in 2050. Thus, reducing food loss and waste could be one of the leading global strategies for achieving a sustainable food future.

In this paper, we profile a subset of approaches to reducing food loss and waste that experts suggest are particularly practical and cost-effective, that could be implemented relatively quickly, and that could achieve quick gains. We also recommend a number of cross-cutting strategies to further galvanize commitment to reducing food loss and waste.

Reducing Food Loss and Waste is the second in a series of working papers that we’ll roll out over the course of a year. Each subsequent paper will take a detailed look at a potential solution that could help achieve a sustainable food future. These installments will set the foundation for and culminate in the World Resources Report 2013-2014: Creating a Sustainable Food Future. To learn more about the series and sign up to receive updates, visit the World Resources Report website.

Read the report.

This blog post was originally posted here.

A new report makes a strong bottom-line case for more earth-friendly farming — and eating — practices. A more sustainable approach to our world’s food production could be a massive economic boon, a new report out this month claims.

Our planet has a very long way to go toward building a food system that is truly and genuinely sustainable, but that work, if done correctly, could come with a massive reward.

That’s the conclusion of a new report released this month by the Business and Sustainable Development Commission, an international nonprofit hoping to make a strong bottom-line case for industries to take a more earth-friendly approach to their businesses.

In its flagship report, the commission appears to have done just that.

The report claims that taking a sustainable approach to the world’s food and agriculture challenges, like hunger, food waste and environmental degradation, could lead to new business opportunities totaling an annual $2.3 trillion — and 80 million new jobs — by 2030, based on an analysis of of industry reports and academic literature.

That economic impact would be a sevenfold return on an annual investment of $320 billion, according to the report.

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What exactly is meant by a sustainable approach that could achieve this, though? The approach considered by the report is one outlined by the United Nations’Sustainable Development Goals, or Global Goals, which were released last year with the aim of reducing poverty, hunger and inequality around the world by 2030.

The SDG agenda calls for significant shifts in how our food is produced, processed and sold, including growing and consuming more produce and meats that have a reduced environmental impact, embracing sustainable farming practices like low- and no-till agriculture and reducing food waste at both the production and retail level.

Such shifts, the report’s author Fraser Thompson said, aren’t just “pie-in-the-sky” daydreaming or, as some critics of the SDGs have put it, byproducts of a “worthless” “high school wish list.”

“It is important to stress that our business opportunities are based on currently available technologies where there is an existing model in operation in some part of the world,” Thompson told HuffPost by email. “We deliberately took this approach to ensure that the insights from the report were feasible for business.”

According to the report, these global shifts would have the bulk of their impact in developing countries — over 90 percent of the forecast job creation would take place on the continents of Africa and Asia due to the large share of arable land and high future consumption growth, Thompson said.

But there are significant opportunities for the U.S. to seize as well.

The three top areas for possible economic growth tied to a more sustainable food system in the U.S. are largely focused on the consumption side of the food value chain — reducing consumer food waste, reformulating food products to be healthier, and helping consumers switch their diets away from resource-intensive products like beef and toward other proteins like poultry, pork, fish and vegetarian diets.

There are already promising examples of the sort of sustainable practices the commission would like to see other industry leaders emulate in play throughout the world.

One of them Thompson named is Winnow, a London-based startup that is battling food waste through a “smart meter” that connects commercial kitchen operations to the cloud and allows chefs to record and analyze all the food that doesn’t get put to use.

Chefs then use that information to tweak their production practices and reduce their kitchens’ food waste by 50 percent or more. The company’s work was recognized with a Guardian Sustainable Business award earlier this year.

The key, Thompson argues, to harnessing the impressive windfall they’ve forecast will simply be scaling up ideas like Winnow’s kitchen meter. That will require buy-in from a broad swath of businesses and consumers alike.

BSDC chair Lord Mark Malloch-Brown told HuffPost by email he is hopeful the research presented in the report should help industry players connect the dots.

“It will require hard work by individual entrepreneurs and companies to translate this into specific businesses that earn financial returns in line with the economic opportunity we have identified,” Brown, former UN deputy secretary-general, wrote. “That’s hard long-term work but what we have sought to show is that the prize is worth the effort.”

Still, businesses have been slow to take action toward achieving the SDGs and consumers also appear skeptical, according to recent surveys.

According to Thompson, though, we don’t have much longer to wait before taking action toward meeting the world’s increasing food demands, which the UN has warned will grow by 60 percent in 2050.

“The challenges facing the food system in a ‘business-as-usual’ scenario should not be underestimated,” Thompson added. “Addressing the current undernourished population and the rapid demand for food and feed – and competing demand for fuel – will require a radical rethink of past practices.”

This article was originally posted on The Huffington Post​.

The United Nations Environmental Youth Action Initiative (UNEYAI Liberia) in collaboration with the LBS Community leadership, were able to successfully implement the  Community Cleanup and Solid Waste Management (CC-SWM) Project in the LBS Community on Saturday, October 1, 2016, with over ten (10) community volunteers and some community leaders who participated in our Pre-Training and Community Cleanup exercises on October 1, 2016.

UNEYAI Liberia Country Director, Ms. Sangaye Kweegbo was able to gave an overview of UNEYAI Liberia establishment, objectives, leadership, and the organization thematic areas of work, while Mr. Thomas P. Mitchell, Program Director of UNEYAI Liberia elaborated on the organization programs that are designed, with more emphasis on the Community Cleanup and Solid Waste Management (CC-SWM) Project.

The Community Cleanup and Solid Waste Management (CC-SWM) Project is a community based environmental campaign that inspires and empowers communities from every corner to clean up and conserve their environment. The LBS Community was our first target and we hope to implement the CC-SWM Project into other affected communities

Picture this 

You are in a restaurant with your family standing in front of the buffet. Looking at the buffet knowing that 30-40% of the food you are looking at already was discarded as waste before it even makes it to the shelves. The food we use so many resources for creating in the first place is later thrown out in the trash by the end of the day because restaurants have to keep a high standard to their customers. Why? The reasons vary: from stringent regulation on shapes and sizes of vegetables to kilograms upon kilograms of perfectly edible restaurant food being thrown away at the end of a day’s service. Not only is it costly (for both the environment and our pockets) but it’s unnecessary and unfair. Why should we accept that it’s right to waste such vast amounts of food that we’ve worked so hard to create while people are starving around the world?

Food waste consequence 

The impact that food waste has on our environment is colossal. Our planet is warming at unprecedented rates. Whilst the media focus on heavy industry and automation as the main sources of pollution, the fact that 13% of all the US greenhouse gas emissions result from the food supply chain continues to be widely ignored. 

What role does wasted food play within this? Arguably the most important. When sent to landfill, rotting food releases methane, an extremely damaging greenhouse gas that in the short-term is 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide. 

BuffetGO is a revolutionary new concept that is changing the way we deal with food from Hotels, Restaurants, and bakeries. Our unique "excess food service" are changing government laws in Europe as we speak because it is a sin against humanity to throw out perfectly good food to eat in the trash when 1 out of 4 humans don't know when their next meal is on the table.

Our goal is to increase the percent of reduced food waste in America by 1% each year witch is the equliant of (338.000 tons) and we will continue to do so until we reach a 10% nation wide.

Image credit: BuffetGO

BuffetGO created in 2014

I was living in Copenhagen, Denmark. We used the platform "Airbnb" to rent out one of our extra bedrooms from time to time. It is a great way to get that extra income when struggling with the house and car payment. This is also how I got introduced to the BuffetGO concept.

Mikko lived with us for five days. After three days we started talking business. What did we do and so on? I was working in a European startup called Colego and working on another project on the side that is on hold for now. Mikko was giving lectures in business intelligence around the world while having a car rental company in Finland. Mikko also had a great idea called BuffetGO. 

I never forget how impressed I was with such a brilliant idea and concept and wondered why nobody created this before. Here we have the perfect solution for food waste, combat climate change and ending world hunger and nobody is doing anything about it.

At this time I already visioned every major restaurant and hotel group in the world being a part of the BuffetGO concept since this is a no brainer. Why throw out food when you can get paid and doing what is right? While standing with this printed four-page power point presentation Mikko asked me if I loved the concept and course my answer was YES. He then asked me if I really believed in this. I said YES. He then said, "Take it, It is yours".. I was speechless. Mikko was standing with the holy grail and just handed it over to me. I still remember I asked him if he was an angel sent to help the earth because this is exactly what the world need. Three days after I had quit my job and have been working on BuffetGO since. With time I became more and more passionated about the cause and effect for climate change and realised how important it is we do something. At this point, it is no even about the money anymore even though there is money involved. Money is important, but integrity is more important and with both money and integrity you can do so much good for people around the world like building schools for homeless children in Columbia or helping humanitarian organisation saving lives in the water around Greece and turkey causes by the world crises we created. This concept has since we started to spread to 8 different countries in Europe within the last one and a half year and now we are in America as first movers in a totally new market trying to save the world. So far we inspired at least 4 other companies to follow our lead in Europe. BuffetGO is the only one operating in the US.

The restaurant problem in a nutshell 

Restaurant managers have trouble estimate how much food is needed and for the same reason this food in been thrown as waste by the end of the day. This is for great irritation for the business owners since wasted food is wasted money too. Also, there is some moral in this. Like if you have Jiminy Cricket from Pinocchio telling you that it is bad throwing out all that food. It simply does not feel right well knowing about the global climate change and catastrophic hunger issues we have.

Image credit: BuffetGO

The perfect solution for food waste, climate change and world hunger

Now buffet style hotels and restaurant / bakeries can sell the surplus food 15-30 minutes before the food is taken down from the shelves instead of wasting it. This one of a kind partnership provides restaurants with 100% profit margins while reducing food waste at the same time. We raise the average income per restaurant with 3.2% with zero/no cost. We also provide them with a better image that proves they create fresh food on a daily basis. New customers tasting their food and their carbon footprint is reduced since each meal sold through BuffetGO saved the environment 3 litres of petroleum in energy. This will make every business owner feel good since they can both help and get paid at the same time.

BuffetGO customers have already paid for the food online when they arrive at the restaurant. BuffetGO has full legal responsibility for the food, takes care of marketing and any customer service related issue making it easy for the restaurant. The only process the Restaurant has to do is simply hand over a takeaway box to the arriving customers 15 minutes before closing. The customer picks up the food them self and leaves again as a takeaway customer. The majority of the profit belongs to the restaurant, but BuffetGO does donate 20% to the World Food Programme. BuffetGO does not only solves local hunger but global hunger too while combating climate change at the same time. It is truly a win\win solution for addressing the food waste epidemic in the world. 

By ordering through BuffetGo, you can show your support for a fair, just and equal society. Moreover, an equal society in which access to capital doesn't dictate a person's capacity to feed themselves.  

The United Nations today announced a campaign to encourage young people to step up their actions to address climate change and ensure a sustainable and happier future for all.

The campaign is launched in partnership with the Angry Birds – the globally renowned mobile game characters – to make a direct link between tackling climate change and people’s happiness and well-being on the occasion of the International Day of Happiness.

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“The Angry Birds have entertained millions of people around the world – and now they are part of making the world a better place,” said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who appointed Red of the Angry Birds as an Honorary Ambassador for Green at a launch event at UN Headquarters in New York.

“We are proud to give Red a reason to go Green. There is no better way to mark the International Day of Happiness than to have our animated ambassador raise awareness about the importance of addressing climate change to create a safer, more sustainable and happier future for all,” Mr. Ban said.

The campaign, in partnership with Sony Pictures Entertainment, the UN Development Programme and UN Foundation, asks the general public across the world to make the Angry Birds happy by taking actions on climate change and sharing their photos and commitments on social media platforms using the common hashtag #AngryBirdsHappyPlanet. By recycling, taking public transportation and conserving water, for example, individuals can share tips on how they can live sustainably and happily in their everyday lives.

As part of his ambassadorial duties, Red will go on a “virtual world tour” starting on 21 March, highlighting various ways to take climate action. His tour will take him to Paris, where countries adopted an historic agreement to address climate change in December, and will end in New York, where world leaders will sign the Paris Agreement at UN Headquarters on 22 April.

During the launch event, the voice actors from the upcoming Angry Bird movie, Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, and Maya Rudolph, and producers John Cohen and Catherine Winder gave hundreds of students gathered in the iconic UN General Assembly Hall a sneak preview of the #AngryBirdsHappyPlanet campaign materials, including public service announcements created to support the campaign. They also asked the young audience for their support to the campaign by doing their part to make a difference on climate change.

The world is experiencing unprecedented population growth, and, so too are the demands being placed on our environment – including increased production, accelerated use of natural resources, and spreading urbanisation.

Landfill sites globally are filling at a rate that we cannot sustain, and the great pacific garbage patch continues to increase in size every day. The role that waste plays in Climate Change are many, including toxic runoff into waterways and ground water, and methane emissions that are up to 23 times more dangerous that carbon dioxide. The incineration of waste releases carbon dioxide and dioxins into the atmosphere, all of which add to increasing levels of greenhouse gases.

In order to mitigate these issues, we need to reduce consumption and reuse and recycle waste.

While it is extremely important to be aware of the issues around Climate Change, it is also important not to focus on them too much as it can halt action, by disempowering people at the very thought of the scale of the problem. I want to promote the positive actions that people are taking right now to stop Climate Change, to inspire a more sustainable planet.

Back in March of 2012, I was lucky enough to win the “How are you greening your life?” competition, held by Connect4Climate. This was a great stepping stone for me personally, to be a part of a strong community that gives us all the chance to have a real impact on Climate Change by working together to find solutions and act. Being recognized for my work gave me the added motivation to continue on my project, and inspire as many people as possible to live more sustainably. This is an area that I am passionate about, and I have dedicated my life to for the last three years. 

Dan Phillips builds entire houses from recycled materials for single mothers and low income families.

My project is called Retrash, which is a book with a simple goal – to inspire the world to rethink waste, and in turn create positive social change in better spending habits.

The book is a result of a collaboration of 82 designers and artists from 20 countries around the world who are leading the recycling and upcycling movement. This movement of people is more than just about reusing waste, they each have a philosophy and a way of living that is sustainable and creates awareness around the impact we humans have on our environment.

Jennifer Lara creates stunning tank tops from reusing old T-Shirts.

Each entry in the book features the story behind the creator, detailing why they do what they do, where they source their materials, and the ideas behind why they reuse waste. I have been an avid recycler/upcycler myself since I was young, and I feel very honored to be a part of such a positive and inspiring movement.

Through the book we can reach people globally, with ideas on how to reuse waste so we can all take action and integrate these ideas into our everyday life. We can also then change spending habits to reduce consumption of packaging and excess products that we don’t really need.

Gilles Eichenbaum creates these gorgeous lamps from old kettles.

You can be a part of this movement and take direct action against Climate Change by helping us get this book to print. We only have seven days left to raise funds to make this project a reality. Show your support by pre-ordering the book here.

Nathan Devine is based in the Blue Mountains, Australia as is the founder of Retrash.com – a platform dedicated to inspiring a more sustainable planet.