On international day of awareness of food loss and waste, Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue said tackling food waste can have huge benefits for the environment.

“Today, the international day of awareness of food loss and waste seeks to promote awareness and collective action to reduce food loss and waste.

"It is something that we can all look at in our daily lives and improve upon, whether in business or in our household.

"If all of us take one small step to change our habits and value the food that our farmers and fishers produce, we can all move forward in reducing the amount of food waste we produce,” said the Minister.

Emissions contributions

An estimated 14% of the world's food is lost between harvest and retail and an estimated 17% is wasted in retail and at the consumption level.

This food loss and waste accounts for 8% to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions – contributing to climate change and extreme weather events.

Food loss and waste also means wasting the resources that went into producing that food, including labour, land, water and energy.

Reducing losses

The 2030 sustainable development goals include a commitment to halving per-capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reducing food losses along production and supply chains.

Reducing food loss and food waste presents an opportunity for immediate climate benefits while improving the overall sustainability of our food systems – a necessary transformation to ensure better planetary and nutritional outcomes for current and future generations.

“Today, take a moment to think about the food you waste in your business or in your home. This is an important step towards achieving the goals in our climate action plan," Minister McConalogue concluded.