Build Back Better: Using Green and Digital Technologies to Reduce Food Waste at Consumer Level

Food waste exacerbates our triple planetary crises of climate, nature and pollution. One-third of the food produced for human consumption gets lost or wasted, costing 2.6 trillion USD annually.

Green and digital technologies are increasingly being used to reduce food waste at consumer level, including in storage, packaging, pre-treatment, portion control, compost, traceability, and supply-demand matching. This offers huge business opportunities and could accelerate the transition towards an Inclusive Green Economy and Sustainable Consumption and Production, in the course of Building Back Better.

This project brings together different knowledge groups of UNEP for an integrated approach cutting across Economic and Trade Policy, Food and Food Waste, Consumer Information, Sustainable Lifestyles, and the International Resource Panel (IRP). This is combined with case studies of 5 cities in 5 regions, including:

• Bangkok (Thailand), led by Regional Office Asia and the Pacific.
• Kampala (Uganda), led by Regional Office Africa.
• Belgrade (Serbia), led by Regional Office Europe.
• Bogotá (Colombia), led by Regional Office Latin America and the Caribbean.
• Doha (Qatar), led by Regional Office West Asia.