COP27 has come to a close in Egypt. While much of the media attention has focussed on the new “Loss and Damage” fund aimed at helping countries most susceptible to climate disasters. In getting to this agreement, the Conference ran some 36 hours into overtime and many have been fast to point out that this fund isn’t actually all that ‘new’ but rather an allocation of funding that has already been committed.
New Zealand proved how far we have to go after we were awarded the highly embarrassing “Fossil of the Day” for trying to delay the loss and damage funds negotiations.
Countries also recommitted to limiting warming to 1.5°C a number which is starting to feel more and more out of reach as we’re currently on track to warm to 2.8°C by the end of the century This is despite a failure to commit to phasing down fossil fuels. Instead, we have some watered-down language encouraging the “efforts towards the phase down of unabated coal power and phase-out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies."
We, at Foodprint, are most excited about the 123 Pledge. The 123 Pledge is a call to action for governments, businesses, chefs and other important actors in the food system to commit to taking action against food waste in climate agendas.
The ‘123 Pledge’ is coordinated by Champions 12.3 (a global movement which we have our own branch of here in Aotearoa), UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The ‘123’ in the Pledge’s name comes from United Nations Development Goal and Target 12.3 which calls on all nations to halve food loss and waste by 2030.
The Pledge outlines five priority areas that organizations committing to the Pledge must tie into. These are:
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 subnational (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, in committing to the Pledge, organisations must include a climate angle as well as being time-bound and measurable. There is also a requirement to submit annual progress reports to the Food Is Never Waste Coalition or Champions 12.3. The idea is that these reports will contribute to the first Global Stocktake which will conclude at COP28 held next year in the United Arab Emirates. The Global Stocktake was set up under the Paris Agreement to assess the world’s collective progress towards achieving what was agreed upon in 2015.
Already the 123 Pledge has commitments from the Government of the Netherlands, Unilever, UNEP, World Resources Institute, Rabobank, WWF and more. Once more it’s good to see food waste in the global climate change conversations and we look forward to watching its progress over the coming 12 months.
