The International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste (IDAFLW) will be observed for the third time on 29 September 2022.Â
Stop Food Waste! For People and Planet.
The food supply chain in many countries is on course to overtake farming and land use as the largest contributor to greenhouse gases (GHGs). Food processing and packaging, together with transport and food waste, are pushing the food supply chain to the top of the list of GHG emitters globally.
GHGs are generated at every step of the food supply system, regardless of whether the food produced is consumed. In particular, food waste rotting in landfills generates methane, a potent greenhouse gas that has 84 times more warming power than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – specifically SDG 12, target 12.3 – calls for halving per-capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reducing food losses along production and supply chains.Â
With eight years left to reach the target, the urgency for scaling up action to reduce FLW cannot be overemphasized. Reducing FLW 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.
International Day

Public and private entities as well as consumers from across the food systems, must work to cut food loss and waste to enhance the use of natural resources, mitigate climate change and support food security and proper nutrition for all. The International Food Loss and Waste: Get Involved guide offers key messages, facts and figures, and actions that stakeholders can take to help reduce food loss and waste.