<\/p>\n
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said emissions from food loss and waste were about five times greater than those produced by the global aviation industry.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
More than 1 billion meals are discarded every day, with households responsible for about 60% of the total.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Food buried in landfills decomposes without oxygen and releases methane, a greenhouse gas responsible for almost one-third of global warming.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Over 20 years, methane traps 86 times more heat than carbon dioxide, making rapid reductions important for slowing near-term warming.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Food waste also squanders the land, water and energy used to grow, process and transport produce that is never consumed.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates that 1.4 billion hectares, about 28% of the world\u2019s agricultural land, are used to produce food that is ultimately discarded.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Agricultural expansion is also a major cause of deforestation, meaning food waste contributes indirectly to the destruction of forests that absorb carbon dioxide.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cAt a time when the world is searching for practical ways to slow warming quickly, tackling food waste may be one of the most immediate and cost-effective climate solutions available,\u201d UNEP Official Martin Krause said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Methane remains in the atmosphere for less time than carbon dioxide, meaning lower emissions could produce climate benefits within decades.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
However, FAO said there had been no meaningful progress in reducing food losses since 2015.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The world remains far from reaching the Sustainable Development Goal of halving food waste per person by 2030. \u201cWe have to move faster,\u201d Krause said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
African countries are introducing measures to reduce methane emissions from discarded food.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Eleven governments have committed to integrating waste pickers into formal waste-management systems and training workers to separate and compost organic material.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Supported by the UNEP-convened Climate and Clean Air Coalition, the projects have established community composting sites, strengthened household waste separation and improved livelihoods.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Black soldier flies are also being used to process organic waste into useful products.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Specialised facilities in Malawi and Uganda are breeding the insects as part of waste-management systems operating across a growing number of communities.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–UN\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":44219,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[78,26],"class_list":["post-47181","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Rotting food produces up to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, making food waste a significant but preventable contributor to climate change, the United Nations (UN) says.","published_date":"","news_description":"Rotting food produces up to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, making food waste a significant but preventable contributor to climate change, the United Nations (UN) says.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/47181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/47181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47182,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/47181\/revisions\/47182"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=47181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}