Sustainable Behavioural Shifts to reduce Food Waste in Asia-Pacific

Name: Sustainable Behavioural Shifts to reduce Food Waste in Asia-Pacific
Start: 2024-09-25

25 September 2024

Overview

Context and Background

Agenda

Date: 25^th September 2024 || Time: 14:30 – 16:00 (Bangkok time, GMT+7)

Registration Link: https://shorturl.at/sDCHe

Thematic Focus: Consumer Behavior Change and Sustainable Lifestyles

Objective:

This thematic webinar aims at exploring strategies to achieve these targets by focusing on consumer behavior change through targeted interventions in the retail and the hospitality sectors.

This event is framed with the Global Opportunities for Sustainable Development Goals (GO4SDGs) initiative, which has established and animated the Asia Pacific Food Waste Regional Working Group since 2021, providing training on food waste measurement and national baseline setting, capacity building on key food waste reduction approaches, while facilitating South-South collaboration within regions, through a series of workshops and one-to-one support.

After framing the topic of food waste, by presenting the main findings of the UNEP Food Waste Index report 2024, innovative practices from the region will be showcased to inspire actions and reflect on the enabling conditions. Special focus will be given to consumer behavior change, highlighting the importance of context-based and tailored messaging, to inspire sustainable lifestyles.

The webinar will foster discussion on ways to engage with and advance the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste (IDAFLW), as it marks its fifth observance on 29th September 2024, offering key opportunities for meaningful participation.

Expected outcomes and impact:

Inspire action, by discussing success factors and lessons learned to replicate and scale up good practices, to promote behavioural change and sustainable lifestyles
Strengthen stakeholder engagement in the region on the topic, to mobilize resources and action for food waste reduction

Context and Background

Food waste is a critical issue in the Asia-Pacific region, as it is at global level, contributing significantly to environmental degradation, economic loss, and social inequity.

The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.3 aims to halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains by 2030.

UNEP, mandated by UNEA Resolution 4/2 and as custodian of SDG 12.3 indicator, the Food Waste Index, supports the delivery of Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 by building member state capacity to measure food waste and to catalyse essential action towards reducing food waste and achieving SDG 12.3.

As per the UNEP Food Waste Index report 2024, more than 35% of food waste is generated at the retail and food service stages, while the remaining part is generated at household level. Engaging stakeholders in the retail and hospitality sectors can significantly help achieve food waste reduction along the food supply chain and influence behavioral change for individuals and households. This can also be considered within the context of UNEP/EA.6/RES.8 on promoting sustainable lifestyles, which reaffirms commitments made in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to ensure that people everywhere have the relevant information and awareness, as well as the necessary enabling conditions, for sustainable development and lifestyles in harmony with nature.

Target audience:

Regional Working Group on Food Waste
Critical stakeholders and practitioners
General Public in the region (the session will be open for participation)

Follow up actions:

Engaging governments and policy makers to reflect on the enabling conditions and policies and regulations supporting food waste reduction and sustainable consumption and production.
Engage research institutions, universities, to conduct comprehensive research to understand the attitudes, behaviors, and barriers related to food waste among consumers in the Asia-Pacific region and identify key behavioral drivers and triggers that can be leveraged to promote sustainable consumption practices.
Replicate and scale up pilot projects to test and refine the proposed strategies, followed by broader rollout based on initial results.
Establish partnerships with key stakeholders, including retailers, hotels, NGOs, and government agencies.
Further engage stakeholder Secure funding and resources to support the implementation of the proposed interventions.

Agenda AP Webinar