WRAP sets new food waste targets ahead of COP30

WRAP warned that last year only 12 of the 195 countries which attended COP29 had committed to reducing food loss and waste.

The new targets are:

• A collective business target – to drive 50 international retailers and manufacturers to adopt food loss and waste targets in line with Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 (SDG12.3).
• A collective action drive – to inspire 50 new businesses to join WRAP’s food agreements across Brazil, the UK, Indonesia, Mexico, Australia, South Africa and the EU in line with SDG 12.3.

Food waste currently contributes between 8 to 10% of climate warming greenhouse gas emissions.

Tesco food waste partnership

The environmental action group has partnered with Tesco in calls for businesses and governments to do more to tackle food waste.

Tony McElroy, Tesco’s head of circularity campaigns, said: “We’re incredibly proud of all the steps we’ve taken so far, from avoiding waste by redistributing over 300 million meals to charities and communities, to helping customers save money and cut waste at home.

“We remain focussed on driving forward action across our entire supply chain and in collaboration with our key partners as we accelerate progress to halve our food waste.”

WRAP and Tesco said they plan to deliver a series of initiatives at “key moments” in the environmental calendar to encourage action ahead of COP30 in November.

This will kick off with a panel on Wednesday (25 June 2025) as part of the London Climate Action Week.

The panel will feature Tony McElroy, WRAP CEO Catherine David, FareShare CEO Kris Gibbon-Walsh and Branston’s agronomy director Mark Willcox.

The session will be chaired by senior manager of health and sustainability at The Consumer Goods Forum, Rosemary Brotchie.

‘Resetting our global food system’

Catherine David, CEO WRAP said: “Food waste shouldn’t happen. It’s one of the largest, most urgent and actionable issues to address and doesn’t need to wait for new technology or AI – it needs focus, collaboration, shared targets and ambition. Looking at NDCs across countries attending COP in recent years, this has all been in dangerously short supply.

“The need to reset our global food system is imperative as our population grows and the climate changes. One third of what we produce goes to waste every year while millions go hungry. We need a fair and sustainable system to protect these fragile networks from future disruptions and to make the most of the food we have, for all.

“Food security will become a priority for governments as the real impacts of climate change bite harder in coming years, and tackling waste is a key step they must take. WRAP and Tesco are taking a stand to call out inaction, and demand more from those who fail to act.”

The World Economic Forum estimates that food loss and waste also costs the global economy $936 billion a year, when more than 783 million people go hungry every day, and a third of humanity faces food insecurity.