COP31 Is the Moment to Scale Systems to Halve Food Waste

Every year, the global economy loses roughly $1 trillion as 1.05 billion tonnes of food go uneaten, driving up to 10% of greenhouse gas emissions and leaving landfilling as the cheapest option for waste disposal.

Zero Waste Europe, Clean Air Task Force, and the European Food Banks Federation reported that food waste accounts for up to 14% of global methane. Throwing food away remains financially attractive because current landfilling and incineration costs fail to reflect their true environmental impact.

Zero waste is an official priority of the COP31 Action Agenda. With COP29 and COP30 having placed organic waste on the climate agenda, COP31 in Antalya represents the chance to turn ambition into delivery, according to the briefing.

The briefing groups fiscal and economic interventions into five distinct levers. These mechanisms aim to close the gap that currently makes prevention and proper management more expensive than disposal.

Governments can fund food waste prevention by bridging upfront costs through grants and catering contracts that reward lower waste. Making donation cheaper than disposal involves tax relief, value-added tax exemptions, and waste-tax rebates.

Pricing disposal at its true cost requires producer responsibility schemes, landfill and incineration taxes, and carbon pricing. Rewarding good sorting relies on pay-as-you-throw schemes and quality-based fees.

Building demand for compost and digestate demands farmer subsidies and public procurement. Most of these fiscal instruments are already operational and possess established track records.

With four years remaining to halve food waste under Sustainable Development Goal 12.3, COP31 in Antalya is the moment to turn scattered pilots into systems at scale.