Dubai: Ms. Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, UAE Minister of Climate Change and the Environment, has launched ‘Ne’ma Food Loss and Waste Reduction Roadmap,’ a strong action plan to reduce food loss and waste in the country by 50 percent by 2030.
The roadmap was unveiled during the fourth National Dialogue on Food Security organized by the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment with ne’ma, the National Food Loss and Waste Initiative, and held under the theme, ‘Call for Change: Reducing Food Loss and Waste in the UAE.’
The event, which included high-level panel discussions, underlined the importance of a shared understanding of how food loss and waste play a critical role in achieving food security, sustainable consumption, and circular ecosystems, as well as mitigating climate risks.
The discussions focused on identifying challenges and solutions and mapping hotspots of food loss and waste, systemic gaps, and best practices, with emphasis on mobilizing the public and private sector, as well as the wider community, to change current consumption habits.
Ms. Almheiri stated that, “With only a few days away to our nation hosting COP28, this event underlines the strong commitment of the UAE in addressing all sectors that have a defining role in addressing the impact of climate change. And food and agriculture systems play a pivotal role in this regard, especially with food loss and waste one of the core challenges that humanity must address as a priority.”
According to Ms. Almheiri, who earlier this year launched the COP28 Food Systems and Agricultural Agenda, an ambitious plan to transform global food systems and ensure their long-term sustainability, the UAE is putting food and agricultural systems transformation at the center of the discussions at COP28.
“The roadmap will serve as a collective effort to reduce food waste by creating new social norms, scaling best practices, and enabling policies across the entire food ecosystem. Our strategy is to mobilize all the stakeholders and accelerate action with a holistic and government led approach. We will build capacity for food loss and waste monitoring, foster public-private partnerships for food loss and waste solutions, leverage innovative approaches to build the circular economy and introduce new mandates and policies. Our goal is to become a nation where no food is wasted,” the Minister of Climate Change added.
During the event, Jumeirah Group, Hilton Group, Rotana Group, and Expo City signed agreements with ne’ma to embrace food loss and waste reduction as a top priority.