They Are the Champions 12.3: How Bosses are Flexing Their Muscles for Food Waste
A global coalition of business and political leaders is powering up to reduce loss and waste right across the food system by 2030.
Champions 12.3 is a powerhouse of international influencers and thought leaders from governments, international organizations, research institutions, and farmer groups. Using their clout and connections to recruit partners and drive change, they’re out to inspire a whole new ambition about rethinking food waste at every step of the journey from spade to spoon.
«Each year, Australian industry and households discard an astonishing 7.6 million tons of food, and the majority of it ends up in landfill,» said Dr Steven Lapidge, Creator and CEO of Fight Food Waste Ltd, as he was invited to become the first Champion 12.3 from Australasia. «This invitation means that Australia will have a seat at the table working alongside other leaders in the global fight against food waste to divert it from landfill, so we can save money, help people, improve food security and safeguard the environment.»
The «12.3» in the name refers to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal, or SDG, 12.3 which calls for halving global food loss and waste throughout the food chain by 2030. According to Champions 12.3 co-secretariat World Resources Institute, if food loss and waste were a country, it would be the third-highest emitter of greenhouse gases after the US and China. An area of land larger than China is used to grow food that people don’t eat, while a quarter of all freshwater used by agriculture goes to food that becomes waste. More than 800 million people are currently food insecure while more than 1 billion tons of food is lost or wasted each year. Now, Champions 12.3, armed with moral outrage and super-connections, are on a mission to slash the rate of food loss and waste in half.
And with the deadline of 2030, the clock is ticking; the Champions are already showing us what bossing it can really achieve in their own boardrooms, their relationships with partners and the media, and even how they can influence government policy.
Champions use the «Target-Measure-Act» approach to influence their peers, supply chains, customers, and policy makers. But they also walk the talk; their initiatives include the 10×20×30 project, which involves ten of the world’s largest food retailers to sign up twenty of their priority food suppliers to cut food loss and waste by 50% by 2030.
With the support of Champions 12.3, the African Union has already developed its continental post-harvest loss reduction strategy. Champions 12.3 has helped the World Farmers’ Organization to design a «Digital Dustbin» which connects farmers in Africa who have surplus harvest with companies, food banks, and others in need of additional food. Champions 12.3 has even worked with IKEA to become the first major company in world to reach 50% reduction in food waste.
More on Champions 12.3.