According to a draft of the IPCC special report, between 25 and 30 percent of all food produced is wasted or thrown away each year. Since 1970, this proportion is reported to have increased by about 40 per cent. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), this loss costs almost one trillion dollars (890 billion euros) every year.
And the climate suffers too: Waste contributes around eight percent to the already poor CO2 balance. This is also due to the increasing use of monocultures such as soy, which contribute significantly to the destruction of forests. Every year, tropical forests the size of Sri Lanka disappear – and with them the possibility to absorb large amounts of climate-damaging carbon dioxide.
