Governments must tackle the growing problem of food waste or risk losing $600bn a year, an industry report has found.
According to figures published by UK waste advisory agency WRAP, a 20 per cent to 50 per cent reduction in consumer food waste could save between $120bn and $300bn a year by 2030.
Currently, about a third of all food produced in the world ends up as waste, while the value of global consumer food waste is more than $400bn a year. However, research conducted by WRAP for the Global Commission finds the cost could rise to $600bn as the global middle class expands over the course of the decade.
"If all the food waste in the world was a country, it would be the size of Mexico. It would be the world's third largest carbon emitter after the USA and China," WRAP chief executive Liz Goodwin told a conference in Dubai this week.
"It's a dreadful amount, whichever way you look at it and it's crazy that we collectively allow it happen. It's enough to feed all that are hungry in the world - not just once, but four times over."
WRAP says tackling food waste could also have huge implications for the environment: around seven per cent of all global greenhouse gas emissions, or 3.3 billion tonnes CO2 equivalent (CO2eq) per year, are due to food waste.
The organization estimates that by 2030 global greenhouse gas emissions could be lowered by between 200 million and one billion tonnes of CO2eq a year through food waste reductions - more than the annual emissions of Germany.
Goodwin said WRAP's work in the UK showed it is possible to cut avoidable food waste by half in 10 years and said doing so is imperative if development efforts are to prove successful and the expansion of the global middle class is to continue.
"Our analysis suggests that there is the potential to reduce food waste levels by two million tonnes per year by 2025," Goodwin said. "This could offset around 60 to 70 per cent of the additional food needed for our growing population. If replicated globally, imagine what that could mean."