This is the 10th in an annual series of updates providing an assessment of the world’s progress toward achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 12.3. SDG 12.3 aims to “by 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses” (UN 2025). Prepared on behalf of Champions 12.3, this publication seeks to inform decision-makers in government, business, academia, and civil society about recent advances and what remaining steps need to be addressed if the world is to achieve the target.
The world is not on track to achieve SDG 12.3, but there is encouraging progress that shows what is possible. More countries and companies need to radically rethink their approach to this issue, especially as the SDG target year of 2030 approaches. These recommendations elaborate on how the world can build on existing progress while still bringing in those who have yet to tackle this issue head on:
Countries need to commit to food loss and waste reduction in new Nationally Determined Contributions, National Adaptation Plans, and related strategies on food systems and resilience. This commitment should be translated into meaningful policy measures. Countries including Chile, Colombia and the UK have included FLW in their revised NDCs. Countries such as Japan and Spain have demonstrated how to incorporate food loss and waste into strategies across the supply chain, and the African Union and European Union have shown that regional bodies can motivate action among their member states. More countries and regional bodies need to follow suit and back up their commitments with dedicated resources while strengthening data gathering and sharing best practices and key findings.
Companies should explore opportunities for food loss and waste reduction across the entire supply chain and strengthen collaboration among businesses. Reducing food waste requires coordination among stakeholders across the entire supply chain, yet many food loss and waste reduction actions focus narrowly on just one stage of the food supply chain. This approach fails to take into account the way that different stages of the supply chain interact. Food waste pacts and industry-facing initiatives focused on action provide opportunities for sharing best practices and developing solutions that span the supply chain. Companies should adopt the Target-Measure-Act approach in their own operations while contributing to larger collaborations and scaling action.
Finance organizations need to increase focus on food loss and waste as an issue and seek to better understand the financial business case for action. Finance providers can design context-specific financial products that overcome barriers while also encouraging policy signals to scale investments. At the same time, private sector companies can leverage their farmer and intermediary networks to help aggregate smallholders into bankable groups, use long-term offtake agreements that both secure reliable supply and help farmers access credit, and finance or co-finance food loss and waste solutions that strengthen their own supply chains.
Philanthropic organizations need to invest in food loss and waste reduction programs. The global philanthropy roadmap for food loss and waste developed at COP28 identifies multiple investment-ready projects that the philanthropic community can support. With known solutions for food loss and waste reduction and growing momentum within the private and public sectors, private philanthropy can play a key role in accelerating progress.
Change the narrative. The predominant framing of food loss and waste has driven action over time, but it has not reached a broad enough audience to drive large-scale action on the issue. “Food loss and waste” can be a confusing term for many decision-makers, and focusing on waste can be generally unpleasant and negative. Economic factors tend to be the primary driver for action, and communications need to reflect this. Businesses want to maximize efficiency and thrive in the marketplace, farmers want to find buyers and sell their goods, and households want to save money as food prices continue to rise. We must reframe the issue to appeal to what matters most to leaders: Reducing food loss and waste is not something we do for its own sake, but as a means to an end. As a global community tackling this issue, we need to do more to meet our audiences where they are and explain exactly why it should matter to them.
Preventing wasted food needs to be a priority as we shift globally to a system that values the food we produce, ensures that people are fed, and preserves the planet for generations to come. Everyone has a part to play and needs to do what they can to move us in this direction—there’s no more time for delay.