38% of all waste in landfills is from food waste
Al-Nuaimi: The UAE does not face the challenges of food shortages
The Corona pandemic crisis demonstrated the necessity of implementing an integrated system for food security and sustainability.
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The Minister of Climate Change and Environment, Dr. Abdullah Belhaif Al-Nuaimi, confirmed that "the UAE does not face the challenges of food shortage", identifying several trends that negatively affect the current rates of waste, most notably the annual volume of food spending, especially since the largest proportion of foodstuffs are imported from Outside, as well as the ability to achieve an integrated management system for waste, and damage to the environment because of the pollution and threat that results from these wastes to biological diversity and the natural habitats in which it is dumped.
Al-Nuaimi stated that one of the important challenges demonstrated by the emerging coronavirus pandemic crisis is the necessity to implement an integrated system for food security and sustainability and to ensure the continuity and flexibility of food supply chains, which requires action on many aspects, one of which is reducing food waste rates and raising societal awareness of behaviors. Sustainable production and consumption.
He pointed out, in statements to "Emirates Today", that the data provided by field studies at landfill sites indicate that 38% of the total waste in landfills consists of wasted food, which rises to 50%, during the holy month of Ramadan. These numbers are two million tons of food annually.
Al-Nuaimi emphasized that the current waste rates negatively affect several trends, including: the annual spending on food, especially since the largest proportion of foodstuffs are imported from abroad, and the state’s direction to achieve food security and sustainability, and to apply circular economy standards, as well as the ability to Achieving an integrated management system for waste and damaging the environment because of the pollution and threat that this waste results in the biological diversity and the natural habitats in which it is dumped, in addition to increasing the movement of food production, whether agricultural or industrial, which carries indirect consequences that contribute to increasing the severity of the repercussions of climate change, And blocking efforts to act for climate.
He pointed out that food loss and waste is directly related to food security in the country, which results in negative repercussions on food security, which is to limit the regular availability of food to consumers, or its availability in smaller quantities, which is one of the most important axes of achieving food security, as well as negative effects. In the long term, the fact that food production depends on natural resources, which leads to their depletion in the event of the unsustainable use of natural resources.
He added that some deal with food waste as a simple matter that does not affect others, and that it does not exceed more personal spending, while this waste affects all sectors, especially if it turns into a general behavior for individuals.
He stressed that climate change represents the crucial challenge to life on the planet, and its repercussions affect various sectors, the most important of which is the sustainability of food, as global warming represents a direct threat to the water resources needed for agriculture and livestock, and this is evident in several regions around the world hit by severe droughts .
The repercussions of climate change also cause changes in rainfall patterns, and waves of floods of freshwater sources, which in turn affect agricultural lands dependent on them, and agricultural crops that are not destroyed by heavy rains.
The repercussions of climate change cause the oceans to rise in temperature, the oxygen levels in them, and the high levels of acidity, which causes the death of millions of marine life annually, and the low levels of fish stocks in them.
2.4 million tons of food is wasted annually
Dr. Abdullah Belhaif Al-Nuaimi stated that the estimated values of food loss and waste in the UAE vary between 1.8 to 2.4 million tons annually, with an estimated value ranging between 13.7 and 26 billion dirhams, adding that according to the reports of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), nearly two-thirds of the production Global foodstuffs are wasted annually by 1.3 billion tons, equivalent to 2.6 trillion dollars annually.
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some deal with the
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