Speaking to Anadolu at the Zero Waste Forum 2026, Ana Catalina Suarez Pena, senior director of strategy and innovation at the Global FoodBanking Network, assessed food banking and food waste, News.Az reports, citing Anadolu agency.
***
She noted that around 20% of global methane emissions come from organic waste, and that approximately 77% of organic waste is food waste.
“At the same time, 2.5 billion people are facing food insecurity across the globe. There is a paradox — on one hand we are losing and wasting food, on the other, people are facing hunger and food insecurity. What food banks do is interconnect those two conversations,” she said.
Suarez noted that food insecurity, land, agriculture, and food systems have been growing in importance and included in every COP agenda since COP28.
“People sometimes ask why we are speaking about food systems when we are speaking about climate. We are speaking about food systems because food stability is always at risk.
“When we face a climate-related disaster — floods, extreme rainfall, wildfires — it becomes more and more relevant how food stability is affected. Harvesting changes, the cost of fertilizers rise. Then we need to talk about how we are producing food and how people are going to be fed under the circumstances that we are living,” she said.
Suarez said ways to prevent food waste will be addressed at COP31 under the zero waste package.
“The most important step we need to take is to prevent food loss and waste from the outset, because the best waste is the one you never generate. Our expectation from COP31 is that the waste agenda takes a very important place. What we are discussing with the COP31 presidency is that it becomes part of the negotiations, that there are incentives and a clear agenda to reduce food loss and waste,” she said.
