Helping the UK food system achieve global environmental goals with the Courtauld Commitment

WELCOME

The facts about our food system are stark:

• 30% of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are created by global food production.
• 8 out of the top 10 countries that the UK sources fruit and vegetables from are drought-prone.

In UK households, we throw away 6.6 million tonnes of food a year; almost three quarters is food we could have eaten. The Courtauld Commitment is a great British success story, with collaborations and partnerships developed under the agreement benefitting signatories and the sector more widely. Our 2015-2018 results showed a 7% reduction in food waste (nearly half a million tonnes), a 7% reduction in GHG emissions (over seven million tonnes CO2e) and collective action projects targeting water scarcity.

We’re now at a critical point on our journey to net zero, with UK food and drink businesses increasingly under pressure to demonstrate leadership in helping deliver global targets such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on climate action. The Courtauld Commitment is stepping up a gear to meet these new demands; re-aligning and reframing our targets to emphasise the interconnected nature of the GHG, water, and food waste challenges for the global food system.

SPEAKERS

Bio: Dr David Moon is Head of Business Collaboration at WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme). A materials scientist by training, he has over 25 years' experience of delivering collaborative programmes for Government and industry to achieve environmental objectives. His team delivers three voluntary agreements to tackle major environmental issues in the UK, working with leading businesses, trade associations, Governments and local authorities:

• the Courtauld Commitment 2025 in the food & drink sector
• Textiles 2030: the UK Sustainable Textiles Action Plan (which succeeds the Sustainable Clothing Action Plan 2020 Commitment)
• The UK Plastics Pact.
  
  
  

Bio: Karen Fisher is a Special Advisor WRAP, with nearly 20 years experience in the field of food systems sustainability and appraisal. She is currently leading a number of workstreams with the food & drink sector focused on tackling the significant challenge of measuring and reducing supply chain GHG (scope 3) emissions. This work involves organisations that span the whole of the food chain, including farming bodies, manufacturers & processors, retailers, hospitality & food service businesses, government representatives and other stakeholders. The aim is to use the Courtauld Commitment as a platform for collaboration to make faster and more effective progress towards reducing GHG emissions in food & drink supply chains, addressing barriers to action, such as measurement & reporting inconsistencies, which need a whole supply chain approach. She also leads WRAP’s programme of work on water stewardship, focused on tackling water stress in food supply chains and convening collective action to help build supplier resilience and secure sustainable water management in the most ‘at risk’ areas that the UK sources key food & drink products and ingredients from.

Bio: Dr Andrew Parry is WRAPs Special Advisor on farm to fork food waste prevention. Andrew has worked at WRAP for 15 years, leading the team that launched Love Food Hate Waste in 2006, and working on initiatives ranging from quantifying food surplus and waste on farm to developing the UK Food Waste Reduction Roadmap. Andrew advises WRAP on food waste prevention strategies and the monitoring of progress, and works closely with UK government policy colleagues, the European Commission and other international organisations.

Bio: Paul Wilkinson is the Senior Business Account Manager in WRAP focused on developing the Courtauld Commitment and WRAP’s approach to Client Relationship Management. With a degree in Molecular Biology, Paul began his career in the Life Sciences industry for 5 years before moving into the Fast Moving Consumer Goods sector. For the next twenty years he worked in Client Management roles for leading companies such as Mars Inc, Boots and as an Account Director for Management Consultants, Capgemini, who are specialists in delivering Collaborative Business projects. Over the last 10 years, Paul had been striving to support the development of the leadership and management capability of UK plc before Covid intervened. He believes all this cumulative experience was preparing him for his most important role working for WRAP at this critical time for the sustainability of the Global Food System.