In 2023, UNEP West Asia partnered with Hilton Hotels and Winnow, an artificial intelligence company to track and reduce food waste, to launch the Green Ramadan campaign that aimed to reduce food waste in three Hilton hotels located in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar throughout the holy month of Ramadan.

During the meeting of G20 environment and climate ministers held in New Delhi, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture for the Environment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Osama Fakih, confirmed that the Kingdom had adopted a circular strategy for the carbon economy, among which is the Food Security Strategy, which aims to reduce food waste by 50%.

Through addressing food loss and waste issues in Jordan as a lever for food systems transformation, the project aims to improve food security, incomes and nutritional status of the population, as well as environmental sustainability in Jordan and the Mediterranean countries.

Chefs are trying to counter what they call an epidemic of food waste in West Asia, where an estimated one-third of all food is squandered. The wastage is taking a needless economic and environmental toll on a region already contending with poverty and climate change, say those in the industry.

Food waste is a significant problem in the UAE: the annual cost of food waste has been estimated at $3.5 billion, with around 38% of the food prepared daily in the UAE wasted. This blog offers a glimpse into The Behavioural Insights Team’s food waste research in the United Arab Emirates.

Beirut restaurants receive advisory services and technical support around plastic waste management, food waste management, greening restaurants, and ways for allowing circular businesses to flourish through a European Union-funded UNEP project.

Investments that reduce food loss and waste can deliver big wins on two pressing issues of our time: food security and environmental sustainability, according to a new World Bank report. But the results are not automatic – countries need well-targeted solutions.

National Food Loss and Waste Initiative, Ne'ma, is launched to encourage public and private sector entities to collectively address food waste and encourage responsible consumption in order to preserve food resources for a sustainable future. Ne'ma will contribute to achieving the UAE’s target of reducing food waste by 50% by 2030 to meet the country’s food security strategy and UN sustainable development goals.

A voluntary code of conduct for the reduction of FLW would be of immense use to NENA countries and the region as a whole, as it would provide a benchmark and framework against which to base FLW reduction strategies, policies and programs.