This story on food waste as an overlooked climate solution is a partnership between Floodlight and Sentient, with visual reporting by Floodlight’s Evan Simon. Sign up for Sentient’s newsletter here.

In the United States, climate change is polarizing, but one environmental challenge draws rare bipartisan agreement: food waste. Even as the Trump administration rolls back key climate and environmental protections, in July, senators from both parties reintroduced legislation to simplify food expiration labels — one longtime driver of unnecessary waste. In September, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency launched a national initiative to connect food donors with communities and keep edible food out of landfills. Under the Biden administration, the U.S. unveiled a national strategy to reduce food waste and expand recycling of organic waste.

Despite this rare consensus, progress has been slow. In 2023, the U.S. still squandered roughly a third of its food supply, according to the food waste nonprofit ReFED. Food waste is responsible for 8-10% of all global emissions — about five times the emissions from the entire aviation industry. The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that if food waste were a country, it would be the world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gasses, after China and the U.S.

Experts tell Sentient that the problem persists because political follow-through is limited, climate action still focuses heavily on energy and transportation and ultimately, food waste itself is difficult to tackle. It occurs at every stage of the supply chain, from farms to fridges, making comprehensive action essential on this overlooked climate solution.

It’s also a missed opportunity, especially since wasting food is widely seen as wrong. “Nobody wakes up wanting to waste food,” said Dana Gunders, president of ReFED, during a summit at New York City Climate Week on Sept. 22.

Many people don’t realize that food waste reduction is a crucial and often overlooked climate strategy. Addressing food loss and waste has enormous climate potential, “but it’s still an underexplored area,” says Brian Lipinski, head researcher on food loss and waste at the environmental research nonprofit World Resources Institute.

Read the full article about reducing food waste by Gaea Cabico at Floodlight.