Goal 13
Goal 13, Climate Action
Food that reaches a landfill fed nobody and warmed the planet.
UN Sustainable Development Goal 13 commits the world to taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. The UN Environment Programme reports that food loss and waste is a significant source of global greenhouse gas emissions, and much of it is avoidable.
Food that reaches a landfill breaks down without oxygen and releases methane, a greenhouse gas far more potent than carbon dioxide over the short term. The Government of Canada identifies landfills as a large source of the country’s methane emissions, and has set out Landfill Methane Regulations to reduce them.
Every load of surplus produce that reaches a food bank instead of a landfill is food that fed people and emissions that never happened.
Methane from landfill
The Government of Ontario reports that the province’s waste sector is a significant source of greenhouse gases, and that most of the food and organic waste from Ontario businesses and institutions is sent to disposal rather than diverted. The material is avoidable and the emissions are avoidable with it.
Every yes a farm hands to a food bank serves Goal 2 on hunger and Goal 13 on climate at the same time, because food sent to landfill is food that fed nobody and warmed the planet on the way out.
Goal 13 target 13.3 commits the world to improving education and awareness-raising on climate change mitigation. We do both halves.
The UN Environment Programme’s Food Waste Index shows food waste on a global scale. 8.8 million tonnes of edible food is wasted in Canada every year (Second Harvest and Value Chain Management International, 2024). Keeping that food out of landfill is climate work as much as it is hunger work.
The Neighbour’s Table
Ontario generates a large volume of food and organic waste every year, and organic waste makes up a large share of what goes into an Ontario household’s garbage, according to the Government of Ontario.
Goal 13 is published in the official wording on the UN page for Goal 13.
