This joint session is organized under the framework of the Food is Never Waste Coalition and highlights the pivotal role of cities in reducing food loss and waste (FLW) as a catalyst for more sustainable, resilient, and inclusive agrifood systems.
Drawing on the contributions form FAO and UNEP, the session explores practical experiences, policy insights, and collaborative approaches to advance FLW action globally.
City representatives will share best practices from on-the-ground initiatives across markets, schools, households, and restaurants. At the same time, national and global actors - including UN agencies, academia, private sector, and financial Institutions - will reflect on enabling governance, financing mechanisms, and partnerships. Special attention will be paid to access to healthy diets, climate adaptation and mitigation co-benefits, and urban resilience.
The session aims to identify key recommendations and concrete actions that the global community can take - through a multistakeholder approach - to enhance financing, governance, and partnerships for tackling food loss and waste worldwide.
Agenda
| Time | Agenda |
| 11:00 am | Welcome and Opening Remarks: - Maximo Torero, Chief Economist, FAO (video message) - Clementine O’Connor, Urban Food Systems Lead, UNEP |
| 11:10 am | Panel 1 - City-Level Experiences: shifting from practices to transformative change Cities will present their initiatives addressing food loss and waste as a catalyst for agrifood systems transformation. 1. Cassim Namugali, Mayor, Mbale City 2. Audrey Pulvar, Deputy Mayor, for Sustainable Food, Agriculture, and Short Supply Chains, City of Paris 3. Jalal Ali Abdelkarim Abughanam, Central Market Department Manager, Greater Amman Municipality 4. Pornphrom N.S. Vikitsreth, Advisor to the Governor, City of Bangkok 5. Carolina Chica, Director, Rural Economy and Food Supply Secretariat of Economic Development, City of Bogota Introduced and moderated by: Gustavo Porpino, Researcher, Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Embrapa), Brazil |
| 11:40 am | Panel 2 - Scaling up the Food Loss and Waste Agenda: Partner Perspectives Representatives from civil society, the private sector, academia, and national governments will present innovative approaches to creating an enabling environment for cities to advance and scale efforts on food loss and waste. 1. Marta Luca, General Manager, Fondazione SNAM 2. Luke Metelerkamp, Senior Professional Officer, ICLEI Africa 3. Andrea Segre, Full Professor, Circular Economy and Sustainable Development Policies, University of Bologna 4. Xueman Wang, Senior Urban Specialist and Program Manager, Global Platform for Sustainable Cities (GPSC), World Bank 5. Mia Callenberg, Environmental Specialist, Sustainable Cities, Global Environmental Facility (GEF) 6. Amal Gomersall, Senior Vice President, International Community Relations, Citibank Moderated by: Louison Lancon, Project Manager and Co-Founder, Let’s Food |
| 12:10 am | Interactive Q&A Session |
| 12:20 am | Closing Remarks and Next Steps: Divine Njie, Deputy Director, Agrifood Systems and Food Safety Division, FAO |
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