The Courtauld Commitment Annual Report 2021

Highlights:

• Inaugural Food Waste Action Week showed the UK that wasting food feeds climate change.
• Almost £7m awarded to redistribution organisations in England by December 2020.
• WRAP research revealed a 45% increase in UK redistribution in 2020 vs 2019: over 92,000 tonnes, worth £280 million and the equivalent of 220 million meals.
• 249 businesses now committed to implementing ‘Target, Measure, Act’ in their operations.
• New, hugely ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction target for the UK food system agreed, giving the industry a meaningful contribution to help limit warming on a global scale to 1.5^oC.
• Six pilot Courtauld Commitment Water Ambition water stewardship projects gaining momentum.

The Courtauld Commitment 2030

In addition to outlining all of the achievements made by signatories under the Courtauld Commitment 2025, this year's report demonstrates how and why the agreement is transitioning to become the Courtauld Commitment 2030, with:

• A re-alignment of the targets and timeline to fit with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, as well as the reframing of these targets to emphasise the interconnected nature of the GHG, water, and food waste sustainability challenges for the global food system; and
• Associate Membership - a bold new way in which the Courtauld Commitment is creating more opportunities for businesses is by enabling participation in the agreement for businesses for whom
  there were previously barriers to joining, such as budget or resource constraints.

The report also outlines how the Courtauld Commitment is increasingly highlighted as an exemplar voluntary agreement internationally.

Marcus Gover, WRAP CEO:

 "I’m immensely proud of what we’ve achieved under the Courtauld Commitment 2025 during the last 5 years. But with COP26 fast approaching, the new Courtauld Commitment 2030 has been refreshed to build on this success and meet newer demands of climate action head on. Courtauld has always addressed the most significant sustainability challenges that the sector faces – carbon reduction, improved water stewardship and food waste. Climate change is the biggest threat we all face, and fixing food is vital. I believe Courtauld has never been more important as only fundamental change can reset our fragile global food system into a sustainable model that will feed us in the future, and cut greenhouse gas emissions towards net zero."