Hotels are increasingly competing on the strength of their food and beverage (F&B) offer as the UAE is quickly becoming a landmark destination for foodie travellers. At the same time, food waste has been rising up the national agenda with waste from buffets a perennial problem. The good news is that digitisation is having a real impact in the hospitality space, and that the UAE is leading the industry to become more sustainable.

Food waste is a global problem. A third of all food produced - 1.3bn tonnes per year - ends up being wasted, and this costs the global economy nearly a trillion US dollars annually. If food waste was a country, it would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases after America and China.

Food waste has risen up the global agenda over the last few years as the problem has become better understood. In poor countries, around US$310bn worth of food is wasted. Inefficient supply chains, poor infrastructure and a lack of cold chains mean that much of the food leaving farms never makes it to consumers.

In rich countries we have broadly solved this problem with efficient logistics systems and digitised networks. However, we have created two new ones. At the farm, cosmetic standards and last-minute changes to orders mean that farmers are often forced to waste perfectly good food. At the consumer end, we waste food in our homes and restaurants. Consequently, rich countries waste more than double that of poor countries.

A global problem requires a global response, and UN Sustainable Development Goal 12 seeks to “ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns”. The third target under this goal is to halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains by 2030.

The UAE is well-placed to take the lead on this issue. Food waste costs the country an average of 13 billion dirhams per year. Recent research has found that restaurants are the main source of food waste in the UAE, contributing 32% of the total. This is followed closely by excess food cooked for celebrations, which accounts for 30%. There is a substantial opportunity here, and the hospitality sector is already coming together to make a difference.

Winnow was launched in the UK five years ago, a tech-for-good startup drawing on recent advances in the Internet of Things. It helps chefs run more profitable and sustainable kitchens by harnessing the power of data. The system comprises of a digital scale and connected tablet which is configured with the kitchen’s menu and ingredients. As a chef throws food away, the scale automatically captures its weight, and the chef identifies the dish on the touchscreen tablet. This data is analysed in the cloud, and the head chef and managers receive a report the next morning highlighting where improvements can be made to reduce waste.

It is an example of a business benefiting from the convergence of advances in cloud analytics, big data, and sensor technology. It is one of a growing number of companies looking to harness these advances to use resources more efficiently, manage infrastructure more intelligently, and deliver services more sustainably. Cities like Abu Dhabi are already pursuing programmes drawing on comparable technology in areas like transport, energy and green buildings, and the UAE was therefore the perfect place for Winnow.

Launched in the UAE in 2016, the startup now has has more than 70 units deployed in the country’s kitchens, working with Emaar, Rotana, Majid Al Futtaim, AccorHotels and Hilton. Results have been encouraging, with most kitchens reporting that food waste has been cut in half. The Hilton Dubai Jumeriah was able to cut food waste by 70%.

The UAE has taken a leadership position in the global fight against food waste. Recently the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE) announced that UAE-based hospitality companies are ready to take on the challenge to reduce food waste, pledging to save one million meals by the end of 2018. This target will be increased to two million meals in 2019 and three million meals in 2020.

The UAE is leading the way where technology and sustainability are concerned. Savvy operators in the hospitality space are already reaping the rewards from using new digital tools to cut food waste and costs. We would challenge the rest of the sector to follow their lead and do the right thing for both their businesses and the planet.

Marc Zornes is CEO and co-founder of Winnow. Prior to launching Winnow, he was a top-ranked sustainability expert at the McKinsey Global Institute. Watch his TEDx talk on the opportunity food waste presents here.

By Marc Zornes / CEO, Winnow

We live in a world of acronyms: AI, ASAP, BTW, LOL, TYT, IMO and the list goes on. There are so many acronyms it sometimes gets confusing. One acronym can also have multiple meanings. There is even a metaphor for the abundance of acronyms: alphabet soup.

Nevertheless, there is one acronym that everyone should be familiar with, as it refers to the global goals that the world’s nations have agreed to. This acronym can secure an enduring and resilient planet for future generations while opening the potential of the existing ones: “SDGs” or the Sustainable Development Goals, is an acronym that should change the way we live.

In January 2016, the 2030 agenda came into effect; seventeen goals with one big objective: to a have a sustainable planet for every human being and life. The goals are wide-ranging and somewhat interdependent, yet each has a solid list of targets to achieve. Achieving all 169 targets would indicate accomplishing all 17 SDGs. They cover social and economic development issues including poverty, hunger, health, education, climate change, gender equality, water, sanitation, energy, urbanization, environment and justice. SDGs aim to solve some of the world’s most tenacious challenges.

When the world’s minds put themselves together to solve global challenges, we have spectacular results. It’s true. In the previous development agenda, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), we succeeded in halving poverty, securing access to education and improved healthcare.

But the success in bringing hundreds of millions out of poverty, and into the middle class has magnified another problem: That of sustainability. The new middle class want to consume like the old middle class. And we still have only one planet with finite resources and countless hardships.

The relatively new SDGs could be categorised into one or more ultimate goals:

• End poverty
• Protect the planet
• Ensure prosperity for all

With less than thirteen years left to achieve the SDGs, it's crucial that we accelerate progress for all while doing so sustainably.

It might sound like more than enough, but when you get to know the figures, the thirteen years would feel like an inflexible deadline. Almost 767 million people still live on less than 2 US dollars a day, and 793 million people are still hungry with future food security still a dream. The risk of maternal deaths need to be halved. We need more determined progress towards sustainable energy and greater investments in sustainable infrastructure. And we need to bring quality education within reach of all. Gender inequality is still a challenge in all societies. Young people continue to be one of the most vulnerable segments due to unemployment and economic slowdowns.

Pollution is peaking and has already become health hazardous in tens of countries. Nine out of 10 city dwellers are living in cities where air pollution is a health hazard. Global warming remains a challenge, setting a new record of about 1.1 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial period and causing an increased incidence of extreme weather events. One ambitions agenda, 17 goals, 169 targets and only 13 years left.

At the United Nations, Sustainable Development is at the heart of all that we do and is central to our UN's quest and duty to support the world’s nations. Our challenge now is to mobilise action that will bring these agendas meaningfully and tangibly to life. [1]

SDGs, also known as the “Leaving no one behind agenda”, are not limited to the United Nations or any other organisation. The 2030 Development Agenda is holistic and for all countries and people with SDGs that are mutually reinforcing and interdependent. SDGs are everybody’s business, because business, as usual, is not an option for a sustainable future.

The Sustainable Development Goals are important, with world-changing objectives that will require cooperation among governments, international organisations and world leaders. And “No one left behind” entails that even you as an individual can make an impact.

Change starts with you. Every human on Earth could be a proactive doer and part of the solution. It does not have to be through a social initiative or donations to some organisation. Resynchronising our clocks, so we all work for SDGs is what matters the most. There are easy things we can adopt into our routines that, if we all do them, will make a big difference.

Start by shopping for local products when these are competitive. Governments should ensure that the environmental costs are included in energy pricing, to remove hidden subsides that encourage longer transport. This will also be good for local businesses, employment while reducing air pollution. Use less plastic bottles and shopping bags, especially the single-use ones that end up in the oceans harming our environment. Consider using a bicycle for short trips or enjoying the benefits of walking to reduce the consumption of gas and save money. Try to make changes to your diet. Eating more vegetables and less beef is good for your health and better for the environment. Mentor young people at work and in your social circle. It’s a thoughtful, inspiring and a powerful way to guide someone towards a better future.

Before you get concerned about your personal space and your freedom of choice, the 2030 agenda is not about limiting people’s choices. It is about making mindful, responsible decisions. The SDGs work in the spirit of partnership and pragmatism to make the right choices now to improve life, in a sustainable way, for future generations.

Together, we can realise the Sustainable Development Goals.

[1] https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2017

By Frode Mauring / The United Nations Resident Coordinator and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative a.i. to the UAE

With populations growing, along with continued urbanisation and climate change, there is no question that we will need far more cooling. By 2050, according to the Green Cooling Initiative, there could be more than 9.5bn cooling appliances worldwide – more than 2.5 times today’s 3.6bn. Cooling, however, is energy intensive. Even with the development of more efficient cooling technologies and other more aggressive energy mitigation strategies, the cooling sector will, on current trajectory, increase its overall energy consumption by at least 90% to 7500TWh/year by 2050, up from 3900TWh in 2017.

However, that is only half the picture. Despite the significant growth in cooling equipment stock, much of the world will remains considerably under-served compared with the most advanced nations. Put another way, even with some 9.5 billion cooling appliances in use by 2050 this will not be sufficient to deliver universal access to cooling, let alone meet targets to reach the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

Without ‘Cooling for All’, food and medicine loss in the supply chain will be high; food poisoning from lack of domestic temperature management will be significant; farmers will lack market connectivity, hundreds of millions of people will not have safe, let alone comfortable, living or working environments; medical centres will not have temperature-controlled services for post-natal care, etc.

We have a problem.

Effective refrigeration is essential to preserve food and medicine. It underpins industry and economic growth, is key to sustainable urbanisation as well as providing a ladder out of rural poverty. It increasingly makes much of the world bearable - or even safe - to live in. But the growth of artificial cooling will create massive demand for energy and, unless we can reduce our need for cooling and roll out solutions for clean and sustainable cooling provision, this will cause high levels of CO₂e and pollution.

As an indication of the impact of widespread global access to cooling, at the University of Birmingham we have looked at scenarios where the world has “Cooling for All”. The number of cooling appliances rises to more than 14bn. Even assuming accelerated technology progress projections delivering aggressive energy performance improvements, the energy requirement still equates to 15,500 TWh which is approx. 2.5x the 6,300 TWh maximum sector allocation envisaged by the IEA 2 degrees scenario.

To achieve the required amount of cooling within the energy budget available would require us to double the efficiency of our cooling devices on average, in addition to the technology progress proposed currently. Alternatively to “green” this volume of electricity would require more than 50% of the total projected renewables capacity for all demands from transport to industry to our cities under the IEA’s 2°C Scenario.

The world must not solve a social crisis by creating an environmental catastrophe; we need to ensure access to affordable cooling with minimum environmental impact and maximum efficient use of natural and waste resources.

If cooling is to be sustainable, then we need more efficient air-conditioners and fridges, but this is not enough. We must also see a fundamental overhaul of the way cooling is provided.

The Cold Economy is the development of cohesive and integrated system-level strategies to mitigate and meet cooling needs sustainably within our climate change, natural resource and clean air targets, while supporting economy growth. 

This involves understanding the multiple cooling needs and the size and location of the thermal, waste and wrong-time energy resources to define the step-change novel energy vectors, thermal stores, clean cooling technologies and novel business models, policy and societal interventions to optimally integrate those resources and cooling needs through self-organising systems.

Core to this is using surplus cold and heat. For example, we should harness the cold energy of liquefied natural gas (LNG) along with industrial waste heat and low-grade geothermal energy. By 2025, we shall be throwing away $bns of waste cold from LNG alone, primarily into the sea.

To achieve the necessary step change, we need to start by asking ourselves a new question. No longer ‘how much green electricity do we need to generate?’ but rather ‘what is the service we require, and how can we provide it in the least damaging way?’

Given the urgency and magnitude of the challenge and the multi-partner and multi-disciplinary research and delivery mechanisms required, to lead this work we urge the establishment of a multi-disciplinary Centre of Excellence for Clean Cooling (CEfCC) to bring the global expertise together to research and develop the step-change pathways for achieving sustainable cooling while meeting social and economic cooling needs. 

By Toby Peters / Professor in Cold Economy, University of Birmingham, UK