Blog

There’s a message that I will keep repeating because it’s so important, and it needs to gain more traction across the globe. We will not fix climate change until we fix the food system. It’s one of the major hurdles we need to beat if we’re to achieve our vision of a thriving world in which climate change is no longer a problem.

We are just past halfway to achieving our goal of eliminating plastic pollution through transforming the plastics system in the UK through The UK Plastics Pact. We talk to Helen Bird about her journey from being Oxfordshire’s Greta Thunberg to driving the Pact for WRAP.  

As Helen hands over the baton to take up her new role as WRAP’s Head of  Business Collaboration, she reflected on the successes, challenges and complexities of unravelling our relationship with plastic, and articulates her dream of what our weekly shop could look like in 2025. 

Just after COP26 I wrote in a blog that we cannot fix climate change if we don’t tackle consumption emissions – those caused by producing the food we eat and the products we buy.

This week the UK Government and Devolved Administrations unveiled landmark reforms to the way packaging is managed. The new extended producer responsibility (EPR) regime will ensure that the total cost of packaging, from design to disposal, are met; a move which has the potential to encourage eco-design and drive up recycling rates; especially for plastic packaging. Here WRAP CEO Marcus Gover reflects on the impact on the resources and waste landscape and focuses on next steps.

Dr Tom Quested is the lead analyst at WRAP and has spent most of his 13 years with WRAP researching the causes and effects of food waste. Dr Rachel Devine joined WRAP as an analyst 3 years ago and leads on the data analysis and reporting for our Courtauld Commitment 2030 voluntary agreement.

Beating back climate change will be the biggest accomplishment of our lives. 2021 was the year, helped by COP26, when the world shifted up a gear in response to the emergency and 2022 is look set to be busier than ever. If we are to keep the 1.5-degree target alive, then we are all going to have to face up to and turn around some uncomfortable truths:

2021 has been a year of light and shade in so many ways. 

COP 26 in Glasgow was my first COP, it was interesting to see first-hand how the negotiations work. Whilst the focus was on emissions, there were plenty of reminders that around half the climate impact of humans comes from the food we eat and the products we use and dispose of.

Chief Executive Marcus Gover led a WRAP delegation which was present throughout COP26. We delivered the same message to politicians, businesses and citizens: we cannot fix climate change if we don’t tackle consumption emissions – those caused by producing the food we eat and the products we buy. Here he reflects on a tumultuous two weeks and looks at what comes next.

‘Greenwash’ is the word of the week. It feels as if a significant chunk of those commentating on COP26 is either guilty of it or is calling it out.  Companies in particular are in the spotlight – since they are falling over themselves to use the COP to trumpet their green credentials, it is hardly surprising that a proportion of those will be doing it cynically.  Glossy films are appearing on our televisions, with all the iconography of the moment – a diversity of actors, lingering shots of beautiful landscapes, and a great many trees. The pages of the Economist are stuffed with adverts for companies on the offensive or the defensive, and highlighting the economic opportunities thought be rolling their way.  How can anyone navigate this?