Stockholm International Water Institute » Jan Lundqvist

SIWI food waste video to be screened at the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit

Sanna — Mon, 16 Sep 2013 08:48:01 +0000

This Thursday September 19 the short film WASTE, a collaboration between SIWI, UNEP, WWF Germany and FAO, will be screened at the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit in New York.

The video illuminates the environmental cost of food waste and presents a comprehensive overview of the negative effects of wasting food. A tremendous amount of water can be saved by reducing losses and waste of food. By curbing food waste, energy is saved and the emission of greenhouse gases can be reduced. Equally important, consumers can save a great deal of money by not letting their food go to waste.

The video will be screened during the UNEP Side Event “The Global Environmental Impact of Food Waste”. Read more on the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit website.

Watch the video directly

Watch the video in different languages

Short film on food waste launched on World Environment Day

Sanna — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 08:23:52 +0000

The short film WASTE, which illuminates the environmental cost of food waste, has been launched today in connection with World Environment Day.

A tremendous amount of water can be saved by reducing losses and waste of food – as much as ten times the water flow in the Nile. By curbing food waste, energy is saved and the emission of greenhouse gases can be reduced. Equally important, consumers can save a great deal of money by not letting their food go to waste.

SIWI has been a pioneer in addressing the issue of food waste, and has together with IWMI and FAO raised the question in the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD). In 2008, SIWI released the report Saving Water from Field to Fork, which shows how the huge losses and waste of food have significant implications for water, energy, land-use, and generally contribute to environmental degradation. In the making of the film, SIWI has provided knowledge and advise on the linkages between food waste and water.

WASTE is a collaboration between SIWI, UNEP, WWF Germany and FAO. It builds on the film Taste the Waste of Water, which SIWI launched last year during the World Water Week in Stockholm. This new version has been translated into eight languages and presents a more comprehensive overview of the negative effects of food waste, in relation to a range of environmental aspects.

The film has been produced by Schnittstelle Thurn GbR. For further information, please contact Susanne Blech: susanne_blech@web.de or Jan Lundqvist: jan.lundqvist@siwi.org.

Watch the film in the different languages:
German
Spanish
French
Chinese
Russian
Arabic
Portuguese

Watch the film “Stockholm Story on Water”

Sanna — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 08:42:26 +0000

The Stockholm Bureau of Xinhua News Agency has produced a 10 minute film “Stockholm Story on Water”, in which SIWI’s Senior Scientific Advisor Jan Lundqvist narrates the story of how Stockholm managed to find the strategies that turned it from a severely polluted city to one where the waters are clean enough to go swimming right in the center of town.

Part of this was also broadcast on “News Today” in China on World Water Day, as part of a 10 minute feature on water management in all the Nordic countries. Articles in Chinese and English were also posted on Xinhua’s webfeed:

Watch the video here:

On the Water Front – Selections from the 2010 World Water Week in Stockholm

admin — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:51:06 +0000

Each year, the World Water Week features a theme. In 2010, the theme was “Responding to Global Changes: The Water Quality Challenge – Prevention, Wise Use and Abatement”. As illustrated by the range of issues discussed in the articles in this volume, the World Water Week programme includes sessions that elaborate also on issues outside the scope of the theme.

Presentations and discussions during the World Water Week generate a remarkable level of energy and commitment. Based on the comments that we hear from participants, we are convinced that seeds are sown for improvements in water policy and management for the betterment of humankind and the life support system on which we all depend. This is a very stimulating response. However, 51 weeks will pass until the next opportunity arises in Stockholm to learn more and to inform each other about what has been achieved since last time. Together with other documentation from the World Water Week, On the Water Front provides an opportunity to recapture key features from the World Water Week throughout the year.

This edition contains a selection of articles that cover important scientific and policy issues.

On the Water Front – Selections from the 2009 World Water Week in Stockholm

admin — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:46:30 +0000

Together with other documentation from the World Water Week, On the Water Front provides an opportunity to recapture key features from the World Water Week throughout the year. This volume contains a selection of articles that cover important scientific and policy issues. They are written by colleagues who made presentations at workshops, seminars and plenary sessions during the World Water Week, August 16 22, 2009. With the analytical character and with appropriate illustrations and references, the texts in this publication are intended to play a role in the thinking and work of colleagues from research, governments, international, national and local organisations.
One important feature in the texts is an ambition to combine and merge new thinking, concepts and experiences with practice, in policy and in the field. The texts aim to illuminate the need for scientific findings in policy and in practice and vice versa; the need to formulate scientific enquiries and carry out scientific studies, which are relevant for policy and human endeavours.

Drainage Basin Security – Prospects for Trade-offs and Benefit Sharing in a Globalised World (the World Water Week Niche Report)

admin — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:42:20 +0000

Each year, the World Water Week addresses a theme that fits within a broader niche. This report looks back over the niche on Drainage Basin Security, which covered the years 2003 to 2007. This report reflects on the knowledge, experience and lessons learned over the course of the five years, and offer a set of key messages that emerged from the plenary sessions, workshops, seminars and side events.

Overeating, Hunger and Waste: Recipe for Worsening Food and Water Crises

Nora — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:40:10 +0000

The world population has increased 50 percent over the last half century alone. That is a staggering 3 billion more mouths to feed. Never before have so many suffered from being overweight and obese. Both under nourishment and over eating are increasing. These questionable trends are linked with dire natural resources consequences: water and other natural resources are over-exploited, rivers are running dry, downstream ecosystems are suffocated and pollution loads are heavy in what little remains of water systems in regions worldwide.

Published in Water Front Magazine No. 3-4 2008.

Saving Water: From Field to Fork – Curbing Losses and Wastage in the Food Chain

admin — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:39:46 +0000

As much as half of all food grown is lost or wasted before and after it reaches the consumer. And this wasted food is wasted water too. To meet the challenge of feeding growing populations and the global hungry, massive reductions in the amount of food wasted after production are needed.

This policy brief calls on governments, businesses, consumers and other important actors in society to reduce by half the amount of food that is wasted by 2025 and outlines concrete steps to achieve this goal.

From Field to Fork – Wastage of Water in the Food Chain

Nora — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:37:42 +0000

With rising population, urbanisation and higher incomes, food demand may double in the coming 50 years. Given the water scarcity and related environmental problems that are already occurring in many parts of the world, the corresponding increases in the pressure on water and land resources that will accompany these trends is a critical and grossly under-appreciated concern. For real solutions to the food, water and environment nexus, it is essential that we pay attention to the entire production to consumption process, that we understand what happens from field to fork.

Published in Water Front Magazine No. 3 2007.

On the Verge of a New Water Scarcity

admin — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:37:09 +0000

An unfortunate confusion regarding growing physical water scarcity distorts policy formulation and effective action programmes. The scale and magnitude of the challenge imply that water scarcity is everybodys business. This policy brief offers a set of distinctions and concludes with structured policy suggestions how to cope with and prevent the worsening water scarcity.