Too Good To Go, the world’s largest marketplace for surplus food, is proud to announce its selection as an United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) Champion for the 2024-2025 Programme. The event, which took place at the Camden Court Hotel in Dublin yesterday, was hosted by Minister Eamon Ryan and was attended by representatives of the 20 appointed Champion organisations.
The SDG Champions Programme, spearheaded by the Irish government, is a testament to the early and proactive steps being taken to create a more sustainable country at national level. Too Good To Go’s inclusion in this programme is not only a recognition of past efforts but also a call to further action and collaboration aligning closely with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.3: Halving food waste by 2030.
Speaking at the event Machaela O’Leary, Sales Manager for Too Good To Go said: “We're so honoured to be an SDG Champion this year. Our mission is to reduce food waste, and we do this via our marketplace app, which connects people with local businesses that have unsold food. It's staggering to think that 40% of all food is wasted—that's about 80 thousand meals every second! That's why we're dedicated to inspiring and empowering everyone to cut food waste, in line with SDG 12.3's goal to halve food waste by 2030."
Announcing the appointments, Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan said: "The world is currently off track to achieve the SDGs and accelerated action is needed. However, in this decade of action for the SDGs, Ireland is determined to play a leading role in delivering on the goals – locally, nationally and internationally. Over 90 organisations applied to take part in the programme this year, demonstrating the growing commitment of Irish society to live up to and promote the goals which have at their heart equality, access to basic rights like clean water, clean energy, food and shelter for all, and climate justice."
In addition to being named an SDG Champion, Too Good To Go has also agreed to be a signatory of the EPA's Irish Food Waste Charter at an event today Teagasc Ashtown Food Research Centre today where food sector businesses, state agencies and industry professionals came together to hear the latest food waste statistics and news.
Too Good To Go has grown a strong presence in Ireland, with 2,182 businesses and 586,227 app users actively participating in reducing food waste. This extensive network, highlighted by the recent milestone of rescuing 1 million Surprise Bags, positions the company to significantly contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By mobilizing collective action towards sustainable development, Too Good To Go is making a substantial impact in Ireland's fight against food waste and environmental sustainability.
With the support of the SDG Champions network, Too Good To Go is committed to integrating SDG principles into its core operations. This will involve continuous engagement with stakeholders, promoting awareness through marketing and events, and fostering collaborations that amplify the impact of food waste reduction initiatives.
The SDGs, also known as the Global Goals, were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people could enjoy peace and prosperity.
About Too Good To Go:
Too Good To Go is a certified B Corp social impact company that connects users with partners to rescue unsold food and stop it from going to waste. With 95 million registered users and 160,000 active partners across 18 countries, Too Good To Go operates the world's largest marketplace for surplus food.
Since its launch in 2016, Too Good To Go has helped to save over 330 million meals from going to waste, the equivalent to 891,000 tonnes of CO2e avoided.
40% of all food produced is wasted every year, contributing to 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions (WWF, 2021). According to Project Drawdown (2020), reducing food waste is the number one action you can take to help tackle climate change, by limiting the temperature rise to just 2˚C by 2100.
