BAGUIO CITY– Be responsible consumers and advocates of sustainable consumption especially in your homes and among your family members.
Department of Trade and Industry(DTI) Consumer Protection Group Assistant Secretary Ann Claire Cabochan stressed this in her keynote message during the Regional Consumer Congress at the Paragon Hotel here Wednesday, a s she outlined the importance of every citizen’s contribution towards the attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals especially Goal No. 12, which is sustainable consumption and production that is vital in ensuring food security and shift the country towards a more resource efficient economy.
Cabochan shared that on food security, a UN study indicates that one–third of the food the world consumes in a year is wasted and that majority or around 42 percent of waste comes from the households.
Other sources of food wastage are the sector of food production (39%), restaurants (14%) and retail (5%), she added.
“Thus, reducing our food waste by simply properly managing the food we cook and eat at home, we can already help reduce the amount of food waste being generated each year by half,” she stressed.
Food security remains to be a global concern given the continuously increasing population. Per UN statistics, as of October 2019 the world population is already 7.7 billion and that by 2050, the number will further go up to around 9.6 billion, a figure that already overshoots the planet’s carrying capacity, she added.
For the Philippines, based on Philippine Statistics Authority data, the population grows at an average of 1.72 % from 2010 to 2015. As of August 2015, the country’s population is already 100,981,437 and the projection is that by 2022, there will be 8.3 million more Filipinos.
The Regional Consumer Congress served as a launching activity of the observance of Consumer Welfare Month 2019 with the theme, “Sustainable Consumption: Understanding the Impact of Consumer’s Choice in a Shared Environment”.
Around 200 congress participants from Consumernet – CAR member agencies , business sector and other trade and industry stakeholders in Cordillera were provided learning sessions on Sustainable Development and Consumer Behavior Towards Sustainable Consumption, and of sustainable practices/issues and concerns.
Forth Co. (Pioneer online marketplace of sustainable fashion selection in the country) CEO and CO – founder Sheila Mae Naghisa Fuentes also talked on learnings about the sustainable development initiatives of the retail sector and how they effectively promote sustainable goods and services to the consumers. **JDP/CCD-PIA CAR
