Washington, D.C. (June 28, 2016) – The World Resources Institute (WRI) announced today that Dr. Liz Goodwin will join the organization as Senior Fellow and Director, Food Loss and Waste. Dr. Goodwin will advance WRI’s efforts to encourage countries and companies to measure and monitor food loss and waste, engage the public and private sectors to implement solutions, and further build partnerships for action.

“Liz brings immense expertise and experience on issues of food, sustainability, and the environment. She has had a tremendous impact raising food loss and waste as a vital economic, social, and environmental issue, and she has successfully helped companies and governments reduce food waste at scale,” said Craig Hanson, Global Director of WRI’s Food, Forests, and Water Programs. “WRI is thrilled she will continue her important work with our organization.”

Dr. Goodwin joins WRI after 15 years, including nine years as CEO, with The Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP). Based in the UK, WRAP is a leader in engaging communities, companies, and governments to deliver practical solutions to improve resource efficiency.

Under Dr. Goodwin’s leadership, WRAP initiatives helped reduce the amount of food wasted in homes across the United Kingdom by 21 percent over just five years. WRAP’s “Love Food Hate Waste” campaign has raised awareness among consumers, provided consumers with recipes and tips to avoid wasting food, and helped retailers change practices in order to waste less food.

In 2005, WRAP launched its signature Courtauld Commitment, a voluntary agreement aimed at improving resource efficiency and reducing waste within the UK grocery sector. The Commitment has engaged the UK’s largest food producers and retailers, and in phase 2 of the agreement alone, a total of 1.7 million tonnes of waste was reduced by signatories. This impact has a financial value of £3.1 billion ($4.087 billion) and equates to a reduction of 4.8 million tonnes of CO2e.

At World Resources Institute, Dr. Goodwin will tackle the issue of food loss and waste at the global level. Worldwide, one-third of all produced food winds up never being eaten.

WRI is a world leader in analyses, partnerships, and strategies to secure a sustainable food future. Dr. Goodwin has worked closely with WRI – most recently as a member of Champions 12.3, a coalition of leaders dedicated to inspiring ambition, mobilizing action, and accelerating progress toward achieving Sustainable Development Goal Target 12.3 by 2030.

Dr. Goodwin and WRAP have also collaborated with WRI as members of the Food Loss and Waste Protocol, a partnership which developed the new Food Loss and Waste Accounting and Reporting Standard for quantifying food and/or associated inedible parts removed from the food supply chain.

Liz said “I’m delighted to be joining WRI and excited to have the opportunity to continue to tackle food loss and waste on a global stage and scale. The amount of food loss and waste is truly shocking and we need to find ways to reduce it, thereby reducing the environmental impact and improving the efficiency of our food systems so that our use of resources is more sustainable.”

Dr. Goodwin is a chemist by background, and has a PhD in chemical physics. Prior to joining WRAP in 2001, she held a number of technical and production related roles with ICI and Zeneca before moving into the environmental field within the chemical industry. For her leadership in business resource efficiency and the environment, she was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2015.

She will join WRI in September 2016, and will be based in the UK.

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