Worldwide, the number of people suffering from hunger is around 702 and 828 million, and 2.3 billion people have moderate or severe food insecurity. This situation is striking, considering that the vast amount of food discarded globally equals 1.3 billion tons annually. For this reason, in 2015, world leaders agreed to a global agenda for 2030, adopting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Among its objectives, are to fight against poverty, hunger, and gender inequality worldwide and achieve environmental sustainability. With this framework, this article uses a top-down mass balance approach to calculate food loss and waste (FLW) by country’s food security level. In addition, it explores the causes of FLW and its impacts on natural resources, climate change, food security, and the SDGs in countries with a weak and moderate level of food security. The estimated global FLW was 1498 million tons of food in 2017. The most food discarded was concentrated in countries with good food security, 894.3 million tons. In contrast, the lowest food discard occurred in countries with a weak level of food security, 11.4 million tons. The primary outcome of this paper is to establish a link between the levels of food security and food loss in different countries, which may serve as a guide for the design of specific public policies.

In recent years eco-innovation studies have placed special emphasis on environmental management in the company encouraging the introduction of a prevention philosophy rather than correction measures of environmental damage. The aim of this article is to contribute to this debate but in the environmentally sound technologies field due to their importance for mitigating climate change. Analyzing the information of the patents filed at the European Patent Office (EPO) from 1978 to 2010, the research carried out a microeconomic analysis about the technological trajectory followed by these technologies. The paper concludes that the efforts in these kinds of technologies are led by developed countries and are still mainly concentrated in corrective technologies rather than preventive ones. Furthermore there has been a shift from the promotion of renewable technologies to abatement policies but if the emissions must be stabilized it is necessary to push public policies in this direction as well as collaboration between basic research and industry as a way to adapt it to the real needs for addressing climate change.

Climate change is a shift in the climate’s condition that lasts for an extended period, usually decades or longer, and that may be detected by changes in the mean and variability of its parameters. The full spectrum of players and their related value-adding activities, that are a part of the food supply chain, including the disposal of food items derived from agriculture, forestry, or fisheries, are collectively called food systems. Food systems are a component of their larger economic, social, and environmental contexts. Finally, food security is the condition in which all individuals consistently have physical and financial access to adequate safe, nutritious food that satisfies their dietary needs and food choices for an active and healthy life. Climate change and its relationships with food systems and security are complex since food systems significantly contribute to climate change. However, climate change impacts food systems unpredictably, leading to food insecurity through adverse impacts on the four dimensions of food security: utilization, access, food availability, and stability. Climate change adaptation plans are urgent and include measures such as flood and climate protection, waste management and recycling, climate-smart agriculture, and analytical climatic conditions innovation equipment on agricultural processes and activities. Nevertheless, addressing the climate crisis and its adverse impacts on food security through the activation and promotion of innovation needs reliable information and intervention in many different but interconnected fields, such as institutional design, philanthropy, novel partnerships, finance, and international cooperation. In this context, this paper analyses the relationship between climate change, agriculture, and global–local strategies to ensure food security and also discusses policies’ role in fostering innovation for supporting local agro-food systems and their capacity to sustain societal needs.

Multiple Helix Model is the theoretical framework where reciprocal university-industry-government relationship constitutes a key element of the innovation process. In the centre of this model arise the Science Parks (SPs) as hybrid agents that, having a close relationship with university, promote technology transfer and innovative entrepreneurship, with a legal framework defined by the public sector. The aim of this article is to analyse the link between SPs and sustainability under the hypothesis that they might become drivers of sustainability. A qualitative analysis of a sample of 12 Spanish SPs has been conducted. It concludes that SPs have high potential as sustainable knowledge facilitators and a proactive attitude in relation to environmental commitment, although there is still room for enhancements in their sustainability approaches. This study highlights the potential of STPs as facilitators of sustainable practices and also presents theoretical implications for future research linking Quintuple Helix Model and sustainable entrepreneurial strategies.