Six years after the previous dossier, Eat-Lancet extends the concept of the planetary health diet to include issues of social justice and food accessibility.
The quality of our diet affects our health and, increasingly evidently, that of the Planet too. Six years after the publication of the first report, the Eat-Lancet Commission has returned with a new document proposing the Planetary Health Diet (PHD) as a scientific and universal guide for healthy, equitable eating that respects the ecological limits of our Planet.
The Commission's experts, drawn from 35 countries and six continents, highlight how more than 30 per cent of chronic diseases worldwide – from cardiovascular disease to diabetes – are directly linked to unbalanced diets. A global shift in eating habits in line with the planetary health diet could prevent up to 15 million premature deaths every year, more than a quarter of all deaths worldwide.
The report also raises the alarm over the growing climate and environmental crisis. Food systems, being responsible for around 30 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, are today among the main drivers behind the crossing of so-called "planetary boundaries". The challenge is clear: to provide healthy food for a growing population – estimated at 9.6 billion by 2050 – without breaching the critical ecological thresholds relating to, for example, climate, biodiversity, water, soil, new pollutants such as microplastics and pesticides, thereby maintaining the stability, resilience and development of the terrestrial environment.
The planetary health diet is a transition towards a predominantly plant-based eating model that protects both human and planetary health. It is based primarily on whole grains, fruit, vegetables and tubers, legumes, seeds and nuts. It allows for moderate consumption of dairy products, fish and poultry, and very limited amounts of red meat, sugars and saturated fats. Foods should be unprocessed or minimally processed.
To achieve global sustainability, the Commission estimates that legume production, compared to 2020, must increase by up to 187 per cent by 2050, vegetable production must increase by around half, while animal production must decrease by around one third. In this way, the annual greenhouse gas emissions from food systems could be cut by more than half compared to the current situation.
Reshaping food systems could generate an economic return of 5 trillion dollars a year through improved health, ecosystem restoration and climate resilience – more than ten times the 200–500 billion dollars of investment needed for the transition.
A central point of the new report concerns social justice. The document underlines deep inequalities at a global level: less than 1 per cent of the population lives in a "safe and just space" in terms of diet, the wealthiest 30 per cent of the population is responsible for almost 70 per cent of food-related environmental impacts, and around 3.7 billion people cannot afford a healthy diet. Furthermore, almost one third (32 per cent) of food system workers earn less than a living wage. For this reason, the Commission insists that the food transition must be fair, accessible and economically sustainable for all, not just an option for high-income countries.
The report outlines eight potential solutions aimed at promoting health, environmental and social justice goals, supported by concrete actions involving governments, businesses and civil society:
The planetary health diet is not a uniform model, but a global reference framework that each country can adapt to its own traditions and available resources, ensuring that everyone can live in a "safe and just space" where health, equity and sustainability are guaranteed.