Landmark report warns food systems breach planetary limits

Landmark report warns food systems breach planetary limits

A major report published today finds that shifting global diets could prevent approximately 15 million premature deaths per year.

At the same time, concerted global efforts to transform food systems could bring us back within planetary boundaries and cut annual greenhouse gas emissions from food systems by more than half compared with a business-as-usual scenario.

The findings of the 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission Report on Healthy, Sustainable, and Just Food Systems represent the most comprehensive global scientific evaluation of food systems to date.

The analysis was carried out by leading international experts in nutrition, climate, economics, health, social sciences and agriculture, including Professor Nitya Rao from the University of East Anglia.

Just food systems essential

Building on its influential 2019 report, the new Commission stresses that just food systems will be essential to achieving improved health and social development outcomes. Fewer than 1 per cent of the world’s population is currently in the ‘safe and just space’, where people’s rights and food needs are met within planetary boundaries.

According to the report, currently almost a third (32 per cent) of food systems workers earn below a living wage. Meanwhile, the wealthiest 30 per cent of people drive more than 70% of food-related environmental impacts, and despite global calorie sufficiency more than one billion people remain undernourished.

The analysis warns that even with a complete global transition away from fossil fuels, food systems could still push temperatures beyond 1.5°C. The planetary boundaries framework defines nine key Earth system processes that regulate life on Earth.

The world has already passed six of these nine boundaries: climate, biodiversity, land, freshwater, nitrogen and phosphorus pollution, and novel entities (pesticides, antimicrobials, and microplastics). Food systems are the largest contributor to five of these transgressions and contribute around 30% of greenhouse gas emissions globally.

Prof Rao, of UEA’s School of Global Development, said: “Working with other scientists on the justice dimensions of the EAT-Lancet Commission, on proposing a set of social foundations that enable basic human rights, in particular, the right to food, to decent work and a healthy and clean environment, to be met for everyone, has been a truly rewarding experience.

“More than half the world’s population struggles to access healthy diets, too many people who grow and process our food, in particular women, are unpaid or underpaid, and excluded from basic protections. We need a fairer distribution of resources, benefits and costs and what we propose draws out the minimum conditions that enable people’s human rights to be met.”

Benefits of change

Analysis shows that reshaping systems could deliver returns of $5 trillion a year through better health, restored ecosystems, and climate resilience – more than 10 times the $200-500 billion investment needed to drive food systems change.

Achieving these goals requires urgent policy action, dietary consumption transformation, and a realignment of global financial incentives to support just, resilient, and sustainable food systems.

Drawing on the most recent evidence and advanced modelling, the report sets the boundaries of how 9.6 billion people globally can eat nutritiously and equitably within critical environmental boundaries by 2050.

It shows that changes to the way we produce and consume food can improve global health, achieve food and nutrition security, build stability and resilience, and contribute to critical strategies to improve equity and working conditions in food systems.

Johan Rockström, Commission Co-Chair and Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, said: “The report sets out the clearest guidance yet for feeding a growing population without breaching the safe operating space on Earth set by the planetary boundaries. It also exposes the stark winners and losers in today’s food systems, where entrenched power dynamics drive deep inequities.

“By uniting the latest science on health and climate, it shows that what we put on our plates can save millions of lives, cut billions of tonnes of emissions, halt the loss of biodiversity, and create a fairer food system.

“We now have robust global guardrails for food systems, and a reference point that policymakers, businesses, and citizens can act on together. The evidence is undeniable: transforming food systems is not only possible, it’s essential to securing a safe, just, and sustainable future for all.”

Sustainability for people and planet

A fairer distribution of resources, benefits, and costs is required to ensure that food systems are sustainable for both people and the planet. The Commission maintains that truly effective transformation must consider both social foundations and planetary boundaries to create a safe and just future for everyone.

As part of the Commission’s work, 13 independent modelling groups assessed the potential impacts of food systems change on five of the planetary boundaries: climate, land, freshwater, nutrients pollution, and novel entities (pesticides, antimicrobials, and microplastics).

This work outlines the potential of food systems transformations that include the adoption of healthy diets, reduced food loss and waste, and improved production practices to advance human health and reduce pressure on the environment.

Across all regions, the analysis reveals a common shortfall: diets consistently lack sufficient fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, and whole grains. In many places, the analysis also finds that diets contain excess meat, dairy, animal fats, sugar, and excessively processed foods.

Recommendations for healthy diets

Building on existing data, the 2025 Commission has strengthened evidence of the benefits of the Planetary Health Diet, which sets out recommendations for healthy diets that ensure nutritional adequacy, support optimal health outcomes, and can be adapted to different contexts and cultures.

It emphasises a plant-rich diet, with optional, moderate amounts of animal-source foods and limited added sugars, saturated fats, and salt. There is also good evidence that adoption of diets in line with the Planetary Health Diet would lower the environmental impacts of most current diets.

Based on the report’s findings, the Commission outlines eight potential solutions aimed at advancing health, environmental, and justice goals, including: protect and promote traditional healthy diets; implement sustainable production practices that store carbon, create habitat, and improve water quality and availability; halt agricultural conversion of intact ecosystems; reduce food loss and waste; and secure decent working conditions across the food system.

The Commission, comprised of experts from 35 countries across six continents, also calls for subsidising reforms that make healthy and nutritious foods more accessible, and for regulatory and advocacy mechanisms that support decent work and meaningful representation for food systems workers.

ENDS

1/ For more information or to request an interview, please contact the UEA communications office by emailing communications@uea.ac.uk.

2/ The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a UK Top 25 university (Complete University Guide and HESA Graduate Outcomes Survey). It also ranks in the UK Top 20 for research quality (Times Higher Education REF2021 Analysis) and the UK Top 10 for impact on Sustainable Development Goals. Known for its world-leading research and good student experience, its 360-acre campus has won seven Green Flag awards in a row for its high environmental standards. The University is a leading member of Norwich Research Park, one of Europe’s biggest concentrations of researchers in the fields of environment, health and plant science. www.uea.ac.uk