âPlanetary health dietâ could save 40,000 deaths a day, landmark report finds
Diet allows modest meat consumption and would also slash food-related climate emissions by half, says report by 70 leading experts from 35 countries
The Guardian, 2 October 2025
Adoption of a plant-rich âplanetary health dietâ could prevent 40,000 early deaths a day across the world, according to a landmark report.
The diet â which allows moderate meat consumption â and related measures would also slash the food-related emissions driving global heating by half by 2050. Today, a third of greenhouse gas emissions come from the global food system and taming the climate crisis is impossible without changing how the world eats, the researchers said. Food production is also the biggest cause of the destruction of wildlife and forests and the pollution of water.
The planetary health diet (PHD) sets out how the world can simultaneously improve the health of people and the planet, and provide enough food for an expected global population of 9.6 billion people by 2050.
The diet is flexible, allowing it to be adapted to local tastes, and can include some animal products or be vegetarian or vegan. However, all versions advise eating more vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes and whole grains than most people in the world currently eat. In many places, todayâs diets are unhealthy and unsustainable due to too much meat, milk and cheese, animal fats and sugar.
People in the US and Canada eat more than seven times the PHDâs recommended amount of red meat, while it is five times more in Europe and Latin America, and four times more in China. However, in some regions where peopleâs diets are heavily reliant on starchy foods, such as sub-Saharan Africa, a small increase in chicken, dairy and eggs would be beneficial to health, the report found.
Severe inequalities in the food system must also be ended to achieve healthy and sustainable diets, the researchers said. The wealthiest 30% of the worldâs population generates more than 70% of food-related environmental damage, it found. Furthermore, 2.8 billion people cannot afford a healthy diet and 1 billion are undernourished, despite enough food being produced globally. The food system is also failing the 1 billion people living with obesity, the report said.
The report recommends shifting taxes to make unhealthy food more costly and healthy food cheaper, regulating the advertising of unhealthy food and using warning labels, and the shifting of todayâs massive agricultural subsidies to healthier and more sustainable foods. âWhat 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,â said Prof Johan Rockström, who co-chaired the EAT-Lancet Commission that produced the report. âThe evidence is undeniable: transforming food systems is not only possible, itâs essential to securing a safe, just, and sustainable future for all.â
âThis is not a deprivation diet,â said Prof Walter Willett of the Harvard TH Chan school of public health, and another commission co-chair. âThis is something that could be delicious, aspirational and healthy. It also allows for cultural diversity and individual preferences, providing flexibility.â
You can read the entire article here: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/02/planetary-health-diet-could-save-40000-deaths-a-day-
Source: The Guardian, 2 October 2025 https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/02/planetary-health-diet-could-save-40000-deaths-a-day-
Link to the report