Illustration of foods that make up a healthy planet-based diet

Planet-Based Diets

A science-based platform to encourage diets that are good for people and planet

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A comprehensive scientific assessment of how dietary shifts in 147 countries can bend the curve on the negative impacts of the food system, moving from exploiting to restoring nature

There’s something we can do several times a day to improve our health and our planet’s health. Eating a planet-based diet, high in human health benefits and low in environmental impacts.

Adopting a planet-based diet can reduce:

- Food-based greenhouse gas emissions by at least 30% - Wildlife loss by up to 46% - Agricultural land-use by at least 41% - Premature deaths by at least 20% What we eat matters...to our own health and to our planet’s health
Build your own diet to see if you #EatPlanetBased Create your planet-based diet
Woman working in a field

What is a Planet-based diet?

Planet-Based diets are “win-win” consumption patterns that are high on human health benefits and low on environmental impacts. There’s no one-size fits all solution, but there are common themes.

They:

- Are flexible and can be adapted to local contexts - Comprise healthy foods produced within planetary boundaries - Discourage over-consumption of any foods and encourage agrobiodiversity

The food system must nourish people without damaging our planet – but right now it’s failing on both fronts. Over 835 million are hungry, nearly 2 billion are obese or overweight and we’re losing nature at a catastrophic rate.

Planet-based diets will ensure everyone on the planet has healthy and nutritious food and will help bend the curve on the negative impacts of the food system, moving from one which exploits the planet to one which restores it for nature and people.

They will help us:

  • Gorilla icon representing nature loss Reverse nature loss
  • Tree icon representing deforestation Halt deforestation
  • Tap icon representing water use Reduce water use and pollution
  • C02 icon representing green house gas emissions Reduce emissions
  • Scales icon representing healthy and nutritious food Provide everyone with healthy and nutritious food
Find out more about different forms a planet-based diet can take Learn more
Rainforest

What is bending the curve?

Although our current food systems are producing enough to feed the planet, around half of it comes at the expense of the planet. We are beginning to feel the consequences of our actions, and see the warning signs of a planet in crisis:
  • Climate change icon Climate change
  • Scales icon Human health and food insecurity issues
  • Chainsaw icon Biodiversity loss
  • Pandemic icon Pandemics
  • Currencies icon Economic impacts

We need to transform our food systems to bend the curve on nature impacts and reverse the course, so that what we eat nurtures not destroys the planet.

Bending the curve infographic

Nature restoration will depend on a combination of dietary shifts, reduction in food loss and waste and adoption of nature-positive production practices. Dietary shifts are potentially the quickest action to achieve, and can help facilitate the other two actions.

There are five strategic actions that planet-based diets can majorly impact:

  • Gorilla and tree icon Reversing biodiversity loss
  • Food CO2 icon Living within the global carbon budget for food
  • Pollution icon Feeding humanity on existing cropland
  • Tree icon Achieving negative emissions
  • Wheat icon Optimizing crop yields
Learn more about what we need to do Learn more
Fruit at market

Local solutions to a global problem

Globally, there have been many calls to change what we eat, but dietary transformation can only take place at a local level

Planet-based diets will look different around the world and are informed by different cultures, traditions, availability and affordability.

For instance:

01

Shifting to healthier diets, with the right amount of food, can:

Reduce biodiversity loss in Brazil by at least 64%
But would
Increase biodiversity loss by as much as 91% in Indonesia
02

Healthier, balanced diets could:

Reduce emissions in Sweden by 50% due to reductions in animal-source foods
But would
Increase emissions in Malawi, due to increase in overall consumption, particularly fruit and vegetables, fish and dairy
03

A planet-based pescatarian diet could:

Reduce water pollution in China by 21%
But
Achieve greater reductions of water pollution in the US - 50%
Explore the impacts in each country Learn more
Fruit at market

Achieving planet-based diets

As Individuals

For Policymakers

View our Policy Recommendations Learn more