5th November 2025
The Planetary Health Diet surely offers win win win solutions, tackling both the issues of climate change, of poor health, of social justice, and of the need for sustainable landuse.
Climate change – reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 17% (1)
Health – lowering risks of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cognitive decline, obesity and various cancers, saving around 15,000,000 premature deaths a year (2)
Land use – by reducing the demand for meat and dairy, more land would be released for both horticulture (fruit and vegetables) and for wildlife restoration. “Widespread adoption of the diet would require a two-thirds increase in fruit, vegetable and nut production and allow for a one-third reduction in livestock meat production, compared to 2020 levels” (3)
Social justice – switching more resources from producing meat and dairy to the production of fruit, vegetables and pulses etc, would produce enough food to feed the world’s projected population of 10 billion. Although at the same time, questions of distribution (can the food be accessed?), poverty (can people afford the food?) and food waste would also need to be addressed. (4)
Why then is this diet only followed by 1% of people?
Can we as individuals help by adopting the diet ourselves, by talking about it with friends and colleagues, promoting awareness through churches, health clubs etc, by writing to local councillors and MPS?
Useful links to share re diet and planetary health
https://youtu.be/iWHAE-mw7ao?si=XEJF0-0ciMlv10QW – This consumer-friendly video explores all the nuances of a healthy climate friendly diet and gives a clear summary
https://eatforum.org/campaign/our-cultures-our-meals-cooking-for-planetary-health/ – this web page had beautiful images of meals that match the PHD – most appetising – plus recipes here: https://eatforum.org/eat-lancet/recipes/
(2) https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2025/10/06/eat-lancet-20-whats-changed/
(3) https://www.carbonbrief.org/eat-lancet-report-three-key-takeaways-on-climate-and-diet-change/
(4) https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/how-feed-10-billion-people
The Green Tau 