Subsidy reform, catering in schools/hospitals and national dietary guidelines help encourage better diets, but there’s “no one-size-fits-all”
A guide showing how governments can adopt and implement more sustainable, healthy diets as part of countries’ commitments to climate and biodiversity goals has been launched today at a press conference at the UN’s climate summit, COP30, in Brazil.
Diet change is a powerful way for nations to deliver on their climate and nature commitments whilst, at the same time, improving public health.
The “Diets Toolkit”, produced by ProVeg International, Climate Focus and WWF, in collaboration with food systems and policy experts, helps policymakers identify the right policy package for their country. Policies that the toolkit encourages governments to consider include:
- The introduction of more plant-based food into schools, hospitals and other public places.
- The adaptation of national dietary guidelines to encourage healthier and more sustainable food choices to guide official health and nutrition policymaking.
- Using subsidies and other financial instruments to increase the production and sale of plant-based foods.
But the guide, fully titled “The Diets Toolkit: An NDCs & NBSAPs Guide for Healthy and Sustainable Diets“, makes clear from the outset that there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to what governments should do to reduce emissions and curb the destruction of the natural world whilst improving the health of people.
“While there is certainly no silver bullet for this, because no single definition of a healthy and sustainable diet is applicable to all countries, the toolkit highlights a wide menu of concrete and effective policies that governments can put in place to align diets with climate and health goals ” Stephanie Maw, Senior UN Policy and Advocacy Manager at ProVeg International, said.
“Different social and cultural habits as well as varying geographies and economies dictate that policies must be tailored to the needs of individual countries,” she says.
The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) already recommends reducing meat and dairy consumption and shifting toward more plant-based diets to mitigate climate change.1 In addition to this, the globally influential EAT-Lancet Planetary Health Diet backs up the evidence for introducing more plant-rich food in order to sustainably feed the projected 10 billion people on the planet by 2050.
But Maw said that whilst this would be effective where the overconsumption of meat is causing ill-health – such as in wealthier nations – in some regions of the world local challenges facing food systems need to be considered.
“A shift to plant-based diets and tackling overconsumption of meat in many high-income countries would bring substantial sustainability benefits for people’s health as well as nature and the climate,” she said.
“However, in countries facing high malnutrition or food insecurity, policies are needed that help communities, especially vulnerable groups, get access to more nutritious diets. At the same time, those policies need to build resilience and empower people to grow food that is good for them and will safeguard the future of the ecosystems they depend on.”
“The guide we have produced helps governments to navigate these varying challenges to implement policies that are fitting for their countries,” Maw adds.
Haseeb Bakhtary, Lead Consultant at Climate Focus, said: “The way we produce and consume food sits at the heart of our most pressing global challenges including climate change, biodiversity, and nutrition and health.” “
“This guide demonstrates how dietary diversification serves as a powerful lever for systemic change: when we shift what we eat and how food is produced, we can trigger cascading benefits across food systems: reducing emissions, restoring biodiversity, supporting small-scale farmers, and improving public health,” he adds.
Joao Campair, Global Food & Agriculture Leader, at WWF said: “If we are to bring food-based greenhouse gas emissions within a viable carbon budget we need a full plate of solutions, from farm to fork. Adopting healthier and more sustainable diets is one of the most impactful.”
“More commitments are being made but the time now is for action – governments, food manufacturers and retailers must all step up and invest in making healthy and sustainable food more attractive, available and affordable. It’s a critical investment in our future and one we can’t keep delaying,” he said.
Helping governments implement effective policies
The guide launched today will help governments strengthen two key commitments that are required to be submitted to the UN.
The first is the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), a reporting mechanism which maps out how a country plans to reduce its carbon emissions, as agreed under the Paris Agreement. Among 58 NDCs 3.0 assessed by Climate Focus, WWF and Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, only a third (16 NDCs) include considerations for healthy and sustainable diets. While this is a big jump because only two among these countries considered diets in their previous NDCs, there is still a long way to go, as all NDCs need to include concrete diet-related measures.
The second is the National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plan (NBSAP), which details how a country will address biodiversity loss. Across 64 NBSAPs assessed by Climate Focus in 2024, less than half of them mention measures related to sustainable consumption or healthy diets and just over 20% include measures for increasing access to sustainable and healthy foods.
Three action areas
The guide focuses on three specific areas where action can be taken and provides helpful case studies to aid implementation of policies. It also points out challenges and provides tools and resources for the tasks.
The first action area looks at transforming the food served up in public institutions such as schools, hospitals, universities, prisons, or social service environments in order to boost the consumption of healthy, sustainable food. Examples of such measures, are as follows:
- The city of Milan, Italy, prioritises procuring local and seasonal ingredients for its green school-canteen programme, while reducing meat purchases and food waste. By 2021, the programme achieved a 43% decrease in CO2 emissions associated with meals served in the city’s school canteens, compared to 2015.
- Since 2021, eight Portuguese councils have participated in ProVeg Portugal’s public-food programme, where they regularly substitute conventional meat-based meals with vegetable-based options and where canteen staff were trained to deliver them. Based on the implementation of the programme in two municipalities, a study found that an average plant-based meal generates a 92% lower ecological impact than the average meat-based meal.
The second action area focuses on national dietary guidelines and food literacy campaigns that take into account the sustainability of food, as well as its health and nutritional value. Two examples of measures taken are as follows:
- In 2024, Mexico updated its national dietary guidelines to incorporate robust considerations of environmental, economic, and social sustainability. Impact assessments show that diets following the new guidelines could reduce GHG emissions by 34% and diet costs by 21%, compared to the average Mexican diet.
- In 2022, the United Arab Emirates launched Food for Life, an awareness campaign in cooperation with Emirates Nature-WWF and FAO. The campaign aims to educate and engage consumers on healthy and sustainable food choices through interactive and informative content, as well as community activities.
The third action area looks at financial instruments, such as rebates and subsidies. Government finance can be used very effectively to increase the production of healthy food such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, and seeds. Two examples of measures taken are as follows:
- Discovery Health, South Africa’s largest health insurer, offers members of its Vitality programme a 10% rebate on purchases of 6,000 healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and non-fat dairy at participating supermarkets. The programme has increased fruit and vegetable consumption among participating households by 8.5%, while reducing the consumption of unhealthy foods by 7.2%.
- In the United Kingdom, the Healthy Start scheme helps pregnant women and families with children under the age of four to buy healthy foods. Beneficiaries receive a prepaid card that can be used in local stores to buy fruits, vegetables, pulses, plain liquid cow milk, and infant-formula milks, as well as to collect free vitamin supplements. As of April 2024, about 366,000 people were enrolled in the scheme across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland (62% of the eligible population).
ENDS
Footnotes
- Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change. (2022). Climate Change and Land: IPCC Special Report on Climate Change, Desertification, Land Degradation, Sustainable Land Management, Food Security, and Greenhouse Gas Fluxes in Terrestrial Ecosystems (1st ed.). Retrieved from https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/9781009157988/type/book.
Notes to Editors
To interview food system change experts on the ground at COP30, or for general media inquiries, email Peter Rixon at [email protected]
For scientific data about the benefits of plant-based eating, see our Food System Data website.
About ProVeg International
ProVeg International is a food awareness organisation with the mission to replace 50% of animal products globally with plant-based and cultivated foods by 2040. Our vision is a world where everyone chooses delicious and healthy food that is good for all humans, animals, and our planet.
About WWF
WWF is an independent conservation organization, with more than 35 million followers and a global network active through local leadership in nearly 100 countries. WWF’s mission is to stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and to build a future in which people live in harmony with nature, by conserving the world’s biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption. The WWF Food & Agriculture Practice works to transform the global food and agriculture system to support WWF’s mission. The Food & Agriculture Practice’s vision is food and agricultural systems which provides nutritious food to all current and future generations while protecting our planet. To help achieve this goal, the Food & Agriculture Practice works across Sustainable Food Production, Healthy and Sustainable Diets and Food Loss and Waste.
About Climate Focus
Climate Focus is a pioneering international advisory company and think tank that provides advice to governments, companies, multilateral, non-governmental and philanthropic organizations. We support our clients to shape and navigate international and domestic policies for climate, nature, food, and sustainable development, access finance, engage with new international and national policy mechanisms, and beyond. Climate Focus is recognised for its research and advisory services on climate, nature, agriculture and food systems policies.
