Food and Land Use

What is a 'planetary health diet'?

A flexible diet that tackles malnutrition in all its forms whilst keeping within planetary boundaries, and one that works for different agricultural systems, cultural traditions, and nutritional needs.

A predominantly plant-based diet which includes more protective foods such as leafy vegetables, a diverse protein supply, and reduced consumption of sugar, salt and highly processed foods.

Moderate red meat consumption, including a reduction where people are consuming beyond their fair share and an increase where consumption is below dietary recommendations.

Myth buster

Human and planetary health diets are standardised and will limit culinary enjoyment and cultural variations in what people eat.

A “Human and planetary health diet” allows for significant diversity of exciting and tasty foods.

This is consistent with a broad spectrum of traditional regional diets such as Cantonese, Mediterranean, South Indian and indigenous Amazonian as well as flexitarian and pescatarian.

How to capture the prize

The world can repurpose its annual spending of over $400 billion on agricultural subsidies, targeted public food procurement, taxes and regulations on unhealthy food, and redesign food products based on the human and planetary health diet.

What is productive and regenerative agriculture?

The definitions can vary, but most agree on the following broad principles: it combines traditional techniques, such as crop rotation, controlled livestock grazing systems and agroforestry, with new farming technologies, which support more careful use of inputs including land, water and synthetic and bio-based fertilizers and pesticides.

Myth buster

Fertiliser and perticide driven large scale monoculture is the only thing that can deliver calories in sufficient quantity to feed a growing population.

Intelligent application of a combination of regenerative practices, precision farming and increased agrobiodiversity can yield sustainable, robust overall productivity growth.

How to capture the prize

The world should reward those working with and not against nature, scaling up training in these areas and invest in sustainable supply chains.

It is also important we deploy innovative finance to reach currently underfinanced parts of food supply chains.

How to protect and restore nature?

We must put an end to the conversion of forests and other natural ecosystems and massively investment in restoration at scale.

Approximately 300 million hectares of tropical forests need to be put into restoration by 2030. But it should not be overlooked that all ten transitions can help protect and restore nature in various ways.

Myth buster

We must choose between economic growth and environmental sustainability.

There is no system-level trade off. Transformed food and land use systems can deliver stronger, more equitable economic growth at the same time as supporting the delivery of environmental targets, including the Paris Agreement. Safety nets should also be used to ensure a just transition.

How to capture the prize

We must halt the conversion of natural ecosystems, give legal rights and recognition to the territories of indigenous peoples, and establish transparent, deforestation-free supply chains and demand the same of suppliers.

What is a healthy and productive ocean?

Ocean productivity and ocean health can be two sides of the same coin. Wild fisheries produce best when they are sustainably managed.

Sustainable fishing and aquaculture can make their full contribution only if essential habitats – estuaries, wetlands, mangrove forests and coral reefs – are protected and restored. Aquaculture, when done right, can produce protein with much lower carbon and land footprints than the typical mix of land-grown meats.

Myth buster

The ocean is a minor variable in the overall food/protein equation, not least given our track-record of over-fishing.

The ocean is the most productive source of biomass and protein generation on the planet. It could contribute massively to sustainable human diets but we need to manage it more effectively and regeneratively.

How to capture the prize

To achieve a transition to a sustainable ocean at the speed and scale needed, we need to work together on eight priorities: providing titles and access rights, packaging new technologies into fishery solutions, innovating in insurance and finance, eliminating harmful subsidies, rewriting the rules, increasing investments, and making the case for fish to consumers.

What is a diversified protein supply?

Plant-based meat substitutes, proteins from insects, algae, fish, and proteins grown in a laboratory. These could compete with traditionally raised beef and other animals, offering consumers competitive alternatives to meat and dairy that will often be better for human and planetary health.

Myth buster

Delivering environmental goals requires everyone to give up meat.

Total global consumption of land-grazing meat should be gradually reduced. But it need not be entirely eliminated for health or environmental purposes.

This is about convergence; regions with higher meat consumption must reduce livestock-based protein intake by about two thirds, whereas regions with insufficient protein intake should be supported to diversify and improve their sources, including through meat.

How to capture the prize

Use public procurement to secure long-term offtake for alternative protein sources, increase R&D spending for alternative proteins (especially those with large benefits for lower-income consumers), and prepare for disruption of the food industry by strengthening risk analysis and reallocating capital in line with the results.

What is food loss and waste?

Food loss and waste refer to food that is intended to be consumed by people, but that leaves the supply chain somewhere between farm and fork. It includes food that is not eaten by consumers and is disposed of by them.

Myth buster

It will cost a fortune to transform food and land use systems.

The additional investment required to move to sustainable food and land use systems is between $300 and $350 billion per year (less than 0.5% of global GDP), yielding a return on investment of more than 15:1.

This is the best deal on the planet.

How to capture the prize

Countries need to develop national strategies with explicit targets to reduce food loss and waste. Since these strategies will be implemented from end to end of food value chains, their development will require collaboration between farmers, food processers, retailers, consumers and civil society organisations.

What are local loops and linkages?

Stronger local food economies are a common thread running through all ten critical transitions.

Convergence on healthier diets will increase demand in all regions for fresh food products, while farmers will create a market for nutrients recovered from circular urban food production. 

Expanding urban and peri-urban supply will open up opportunities for young, skilled rural and intensifying food production using regenerative agricultural practices in peri-urban areas will reduce pressure on forests.

Myth buster

Facilitating trade in all its forms increases efficiency and resilience of the global food and land use systems.

Trade can help countries access a greater variety of foods, and comparative advantage helps make food cheaper.

But trade flows can also magnify environmental costs, with countries failing to price their natural capital properly, and can expand access to unhealthy, ultra-processed food.

How to capture the prize

Foster a local circular food economy through targeted public procurement and zoning, invest in emerging technologies and innovations, which will close the food system loop.

Food companies should develop recipes and products that replace traditional ingredients with food-processing by-products.

What do we mean by a digital revolution?

Digitisation of food and land use systems is occurring through gene-editing techniques, precision farming, and logistics and digital marketing tools. It helps producers and consumers to make better, more informed choices, and to connect to the value chain rapidly and efficiently.

Myth buster

It will cost a fortune to transform food and land use systems.

The additional investment required to move to sustainable food and land use systems is between $300 and $350 billion per year (less than 0.5% of global GDP), yielding a return on investment of more than 15:1.

This is the best deal on the planet.

How to capture the prize

Allow open access to public sector and regulate and incentivise the private sector to provide open-source data where appropriate, and create, maintain and communicate results from real-time platforms for transparency.

What are stronger rural livelihoods?

Better rural jobs created by a dynamic agricultural sector and growing opportunities for diversification in rural economies. 

Improved quality of rural life and greater resilience based on better access to services and digital technology.

A wider choice of good livelihoods for rural populations, owing to improved infrastructure and education.

Myth buster

Driving up agricultural productivity is the main route to tackling rural poverty.

Developing off-farm employment, increasing rural connectedness and promoting new rural-urban linkages are at least as important as driving up agricultural productivity in tackling rural poverty.

How to capture the prize

Governments need to create safety nets for individuals and communities, and the global community needs to come together to establish public-private partnerships to train a new generation of young farmers over the next decade, and scale up rural roads and digital investments to drive productivity and social inclusion.

What is a more equal food and land use system?

Women can be enormously powerful in shaping food and land use systems, thanks to their central role in agriculture and in decisions concerning nutrition, health and family planning. Making sure women have equal access to resources, such as land, labour, water and credit, should be central to policies concerning the ten critical transitions.

Myth buster

To feed an estimated 9 billion people by 2050 a healthy diet, we need to cut down forests to make way for more agricultural land to produce sufficient affordable food.

We can secure healthy and affordable diets for the projected population using 1.2 billion hectares less of agricultural land than we use today.

This is achievable under realistic assumptions regarding dietary shifts, reduction in food loss and waste and productivity gains.

How to capture the prize

We must invest in maternal and child health and nutrition as well as education for women and girls, ensure access to reproductive health services and products, and improve access to finance and agricultural extension services for female agricultural workers.