The Planetary Health Diet and the climate
What if your country ate the Planetary Health Diet?
A 2024 study in Nature Climate Change estimated how food-related greenhouse gas emissions would change if people in 139 countries and territories moved from their 2019 diets to the EAT-Lancet Planetary Health Diet, counting emissions along the whole food chain.
- −17% global dietary emissions
- 1,940 Mt CO₂e avoided each year
- 100 of 138 countries shown would cut emissions
Test your country
Pick a country to see how its dietary emissions would change. Numbers are national averages, not a personal footprint.
−17% dietary emissions in the world
If the world adopted the Planetary Health Diet, food-related emissions would fall by about 1,940 Mt CO₂e a year, compared with 2019 diets.
Want to make the shift?
Start with a recipe: more vegetables, beans, whole grains and nuts, with room for animal foods. Less, not never.
Whole-Wheat Spaghetti with Roasted Tomato Mascarpone Sauce and Sardines
Smoky Tempeh Quinoa Bowls with Kimchi and Chipotle Cashew Sauce
Planet-Saner Banana Bread with Skyr, Peanut Butter, and Dark Chocolate
Where the change comes from
Food by food, in the world
The study breaks the change down by food group for large countries and world regions. Negative bars are emissions avoided; positive bars are emissions added by eating more of a food.
| Food group | Change, as a bar | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Beef, lamb and pork | −1,917 Mt | |
| Grains | −914 Mt | |
| Sugars | −240 Mt | |
| Poultry, eggs and fish | −122 Mt | |
| Tubers and starchy vegetables | −89 Mt | |
| Dairy | +143 Mt | |
| Vegetables and fruits | +163 Mt | |
| Added fats | +279 Mt | |
| Legumes and nuts | +757 Mt |
Biggest changes
Largest cuts
- Uzbekistan−74%
- Australia−70%
- Qatar−67%
- Türkiye−65%
- Tajikistan−64%
Where emissions would rise
- Iraq+155%
- Haiti+121%
- Burundi+111%
- Nigeria+94%
- Slovakia+84%
In 38 countries, emissions would rise. They are mostly lower-income countries, where eating enough of each food group means producing more food. The global reduction comes largely from eating less red meat where diets are richest in it, with legumes and nuts as the main protein swap.
All 138 countries
Show the full table
| Country or territory | Change, as a bar | Change | Million tonnes CO₂e |
|---|---|---|---|
| Afghanistan | +11% | +2.3 Mt | |
| Albania | −48% | −1.6 Mt | |
| Angola | +77% | +61 Mt | |
| Argentina | −60% | −109 Mt | |
| Armenia | −61% | −3.8 Mt | |
| Australia | −70% | −84 Mt | |
| Austria | −50% | −8.0 Mt | |
| Azerbaijan | −50% | −8.8 Mt | |
| Bangladesh | +18% | +23 Mt | |
| Belarus | −30% | −12 Mt | |
| Belgium | −44% | −14 Mt | |
| Benin | +22% | +3.7 Mt | |
| Bhutan | −45% | −0.42 Mt | |
| Bolivia | −9% | −6.7 Mt | |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | −36% | −1.4 Mt | |
| Brazil | −34% | −287 Mt | |
| Bulgaria | −19% | −1.4 Mt | |
| Burkina Faso | +7% | +1.5 Mt | |
| Burundi | +111% | +5.6 Mt | |
| Cabo Verde | −13% | −0.06 Mt | |
| Cambodia | −11% | −4.7 Mt | |
| Cameroon | +30% | +12 Mt | |
| Canada | −45% | −54 Mt | |
| Chad | −42% | −24 Mt | |
| Chile | −44% | −17 Mt | |
| China (mainland) | −28% | −411 Mt | |
| Colombia | +8% | +11 Mt | |
| Côte d’Ivoire | +71% | +11 Mt | |
| Croatia | −30% | −2.1 Mt | |
| Cyprus | −36% | −0.53 Mt | |
| Czechia | −33% | −4.4 Mt | |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | +75% | +302 Mt | |
| Denmark | −28% | −4.3 Mt | |
| Ecuador | −2% | −0.87 Mt | |
| Egypt | −19% | −18 Mt | |
| El Salvador | −13% | −0.88 Mt | |
| Estonia | −31% | −1.1 Mt | |
| Eswatini | +13% | +0.27 Mt | |
| Ethiopia | +59% | +51 Mt | |
| Fiji | −18% | −0.23 Mt | |
| Finland | −48% | −7.0 Mt | |
| France | −42% | −46 Mt | |
| Gabon | +29% | +2.0 Mt | |
| Gambia | +10% | +0.26 Mt | |
| Georgia | −24% | −1.2 Mt | |
| Germany | −51% | −78 Mt | |
| Ghana | +59% | +8.9 Mt | |
| Greece | −52% | −14 Mt | |
| Guatemala | −15% | −2.3 Mt | |
| Guinea | −11% | −2.8 Mt | |
| Haiti | +121% | +5.0 Mt | |
| Honduras | +5% | +0.48 Mt | |
| Hong Kong | −39% | −15 Mt | |
| Hungary | −13% | −1.9 Mt | |
| Iceland | −46% | −0.63 Mt | |
| India | +9% | +89 Mt | |
| Indonesia | −4% | −35 Mt | |
| Iraq | +155% | +33 Mt | |
| Ireland | −18% | −3.0 Mt | |
| Israel | −61% | −13 Mt | |
| Italy | −38% | −42 Mt | |
| Jamaica | −19% | −1.9 Mt | |
| Japan | −27% | −57 Mt | |
| Jordan | −14% | −1.6 Mt | |
| Kazakhstan | −62% | −27 Mt | |
| Kenya | −2% | −1.3 Mt | |
| Kyrgyzstan | −54% | −4.9 Mt | |
| Laos | −15% | −2.3 Mt | |
| Latvia | −23% | −1.0 Mt | |
| Lithuania | −29% | −2.0 Mt | |
| Luxembourg | −17% | −0.63 Mt | |
| Macao | −35% | −0.32 Mt | |
| Madagascar | +29% | +8.3 Mt | |
| Malawi | +28% | +3.5 Mt | |
| Malaysia | −5% | −7.7 Mt | |
| Maldives | +9% | +0.07 Mt | |
| Mali | −6% | −1.5 Mt | |
| Malta | −45% | −0.40 Mt | |
| Mauritania | −13% | −1.2 Mt | |
| Mauritius | −20% | −0.35 Mt | |
| Mexico | −39% | −81 Mt | |
| Moldova | −23% | −0.45 Mt | |
| Mongolia | −52% | −9.8 Mt | |
| Montenegro | −43% | −0.32 Mt | |
| Morocco | −25% | −11 Mt | |
| Mozambique | +60% | +56 Mt | |
| Myanmar | −13% | −21 Mt | |
| Namibia | −14% | −1.9 Mt | |
| Nepal | −20% | −7.4 Mt | |
| Netherlands | −24% | −22 Mt | |
| New Zealand | −24% | −5.6 Mt | |
| Nicaragua | −0.2% | −0.03 Mt | |
| Niger | +26% | +3.8 Mt | |
| Nigeria | +94% | +102 Mt | |
| North Macedonia | −40% | −0.74 Mt | |
| Norway | −50% | −9.9 Mt | |
| Pakistan | −44% | −155 Mt | |
| Panama | −13% | −1.1 Mt | |
| Papua New Guinea | +52% | +9.6 Mt | |
| Paraguay | −14% | −3.4 Mt | |
| Peru | −6% | −5.8 Mt | |
| Philippines | −7% | −6.3 Mt | |
| Poland | −24% | −22 Mt | |
| Portugal | −46% | −10 Mt | |
| Qatar | −67% | −9.5 Mt | |
| Republic of the Congo | +33% | +5.6 Mt | |
| Romania | −33% | −6.9 Mt | |
| Russia | −48% | −150 Mt | |
| Rwanda | +60% | +4.2 Mt | |
| São Tomé and Príncipe | +35% | +0.05 Mt | |
| Saudi Arabia | −17% | −15 Mt | |
| Senegal | +13% | +2.4 Mt | |
| Serbia | −53% | −5.2 Mt | |
| Sierra Leone | +20% | +1.2 Mt | |
| Singapore | −62% | −7.7 Mt | |
| Slovakia | +84% | +27 Mt | |
| South Africa | −34% | −40 Mt | |
| South Korea | −19% | −23 Mt | |
| Spain | −52% | −45 Mt | |
| Sri Lanka | +35% | +4.1 Mt | |
| Sweden | −40% | −14 Mt | |
| Switzerland | −31% | −4.6 Mt | |
| Taiwan | −42% | −15 Mt | |
| Tajikistan | −64% | −6.7 Mt | |
| Tanzania | +8% | +8.6 Mt | |
| Thailand | −6% | −5.3 Mt | |
| Togo | +25% | +1.0 Mt | |
| Türkiye | −65% | −97 Mt | |
| Uganda | +35% | +12 Mt | |
| Ukraine | −28% | −8.5 Mt | |
| United Arab Emirates | −33% | −11 Mt | |
| United Kingdom | −45% | −42 Mt | |
| United States | −61% | −477 Mt | |
| Uruguay | −48% | −6.9 Mt | |
| Uzbekistan | −74% | −44 Mt | |
| Vietnam | −23% | −16 Mt | |
| Yemen | +49% | +5.5 Mt | |
| Zambia | +45% | +40 Mt |
How to read these numbers
- They compare average national diets in 2019 with the Planetary Health Diet, not what any one person eats.
- Emissions cover the whole food chain, including land use and what happens beyond the farm.
- The diet is a flexible reference: it still includes meat, fish, eggs and dairy, in smaller amounts.
- Country and region names are shortened; values are shown as published in the study’s source data.
- Slovenia is not listed: its published value does not match the study’s own totals for Western Europe. The global total and the regional food-group figures are shown as published.
Source: Li, Y. et al. Nature Climate Change 14, 943–953 (2024), “Reducing climate change impacts from the global food system through diet shifts”, source data for Fig. 5. Feast on the Planet is not affiliated with the authors or the journal.
Start with one meal
More plants, animal foods in flexible amounts. Less, not never.