What if your country ate the Planetary Health Diet?
See how food-related emissions could change, based on a 2024 Nature Climate Change study.
National averages, not a personal footprint. Check your own plate
Azerbaijan
−50% dietary emissions
If Azerbaijan adopted the Planetary Health Diet, food-related emissions would fall by about 8.8 Mt CO₂e a year, compared with 2019 diets.
Azerbaijan in context
In Azerbaijan, food-related emissions would fall by 50%, about 8.8 Mt CO₂e a year: the 19th largest cut of the 100 countries where emissions would fall, a deeper cut than the world as a whole (−17%).
Across Near East and North Africa, the largest cut would come from beef, lamb and pork (−128 Mt CO₂e) and the largest increase from legumes and nuts (+26 Mt CO₂e).
Other countries the study groups with Azerbaijan in Near East and North Africa:
- Türkiye −65%
- Uzbekistan −74%
- Iraq +155%
- Kazakhstan −62%
- −17% globally
- 1,940 Mt CO₂e avoided each year
- 100 of 138 countries reduce emissions
The study compares 2019 diets in 139 countries and territories with the EAT-Lancet Planetary Health Diet, counting emissions along the whole food chain.
Putting −17% in perspective
A diet built for health, with a real climate dividend
About 3–4% of all emissions
The nearly 2 billion tonnes of CO₂e avoided each year are roughly 3–4% of the world's greenhouse-gas emissions, from changing what is on the plate alone. The study assumes no cleaner farming, energy or transport, and no less food waste.
A net result
The 57% of people who eat more than they need would cut emissions by the equivalent of 32% of global food emissions. People who now eat too little, or too narrowly, would eat better and add 15%. The diet does both.
More beyond the plate
The 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission finds that the diet, combined with better farming and less waste, could halve food-system emissions. Land no longer needed for feed and grazing could also store carbon if it returned to nature: up to 98 billion tonnes of CO₂ over time for 54 high-income countries alone, according to one study.
Health comes first. The Planetary Health Diet was designed from health evidence, not to minimise emissions; the 2025 Commission estimates it could prevent up to 15 million deaths a year. Check your own plate
Sources: EAT-Lancet Commission 2025, Summary Report; Sun, Z. et al. Nature Food 3, 29–37 (2022), “Dietary change in high-income nations alone can lead to substantial double climate dividend”.
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
High protein Banana Bread with Skyr, Peanut Butter, and Dark Chocolate
Want to actually eat this way?
Build a free Planetary Health meal plan for your week: plant-forward recipes, portions for your household and one shopping list.
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Compare countries
Where diets would cut, or add, emissions
Green countries would emit less with the Planetary Health Diet, orange ones more. Select a country for its details.
- −50% or more
- −25% to −50%
- 0 to −25%
- 0 to +25%
- +25% to +75%
- +75% or more
- No data
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Where the change comes from
Food by food, in Near East and North Africa
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 | −128 Mt | |
| Grains | −79 Mt | |
| Dairy | −44 Mt | |
| Sugars | −15 Mt | |
| Poultry, eggs and fish | −7.0 Mt | |
| Tubers and starchy vegetables | −1.2 Mt | |
| Added fats | +3.7 Mt | |
| Vegetables and fruits | +8.6 Mt | |
| Legumes and nuts | +26 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.