The Lancet report on Healthy, Sustainable, and Just Food Systems was released this October by the 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission. The report was produced by 70 experts from 35 countries, including Dr Marco Springmann from the Institute for Global Health.
The report highlights the urgent need to transform global food systems to improve health outcomes and reduce environmental harm. Key findings include:
- Shifting global diets could prevent up to 15 million premature deaths per year.
- Food systems currently account for roughly 30% of total greenhouse gas emissions globally. Transforming them could cut these emissions by more than half.
- Fewer than 1% of the world’s population is currently in the ‘safe and just space’, where people’s rights and food needs are met within planetary boundaries.
- The wealthiest 30% of people drive more than 70% of food-related environmental impacts.
What is the Planetary Health Diet?
The Planetary Health Diet (PHD) sets out how the world can improve the health of people and the planet, while providing enough food for an expected global population of 9.6 billion by 2050. The diet allows for local adaptation and inclusion of animal products, vegetarian, or vegan options. All versions advise eating more vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes, and whole grains than most people currently consume.
New digital tool: the Planetary Health Diet Data Explorer
To support the implementation of the PHD, Maria Schubring and Dr Marco Springmann from the UCL Institute for Global Health (IGH) have developed a new interactive Data Explorer.
This digital platform allows users to interactively explore and visualise data on planetary health diets, including their composition and their nutritional, health, and environmental impacts at global, regional, and demographic levels.
By making the data directly accessible and interactive—rather than hidden in supplementary materials—we aim to support accurate interpretation and prevent misuse of the findings.
The intuitive interface lets users filter, visualise, and download results tailored to their specific questions, making the evidence base for sustainable dietary transitions readily available for policy, research, and public communication.
Why this matters
Providing dietary options tailored to communities’ preferences and nutritional requirements can help create concrete pathways of dietary change, including in policy planning, civil-society initiatives, business approaches, and personal behaviour change.
As quoted in The Guardian, Dr Springmann said:
“Hopefully this will lead to more science-based policymaking.”