The Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2023 (NNR2023) serve as the scientific foundation for national dietary guidelines and nutrient recommendations across the Nordic and Baltic countries. We reviewed how NNR2023 was adapted into national food-based dietary guidelines (FBDG) in the Nordic countries and Estonia, focusing specifically on sustainability considerations and policy implications. National FBDG integrated both health and environmental aspects in all countries, except Norway, which addressed environmental aspects only in a separate report. Health impacts served as the primary principle in all countries. Additionally, national policy perspectives, such as domestic food security, were addressed in some countries, while the integration of social and economic sustainability remained very limited. In adopting NNR2023, all countries modelled how implementation would affect nutrient adequacy or health within their food environments, making minor adjustments based on these findings. Guidelines for animal source food groups showed the most variation between countries; Estonia and Denmark established the strictest recommended limits for red meat and total meat, respectively, while Norway was most liberal regarding milk products. Stakeholders participated in the consultation process. The agricultural sector and meat industry primarily maintained pro-meat discourse, which was particularly intense in Norway and Sweden. Transition towards healthy and sustainable diets demands multiple policy instruments – FBDG being just one – alongside a supportive environment and participation from all food system actors.

This study explored whether lifestyle therapy that promoted adherence to a Mediterranean-style diet as a treatment for depression led to environmental co-benefits. Participants (n 75 complete case) were Australian adults in the Curbing Anxiety and Depression using Lifestyle Medicine non-inferiority, randomised controlled trial, which showed that lifestyle therapy was non-inferior to psychotherapy in reducing depressive symptoms, when delivered in group format via video conferencing over an 8-week treatment period. In this secondary analysis, we hypothesised that the lifestyle arm would be superior to the psychotherapy arm in reducing the environmental impact of self-reported diet over time. Dietary intake derived from FFQ at baseline and 8 weeks was transformed into environmental impact scores by calculating global warming potential (GWP)*. GWP* was calculated for total dietary intake and distinct food groups (Australian Dietary Guidelines and NOVA classifications). Within-arm changes in GWP* over time were calculated using the median difference. Neither arm showed significant changes. Between-arm differences in percentage change in GWP* scores over time were analysed using generalised estimating equations models. No between-arm difference for total GWP* score was found (β = 11·06 (–7·04, 29·15)). When examining distinct food groups, results were mixed. These novel findings contribute to the sparse evidence base that has measured the environmental impact of diets in a clinical trial context. Whilst lifestyle therapy that reduced depressive symptoms did not have clear environmental benefits relative to psychotherapy, nutritional counselling that focuses on the environmental impact of food choices may drive more pronounced planetary co-benefits.

Environmental impacts of food systems have stimulated research to examine how to create healthy diets that will be more sustainable while meeting nutrient requirements. Increasing compliance with existing food-based dietary guidelines in most jurisdictions could be a first step to improve health and reduce environmental impact. MyPlanetDiet was an all-Ireland 12-week randomised controlled trial designed to inform sustainable healthy dietary guidelines. Healthy adults (n 355) aged 18–64 years with moderate-to-high greenhouse gas emitting (GHGE) diets were recruited from three study sites on the island of Ireland. The aim of this research is to assess the relationship between dietary intakes, diet-related environmental impacts and metabolic health using baseline data collected during the MyPlanetDiet study. Dietary assessments collected using Foodbook24 were used to calculate diet-related GHGE, adherence to healthy eating guidelines (HEG) and healthy eating index (HEI) score. Anthropometrics and metabolic health markers (e.g. lipids, glucose and insulin) were included. Overall HEG adherence was low, with 43 % meeting zero or one HEG food group recommendations. Adherence to 4 + HEG food group targets was associated with 31 % lower diet-related GHGE compared with those with lowest adherence. Higher HEG adherence was associated with lower BMI and waist circumference and higher HEI scores. While our findings suggest HEG adherence is associated with positive health and environmental impacts, substantial behaviour change will be needed to meet existing HEG. Further research is needed to assess response and acceptability to HEG. However, adherence to HEG may be an important first step to reducing the environmental impact of food consumption.

This article analyzes the application of environmental impact assessment as a tool for climate change mitigation from a global comparative perspective. It firstly confirms that, despite persistent resistance in a few jurisdictions, climate effect assessment is now widely applied on a global scale. Yet the article also shows that this practice has faced recurrent practical and conceptual issues, in particular, concerning the determination of the significance of a project’s climate effect and the assessment of indirect effects. Lastly, this article assesses how states have addressed these issues and identifies good practices. In doing so, the article illustrates the potential of functionalist comparative analysis in advancing our understanding of climate law and suggesting policy-relevant conclusions.

Beef has a considerably higher climate impact than meat from monogastric animals and plant-based foods, due to methane emissions from enteric fermentation in ruminants. Animal feed production also contributes considerably to the climate impact, through carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel use and nitrous oxide emissions from soil. Despite this, ruminant animals can still be part of sustainable food systems, as they can produce human-edible food from coarse biomass unsuitable for human consumption (e.g., grass or straw), i.e., acting as ‘upgraders’. Feeding ruminants on coarse biomass also reduces the need for cropland for feed production. Using cereal straw as indoor feed for suckler cows reduces their feed intake in winter, while increasing their intake of biomass on pasture during the grazing season. This study assessed the climate impact of producing 1 kg of beef (carcass weight), and of the farm as a whole, in a Swedish suckler-based system using a mixture of cereal straw and grass-clover silage as winter feed for suckler cows, compared with using only grass-clover silage (reference scenario). The rest of the feed remained unchanged. Replacing part of the grass-clover silage with straw meant that less cropland area was needed to grow feed. Two alternative scenarios for using this spared land were investigated: producing wheat for human consumption (straw-food) and conversion to pasture (straw-pasture). Effects on total food production were also calculated. Using a combination of cereal straw and grass-clover silage as winter feed for suckler cows was found to reduce the climate impact associated with feed production compared with using only grass-clover silage. However, this change in winter feed increased biomass intake on pasture during the grazing season and thus the grazed area, so total climate impact of beef per kg carcass weight, and of the farm as a whole, increased when the demand for more grazing area resulted in deforestation. With no deforestation, the climate impact was comparable to that of beef from suckler cows fed exclusively on grass-clover silage during winter. Therefore, upcycling of straw to meat had no notable effect on the climate impact, indicating that using residues as feed does not always entail a climate benefit. However, increased demand for pasture can have a direct benefit for biodiversity if more biologically rich semi-natural pastures are maintained or restored. Using the land spared through feeding straw instead of grass-clover silage for wheat production increase total food production from the system, with potential indirect climate benefits.

The aim of this study was to explore and identify why young adults aged between 18 and 30 years in the UK and France do or do not consume dairy products. Several studies have associated dairy products with a healthy diet, and the production of soft dairy, i.e. milk, yoghurt, and soft cheese, as more environmentally friendly than some other animal-based products. Yet recent reports highlight that dairy intake is lower than recommended for health, especially among young adults. Using a qualitative methodology, forty-five participants aged 18–30 years (UK: n = 22; France: n = 23) were asked about their reasons for (non)consumption of a wide range of dairy products. Audio-recorded focus groups and individual interviews were conducted in English in the UK and in French in France, transcribed and coded. A thematic analysis found four themes and sixteen sub-themes (theme product-related: sub-themes sensory, non-sensory, composition; theme individual-related: sub-themes mode of consumption, preferences, personal reasons, knowledge, attitudes and concerns, needs or cravings; theme cultural aspects: sub-themes product categorization, social norms, use; theme market offering: sub-themes alternative, packaging, value for money, availability) to influence participants’ dairy (non)consumption in both countries. A seventeenth sub-theme (theme cultural aspects: sub-theme structure of the meal) was found to influence dairy consumption only in France. Further studies are needed to investigate these themes within larger samples, but these findings contribute to understanding dairy (non)consumption in young adults in the UK and France and may aid the development of strategies to improve young adults’ diets.

The food we eat has a critical impact on human and planetary health. Food systems are responsible for approximately a third of total global greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE). This review summarises studies that have measured dietary GHGE and assessed their associations with various demographic variables. Most studies report dietary emissions at the individual level, but some studies use households as the unit of analysis. Studies investigating individuals estimate dietary intakes using 24-hour dietary recalls, FFQ, diet history interviews, food diaries or other dietary records. Studies investigating households rely on food purchasing data and expenditure surveys. The majority of studies estimate dietary GHGE using process-based life cycle assessments. It is difficult to directly compare emissions estimates between studies at either the individual or household-level due to methodological differences. In general, there are mixed findings with regard to the relationships between various demographic variables and dietary emissions, although older adults generally had higher dietary GHGE than younger adults, and men typically had higher dietary GHGE than women, even when standardising for total energy intake. This review may be useful in informing and targeting policies and interventions to reduce GHGE of dietary intake.

Climate change stands as the paramount challenge confronting humanity in the contemporary era. Attempting to address the problem, the main sectors responsible for it have been subject to domestic or international policies and laws aimed at reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, except one: livestock. Given that animal-sourced food production contributes a large portion of GHG emissions, this Article aims to analyze the impacts that the exclusion of the livestock sector, in efforts to tackle climate change, would have on compliance with international treaties on the subject, especially the Paris Agreement. One conclusion reveals that state parties, by ignoring the sector, will violate several articles of the Agreement, which will likely lead to the failure of its main purpose of holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C.

New Zealand has committed to a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (GHGEs) from 2005 levels by 2030. Dietary changes within New Zealand could simultaneously improve population health and contribute towards the nation’s emissions reduction target, as agricultural emissions are estimated to account for half of New Zealand’s GHGEs(1). This research aimed to quantify the GHGEs associated with household purchases of major food groups in New Zealand and identify the sociodemographic characteristics that are associated with per capita household dietary emissions. Household dietary emissions were estimated using the NielsenIQ Homescan(R) consumer panel — a large sample of households within New Zealand who report purchasing data of take-home food and beverages. The sample is nationally representative in terms of broad geographical regions and selected key demographic characteristics. Carbon emission estimates were assigned to 1,908,485 total food and beverage purchases from 1,775 households over one year (2019) using a process-based life cycle assessment (LCA) dataset initially constructed in the United Kingdom (UK) and adapted for New Zealand(2). This LCA dataset contains estimates of greenhouse gas emissions generated over the life cycle of the production of food products from the following stages: farming and processing, transit packaging, consumer packaging, transport, warehouse and distribution, refrigeration, and overheads. Greenhouse gas emissions are expressed in kg of carbon dioxide equivalents per kg of food product over a 100-year time horizon. Total emissions from purchases of major food groups were then estimated. Multiple linear regression was used to examine the relationships between household variables and per capita dietary emissions. Overall purchases of red and processed meat (35%) and dairy products (19%) were responsible for the greatest proportion of emissions. The age group of the primary household shopper as well as household size were predictors of per capita dietary emissions — households with primary shoppers > 65 years had, on average, 33% (95% CI: 20% to 49%) higher per capita dietary emissions, compared to households with primary shoppers 34 years; and every additional household member was associated with, on average, 11% (95% CI: 9% to 13%) lower per capita dietary emissions. We have shown in this large representative sample of New Zealand households that purchases of just two food groups — red and processed meat, and dairy — were responsible for approximately half of dietary greenhouse gas emissions. Larger households had lower per capita dietary greenhouse gas emissions, and older shoppers had relatively higher greenhouse gas emissions. Whilst similar associations have been reported elsewhere more research is needed to confirm these latter findings. With enhanced understanding of the observed association between age of a household’s primary shopper and per capita dietary emissions, interventions may be devised that encourage shoppers to purchase lower-emitting foods, particularly less meat and dairy.

This paper defends strong emissions sufficientarianism as an approach to assigning moral rights to generate greenhouse gas emissions. Strong emissions sufficientarianism holds that only subsistence emitting is morally permissible. This paper argues that, since it is uncertain how many subsistence emissions there will be, the present generation owes it to future generations to refrain from generating non-subsistence emissions, not to risk imposing on them a tragic choice between sacrificing themselves and contributing to very dangerous climate change. The paper also addresses the charge that emissions sufficientarianism, in general, is too permissive since it entails a right to contribute to very dangerous climate change. The overall message is that, given the moral urgency posed by climate change, there is little room for distributive principles besides emissions sufficientarianism. This casts doubt on the appropriateness of relying on carbon budgets in assigning rights to emit.

The objective was to evaluate steer performance, meat nutritional value, land-use, food–feed competition and both economic and environmental sustainability within temperate pasture-based suckler weanling-to-beef systems with or without (forage-only) concentrates. Post-weaning, 8-month-old, late-maturing breed steers (333 kg) were assigned to one of three systems: (1) grass silage + 1.2 kg concentrate DM (148 days), followed by pasture (123 days) and finished on ad libitum concentrates (120 days) – slaughter age, 21 months (GRAIN); (2) as per (1) but pasture (196 days) and finished on grass silage ad libitum + 3.5 kg concentrate DM (124 days) – slaughter age, 24 months (SIL + GRAIN); and (3) grass silage-only (148 days), pasture (196 days), silage-only (140 days) and finished on pasture (97 days) – slaughter age, 28 months (FORAGE). The mean target carcass weight was 390 kg for each system. Data generated were used to parameterize a farm-level beef systems model. Concentrate DM intake was 1187, 606 and 0 kg/head for GRAIN, SIL + GRAIN and FORAGE, respectively. The forage-only (FORAGE) system offers several advantages, including improved farm profitability, enhanced meat fatty acid profile and only utilized inedible human feed. Consequently, associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per net human edible food produced were more favourable for FORAGE. However, compared to GRAIN, the FORAGE system had an older age at slaughter and associated increased pasture land-use and GHG emissions per animal, meat weight gain and essential amino acids gain. There are therefore inevitable trade-offs, as one beef system does not improve all sustainability and GHG emission metrics.

Measuring and attributing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions remains a challenging problem as the world strives toward meeting emissions reductions targets. As a significant portion of total global emissions, the road transportation sector represents an enormous challenge for estimating and tracking emissions at a global scale. To meet this challenge, we have developed a hybrid approach for estimating road transportation emissions that combines the strengths of machine learning and satellite imagery with localized emissions factors data to create an accurate, globally scalable, and easily configurable GHG monitoring framework.

Net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, the UK’s current target, requires bridging a dramatic energy transition and eliminating all other net sources of emissions while ensuring a just transition. Key components like renewable electricity generation and electric vehicles are well developed, but many issues remain. Public support for a green economy may wane if the economic costs are too high or seen as unfair. Therefore, although renewable energy is cheaper than fossil fuels, it is essential to maintain employment, real per capita growth and reduced inequality. Decarbonizing the UK economy requires an integrated sequential approach and need not be delayed while dealing with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, energy crisis and resulting inflation.