Building healthy, sustainable, and just food systems within planetary boundaries should be an urgent priority for governments and international bodies, the 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission report has said.
According to the report, which combines input from more than 70 experts across six continents, food systems remain ‘squarely centred at the nexus of food security, human health, environmental sustainability, social justice, and the resilience of nations’, and are ‘uniquely placed’ to support human wellbeing as well as environmental stability.
The report, which can be found here, also introduces new global modelling to demonstrate how the planet can effectively feed an estimated 10 billion people within environmental limits, and identifies eight solution areas to guide food systems transformation.
‘A vital truth’
Commenting on the report, Anne Bordier, director of food initiatives at the World Resources Institute, said, “The report drives home a vital truth: healthy, sustainable eating isn’t just a personal choice – it’s shaped by the systems that put food on our plates every day. It’s the responsibility of food providers and policymakers to make healthy diets with a low carbon footprint the easy, affordable, and irresistible option for all.
“With food prices up over 35% since 2019, families are trapped in a triple bind: not enough to eat, struggling to afford nutritious food or living in environments flooded with unhealthy, unsustainable options. This is more than an economic crisis – it’s a profound equity crisis, where the most vulnerable carry the heaviest burden and face the fewest choices.”
With more than 40% of food going to waste, ensuring that we get more out of the food that we produce is an essential step, as the report notes.
“Better storage, surplus redistribution, and clear targets can unlock healthy food for more people while conserving resources and cutting emissions,” Bordier commented. “At the same time, boosting agriculture’s productivity and reducing its environmental footprint will be essential to feed a growing population while protecting nature and the climate.”
Coordinated investment
According to the WRI, progress toward climate and nutrition goals ‘won’t happen overnight’, and requires coordinated investment, innovation, and long-term collaboration.
“Fortunately, a toolbox full of solutions grounded in quantitative modelling, behavioural science, consumer insights and industry know-how already exists,” Bordier added. “The challenge now is scaling what works – making healthy, sustainable food the default, not the exception.”
The 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission report builds on a landmark report issued in 2019, which connected diet, environment, and health-based outcomes.
According to the authors of the 2025 report, ‘this is a defining scientific moment for food systems, and a call to action for a healthy, just and more liveable future.’ Read more here.
