According to the data of the Living Planet Report 2024 recently released by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the way of eating food in India has been considered the most sustainable. The report emphasizes the need for climate-friendly food consumption patterns around the world. It particularly detailed the pattern of G20 countries, highlighting how many of them exceed the “planetary climate limit for food”. This limit indicates the maximum amount of greenhouse gas emissions that food systems can emit to stay within 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming.
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“Any gains from more sustainable food production will count for little if we don’t also pay attention to food consumption. If everyone in the world adopts the current food consumption patterns of the world’s major economies by 2050, we will avoid 1.5°C. Will exceed climate targets.” “Food-related greenhouse gas emissions have increased by 263% and we would need one to seven Earths to support them,” the report predicts. However, two countries – India and Indonesia – have not crossed the “planetary climate threshold for food”.
The report suggests that if all nations followed the dietary patterns (in terms of consumption) of these two, the world would need less than “one Earth” to meet food demands. The figure for India is the lowest at 0.84 – meaning that the planet’s resources would be enough to meet food needs according to this system, without exceeding greenhouse gas emissions limits. The report mentions the National Millets Campaign in India and highlights the role of local traditions in meeting global goals. It states, “Achieving a healthy and nutritious diet will be strongly influenced by local cultural traditions, personal preferences and available food… In some countries, promoting traditional foods will be an important lever for dietary change. For example “For India, the National Millet Campaign is designed to increase national consumption of this ancient grain, which is good for health and highly resilient to climate change.”
Photo Credit: WWF Living Planet Report 2024
Food consumption patterns of countries such as Argentina, Australia and the United States have been rated as the least sustainable. The report makes relevant suggestions that can help improve the situation. It states, “For developed countries, dietary changes need to include a greater proportion of plant-based foods and fewer animal products. At the same time, countries facing significant burdens of undernutrition, hunger and food insecurity For, nutritional intake may need to be increased.” consumption, including animal-sourced foods.”
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