Society diet change for net zero and better health
25 March 2025This article explores how diet changes are crucial for achieving net zero targets and improving public health, highlighting IGD's work in this area.
There is a growing recognition for the role of population-level diet change, to achieve the ever more stretching target of net zero and address the increasingly negative impacts of diets.
Recent months have seen significant efforts to address these challenges, including IGD’s own Net Zero Transition Plan for the UK Food System, the Climate Change Committee's Seventh Carbon Budget and a study published in the Lancet highlighting obesity forecasts to 2050.
In this article, we summarise the current evidence and outline ongoing work from IGD with businesses across the food system, industry organisations and NGOs who are addressing these interrelated health and sustainability challenges.
The impact of diet change
Rates of people living with obesity are still increasing year on year, with a recent study suggesting that by 2050, if current trends continue, 50% of the UK adult population will be living with obesity.1 Beyond the associated adverse health outcomes, economically it is equally alarming, with the estimated annual cost to the UK of people living overweight and obese at £98 billion.2
Dietary changes at a population level will not only contribute to a broad range of health benefits but can also deliver significant cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. WRAP models indicate the potential to reduce 7 million tonnes of CO2e (mtCO2e) per year.3 A Carbon Trust analysis of the Eatwell Guide showed that if everyone followed the recommendations compared to the current UK diet, the resulting dietary changes would lead to a significantly lower environmental impact.4 However, with less than 0.1% of the UK population adhering to all nine of the government's dietary recommendations and only 30.6% managing five recommendations,5 a change in the UK’s population diet is crucial to meet both health and net zero objectives.
Any population-level diet change must be nutritious, accessible, and affordable but must also consider the current UK dietary trends. A strategy to address diet change must consider how diets vary across society rather than taking a 'one size fits all' outlook. Although the cost of a healthy diet in the UK is relatively low when compared to other developed economies6, 7.3 million UK adults experienced food insecurity in January alone.7 Shifting to a healthier, more sustainable diet must consider barriers like cost, availability, and education to ensure everyone, regardless of socioeconomic status, can adopt and sustain these changes.
Despite the challenges facing the UK food system, development of a new Government Food Strategy this year presents a great opportunity for collaboration on key issues such as health, the environment, food security, and economic growth.
With support from NGOs, food businesses and the wider industry, putting detail to the systemic changes needed to build a healthy and sustainable food system is more urgent than ever and requires new ways of taking collective action.
A Net Zero Transition Plan for the UK Food System
In November 2024, IGD published a Net Zero Transition Plan for the UK Food System demonstrating that achieving net zero is possible by 2050, but requires collective action across the food sector, addressing both supply and demand. It stated that “demand-side actions are crucial for meeting net zero targets and contributing to carbon budgets.”
The plan suggested a 20% reduction in meat and dairy consumption is required to achieve net zero.
One of the six collective actions for industry is “aligning industry to a position on diet change that balances net zero and health objectives, including an action plan.”
IGD’s industry convening for collective action
Following the publication of our net zero report, IGD has sought perspectives from industry stakeholders across the food system, from production, manufacturing and retail, trade associations and a variety of NGOs. IGD’s Health team mapped out initiatives, programmes, and policies from across the food system that support the shift towards healthy and sustainable diets in the UK to identify key levers for change and how to build on existing initiatives. A key principle of our work is that it is not duplicative and instead creates efficiencies.
Furthermore, we have explored the barriers and challenges of population diet change from an industry perspective. Using our strong relationships with food retailers and manufacturers, we have utilised our IGD forums – the Food System Change Leaders Forum and Nutrition Leaders Forum - to discuss opportunities and areas to drive progress. For the food industry to develop an environment that is more supportive of healthier changes in population diet, a collaborative approach is important to mitigate cost and maximise effectiveness.
The aim is to create a roadmap for change to 2030, based on a pragmatic view on the Eatwell Guide and updated data on population consumption trends, further informed by considerations of key societal group’s needs. This will consider the levers for change, how they are used and when, for positive outcomes and to account for commercial considerations.
What do other sources say about the diet change needed?
In February this year the Seventh Carbon Budget, released by the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), included recommendations for:
a 35% reduction in average meat consumption by 2050, with a 40% reduction for red meat
a 20% reduction in dairy consumption, marking the first time this target has been set8
These recommendations are based on scientific assessment and insights from a citizens panel.
From a global perspective, the Eat-Lancet Commission has indicated that feeding 10 billion people a healthy diet within safe planetary boundaries by 2050 is both possible and necessary.9 According to the Commission, adopting the 'Planetary Health Diet' could prevent severe environmental degradation and avoid approximately 11 million premature adult deaths annually. The release of Eat Lancet 2.0 this year will provide further insights and guidance.10
This moment presents a prime opportunity for industry to engage with the diet change agenda. By working together and making informed, strategic changes, the UK food system can move towards a sustainable, net zero future while ensuring the health and well-being of the population. IGD will continue to work on addressing the challenges and driving progress in the right direction; we will be publishing a progress update of the Net Zero Transition Plan in the summer.
Sign up to IGD’s Health and Sustainability newsletter for more information and updates on the Net Zero Plan Progress report, due in June.
References:
Lancet. Tracking UK Food System Greenhouse Gas Emissions: 2023 Update. Accessed March 6, 2025.
Institute for Global Change. (2023, November 21). Unhealthy Numbers: The Rising Cost of Obesity in the UK. Retrieved March 17, 2025.
WRAP. Tracking UK Food System Greenhouse Gas Emissions: 2023 Update. Accessed March 6, 2025.
Carbon Trust. Eatwell Guide. Accessed March 6, 2025.
Scheelbeek PF, et al. Adherence to Government Dietary Recommendations. Accessed March 6, 2025.
World Bank. (n.d.). Food Prices for Nutrition. Retrieved March 17, 2025.
Food Foundation. Food Insecurity Tracking. Accessed March 6, 2025.
Climate Change Committee. The Seventh Carbon Budget. Accessed March 6, 2025.
Willett W, Rockström J, Loken B, et al. Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT–Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems. Lancet. 2019;393(10170):447-492. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31788-4. Accessed March 6, 2025.
EAT-Lancet Commission. EAT-Lancet Commission 2 Commentary. Accessed March 6, 2025.