How to eat well and within Earth’s limits
Summary
Article Date: 27 January 2026
Author: Johan Rockström (Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research)
Article URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-00236-1
Article Image: https://media.nature.com/w300/magazine-assets/d41586-026-00236-1/d41586-026-00236-1_51970326.jpg
Content summary
Johan Rockström argues that dietary change, backed by bold public policies, is essential for both human health and planetary stability. Using the Planetary Boundaries framework, he highlights the environmental pressures from current food systems: roughly 30% of greenhouse-gas emissions and about 70% of freshwater use are linked to agriculture, which also drives nutrient pollution and biodiversity loss. Unhealthy diets cause around 15 million premature adult deaths annually.
Rockström summarises the updated Planetary Health Diet (PHD) from the 2025 EAT–Lancet Commission: a flexible, mostly plant-rich diet supplying about 65% of calories from fruit, vegetables, nuts, legumes and whole grains; about one portion of red meat per week; and modest servings of poultry and fish. The PHD delivers all essential nutrients and reduces risks of heart disease, diabetes and some cancers. He warns that most global diets currently overconsume animal products and ultra-processed foods, and that only ~1% of people live within a ‘safe and just space’ where nutritional needs and planetary boundaries align.
Key Points
- Food production and consumption account for ~30% of global greenhouse-gas emissions and about 70% of freshwater use.
- Around 15 million premature adult deaths each year are attributable to unhealthy diets.
- The Planetary Health Diet (PHD) — proposed by the 2025 EAT–Lancet Commission — emphasises plant-based foods and limits red meat to roughly one portion per week.
- The PHD is flexible and compatible with many traditional cuisines (Mediterranean, Asian, African, Latin American).
- Most current diets deviate from the PHD, with rising intake of ultra-processed foods, added sugars, saturated fats and salt.
- Only about 1% of the global population currently consumes diets that meet human needs within planetary boundaries — urgent policy action is required.
Context and relevance
This piece sits at the intersection of nutrition, climate and policy. Rockström links individual dietary choices to systemic environmental outcomes using the Planetary Boundaries concept, and presents the PHD as a practical pathway that satisfies human nutritional requirements while reducing ecological impacts. It’s relevant to policymakers, public-health professionals, agricultural planners and anyone interested in how diet shifts can contribute to climate mitigation, reduced water use and biodiversity protection.
Why should I read this?
Quick and blunt: this article tells you why what’s on your plate matters for the whole planet. If you care about climate, health or sensible policy, it’s a short primer on a scientifically backed diet that actually fits Earth’s limits — and why governments need to make it easier to eat that way.