Dietary guidance for healthy and climate-friendly diets

The UK Climate Change Committee states that adjustments to dietary patterns are necessary to meet greenhouse gas reduction targets for Scotland. Food-based dietary guidelines have a policy role to play in supporting such adjustments.

This study reviewed international evidence including three case studies. The report presents findings on whether and how greenhouse gas emission criteria could be included in Scottish food-based dietary guidelines.

Main findings

Out of 33 jurisdictions reviewed, only seven have food-based dietary guidelines with extensive climate focus. However, this number is increasing over time. Emissions-focused guidelines advise:

• reducing meat, in particular ruminant meat
• moderating dairy
• increasing vegetables, fruits and plant proteins
• sourcing sustainably
• avoiding highly processed foods
• reducing food waste

Guidelines for Flanders, the Netherlands and Sweden offer good examples of how dietary linkages between human and planetary health can be explained with clear recommendations for food consumers.

Development of climate-focused guidelines suits a ‘science first’ approach, involving cross-disciplinary expert panels and reviews. Stakeholder inputs are restricted to the final steps of messaging and implementation.

Policy implementation for climate-friendly diets requires coordinated effort and strategic packages of measures, to tackle the food system holistically.

In Flanders, the Netherlands and Sweden, policy coordination has been lacking. Measures to date are largely limited to information campaigns and voluntary actions in public catering. More recently, Flanders and the Netherlands have launched more integrative food strategies. They are starting to combine policy measures across the food chain to encourage more sustainable diets.

Implications for Scotland:

• Adopting climate-focused food-based dietary guidelines would require time and effort, but would be a generally low-regret action, aligning with dietary goals and the net zero agenda.
• Some micronutrient deficiency risks are possible for certain population groups, depending on which foods are substituted. Other potential risks include displacement of greenhouse gas emissions from import/export activities.
• To address such issues, a coordinated cross-departmental policy approach would be needed, deploying a mix of supply-side and demand-side measures.
• In particular, households at risk of micronutrient deficiencies due to constrained access to healthy foods would need targeted support, including improvements to their food environments.