A major international commission has issued a striking warning: billions of people lack access to healthy diets, fair wages, and safe environments, yet solutions are well within reach if the world acts decisively.

The 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission on Healthy, Sustainable, and Just Food Systems reveals that food systems—how food is produced, distributed, and consumed—are at the heart of humanity’s greatest challenges. Chronic diseases. Rising inequality. Climate change. Biodiversity loss. All these crises are deeply intertwined with how we feed ourselves.

The Commission’s findings, published in The Lancet, rest on solid science and a compelling call to action. Experts from fields such as nutrition, environmental science, economics, agriculture, justice, and health policy have united to produce what is described as the most robust assessment yet of global food systems.

Their message is clear: the choices made today will determine the health of people and planet for generations, including us in Malaysia.

According to the report, although the world produces enough calories for everyone, nearly 3.7 billion people do not have access to healthy diets. Many also lack meaningful wages or a clean environment. Food production accounts for almost 30 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. It drives land use changes and pushes several planetary boundaries—such as those relating to climate, biodiversity, freshwater use, and pollution—beyond safe limits.

The consequences are grave. Human health is threatened by poor nutrition and chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. At the same time, environmental degradation undermines Earth’s resilience, making life less secure for all.

Yet there is hope. The Commission offers science-based targets for a sustainable future. Central to this is the Planetary Health Diet (PHD), a plant-rich framework with flexibility for local cultures and individual needs.

By adopting the PHD alongside efforts to halve food loss and waste, promote sustainable farming practices, and halt the conversion of intact ecosystems, it is possible to restore planetary health, improve public health, and ensure adequate food for an expected global population of 9.6 billion by 2050.

The PHD is not about rigid rules but practical guidance. It recommends eating plenty of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes daily. Moderate amounts of animal-sourced foods—red meat no more than once a week, poultry twice a week, eggs three or four times weekly—are included. Dairy intake should be limited to about one serving each day. Added sugars, saturated fats, and salt must be kept low.

New research in the Commission’s 2025 report connects adherence to the PHD with significant reductions in the risk of major chronic diseases. The data show a 27 percent lower risk of premature death and a potential to prevent roughly 15 million early deaths each year compared to current global diets.

The PHD framework embraces diversity. It respects traditional dietary patterns and local food systems while acknowledging that needs vary by age and circumstance. Pregnant women, infants, and young children may require extra nutritional support. The framework encourages culturally tailored solutions such as food fortification and supplementation where needed.

Shifting towards the PHD would not only improve health but also help heal the environment. By reducing demand for resource-intensive foods like red meat and promoting plant-rich diets, carbon emissions from food could fall by over 15 percent compared to 2020 levels. If food waste is halved and sustainable production practices adopted worldwide, that figure could rise above 20 percent.

Food systems are complex webs involving farmers, processors, retailers, consumers, governments, and global institutions. At present they contribute about 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions globally—a staggering proportion. The biggest sources are meat production, methane from rice paddies, land-use change, and deforestation.

Food is also responsible for breaching five out of nine recognised planetary boundaries—thresholds that keep Earth’s life support systems stable. Yet with improved agricultural practices such as regenerative farming and sustainable intensification, farmers can cut emissions, boost soil health, conserve biodiversity, and use water more efficiently.

The social dimension cannot be ignored. The report highlights stark inequalities in food systems worldwide. The most affluent 30 percent of people are responsible for about 70 percent of environmental pressures caused by food consumption. Meanwhile, almost half the world’s population lacks access to affordable healthy diets or fair wages.

Children continue to work in agriculture. Nearly a third of food workers earn below living wages; unsafe conditions remain commonplace. Women face systemic wage gaps and under-representation.

Justice is vital for transformation. The Commission urges policies that make nutritious food affordable and accessible to all; secure fair wages; protect worker safety; and empower marginalised communities in decision-making processes affecting their lives and environments.

Researchers modelled various scenarios for global food systems out to 2050. Under a transformation scenario featuring widespread adoption of the PHD plus strong climate policies across sectors—not just agriculture—emissions could fall by more than half from 7.35 gigatonnes to only 2.75 gigatonnes CO₂ annually. That’s equivalent to shutting down every coal-fired power plant worldwide.

The same scenario predicts a 7 percent reduction in agricultural land use—freeing vast areas for biodiversity restoration and ecosystem services. There would likely be less demand for livestock labour but significant growth in plant-based agriculture. This underscores the need for policies supporting worker transitions and providing social protections.

Current food systems impose hidden costs totalling $15 trillion per year—from healthcare burdens linked to poor diets to environmental degradation. The Commission estimates that annual investments of $200–$500 billion in transforming food systems would yield returns exceeding $5 trillion per year through health care savings, increased productivity, and reduced environmental losses.

Funding can be unlocked by redirecting subsidies from high-impact agriculture and fisheries towards sustainable practices; mobilising climate and biodiversity finance; attracting private investment aligned with environmental targets; and expanding international support for low-income countries through development aid or debt relief.

To tackle these challenges systematically, eight key solutions are proposed:

1. Shift towards healthy diets guided by the PHD.
2. Protect traditional diets that are both healthy and culturally appropriate.
3. Advance farming practices that boost productivity while minimising harm.
4. Safeguard remaining forests, wetlands, and habitats.
5. Cut food loss and waste throughout the supply chain.
6. Ensure all food system workers receive fair wages in safe conditions.
7. Empower smallholder farmers, indigenous peoples, women, and marginalised groups.
8. Implement social safety nets to reduce poverty and disparities in nutrition.

These solutions must be bundled together with careful sequencing so that policies remain grounded in evidence and serve public interests rather than private profit or narrow sectoral goals.

Examples include combining taxes on unhealthy foods with subsidies for fruits and vegetables; supporting agricultural shifts towards legumes, grains, nuts; improving school meals; fostering regeneration in farming; cutting waste at every step from field to fork.

A movement is already underway. The organisation behind this landmark Commission has convened hundreds of actions across stakeholder groups—consumers, farmers, cities, healthcare professionals, policymakers, restaurants, retailers—inviting them to take ownership of solutions around the globe.

Experts stress that private sector engagement is essential but must not override public interests or weaken regulatory safeguards. Transformation must be just as well as impactful—social equity is not just a goal but a necessity for success.

Change is possible. From healthier school meals to regenerative agriculture and innovative food waste initiatives, promising steps have begun globally. Scaling these efforts is vital if humanity is to build a future where good health and environmental sustainability go hand in hand.

Billions are denied healthy diets but solutions abound if bold action is taken now. Food system transformation needs partnerships between public institutions, business leaders, civil society—guided by science, invested in equity and sustainability. Everyone has a role: governments must enact smart policies; businesses should invest responsibly; individuals can make conscious choices; communities must be empowered.

The time for half measures has passed—the stakes are too high for delay or denial. With clear targets and practical pathways now available from leading scientists worldwide, the opportunity exists to reshape global food systems so that they nourish both people and planet.