Abstract
To reduce environmental burdens from the food system, a shift towards environmentally sustainable diets is needed. In this study, the environmental impacts of the Swedish diet were benchmarked relative to global environmental boundaries suggested by the EAT-Lancet Commission. To identify local environmental concerns not captured by the global boundaries, relationships between the global EAT-Lancet variables and the national Swedish Environmental Objectives (SEOs) were analysed and additional indicators for missing aspects were identified. The results showed that the environmental impacts caused by the average Swedish diet exceeded the global boundaries for greenhouse gas emissions, cropland use and application of nutrients by two- to more than four-fold when the boundaries were scaled to per capita level. With regard to biodiversity, the impacts caused by the Swedish diet transgressed the boundary by six-fold. For freshwater use, the diet performed well within the boundary. Comparison of global and local indicators revealed that the EAT-Lancet variables covered many aspects included in the SEOs, but that these global indicators are not always of sufficiently fine resolution to capture local aspects of environmental sustainability, such as eutrophication impacts. To consider aspects and impact categories included in the SEO but not currently covered by the EAT-Lancet variables, such as chemical pollution and acidification, additional indicators and boundaries are needed. This requires better inventory data on e.g., pesticide use and improved traceability for imported foods.
Highlights
The food system is a major contributor to many environmental pressures, threatening the functioning of several Earth systems [1]
Food-related activities account for 19%–29% of global greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) [2], occupy about 40% of the Earth’s land surface [3] and are the main driver of deforestation of tropical forests, causing large GHG emissions and threatening biodiversity [4]
One example is the ‘One Planet Plate’ concept, where the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Sweden sets absolute limits for GHG emissions from yearly consumption of food [13]. Another example is given by Röös et al [14], who investigated the environmental sustainability of the average Swedish diet by defining per capita thresholds for GHG emissions and occupation of agricultural land for Swedish food consumption, and benchmarking the impacts of the diet against these boundaries
Summary
The food system is a major contributor to many environmental pressures, threatening the functioning of several Earth systems [1]. The agriculture sector is responsible for 70% of global freshwater withdrawals and pollutes aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems through emissions of nitrogen and phosphorus from fertiliser use [1] To reduce these environmental burdens, profound changes in the food system are needed, including a shift towards environmentally sustainable diets [1]. One example is the ‘One Planet Plate’ concept, where the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Sweden sets absolute limits for GHG emissions from yearly consumption of food [13] Another example is given by Röös et al [14], who investigated the environmental sustainability of the average Swedish diet by defining per capita thresholds for GHG emissions and occupation of agricultural land for Swedish food consumption, and benchmarking the impacts of the diet against these boundaries. The EAT-Lancet Commission [1] recently proposed absolute boundaries for six Earth system processes, within which the global food system should operate to be environmentally sustainable
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