Options for keeping the food system within environmental limits

Marco Springmann (), Michael Clark, Daniel Mason-D’Croz, Keith Wiebe, Benjamin Leon Bodirsky, Luis Lassaletta, Wim Vries, Sonja J. Vermeulen, Mario Herrero, Kimberly M. Carlson, Malin Jonell, Max Troell, Fabrice DeClerck, Line J. Gordon, Rami Zurayk, Peter Scarborough, Mike Rayner, Brent Loken, Jess Fanzo, H. Charles J. Godfray, David Tilman, Johan Rockström and Walter Willett
Additional contact information
Marco Springmann: University of Oxford
Michael Clark: University of Minnesota
Daniel Mason-D’Croz: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Keith Wiebe: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Benjamin Leon Bodirsky: Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
Luis Lassaletta: CEIGRAM/Agricultural Production, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
Wim Vries: Wageningen University
Sonja J. Vermeulen: WWF International
Mario Herrero: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
Kimberly M. Carlson: University of Hawai’i at Manoa
Malin Jonell: Stockholm University
Max Troell: Stockholm University
Fabrice DeClerck: EAT
Line J. Gordon: Stockholm University
Rami Zurayk: Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, American University of Beirut
Peter Scarborough: University of Oxford
Mike Rayner: University of Oxford
Brent Loken: Stockholm University
Jess Fanzo: Berman Institute of Bioethics, Johns Hopkins University
H. Charles J. Godfray: University of Oxford
David Tilman: Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota
Johan Rockström: Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
Walter Willett: Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Daniel Mason-D'Croz

Nature, 2018, vol. 562, issue 7728, 519-525

Abstract: Abstract The food system is a major driver of climate change, changes in land use, depletion of freshwater resources, and pollution of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems through excessive nitrogen and phosphorus inputs. Here we show that between 2010 and 2050, as a result of expected changes in population and income levels, the environmental effects of the food system could increase by 50–90% in the absence of technological changes and dedicated mitigation measures, reaching levels that are beyond the planetary boundaries that define a safe operating space for humanity. We analyse several options for reducing the environmental effects of the food system, including dietary changes towards healthier, more plant-based diets, improvements in technologies and management, and reductions in food loss and waste. We find that no single measure is enough to keep these effects within all planetary boundaries simultaneously, and that a synergistic combination of measures will be needed to sufficiently mitigate the projected increase in environmental pressures.

Keywords: Model Food Systems; Safe Operating Space; Plant-based Diet; Planetary Boundaries Framework; Reducing Food Loss (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (157)

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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0594-0

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