According to the WWF's Living Planet Report, which was released on Thursday, India's food consumption pattern is the most sustainable among major economies (G20 countries), and it would be the least climate-damaging for Earth to support food production by 2050 if other countries followed India's pattern. Argentina, Australia, and the United States are the worst on this count.
"If everyone in the world adopted the current food consumption patterns of the world's major economies by 2050, we exceed the 1.5° Celsius climate (warming limit) target for food-related greenhouse gas emissions by 263 percent and require one to seven Earths to support us," the report states, particularly highlighting India's millet quest.
According to the paper, if all countries follow India's current consumption patterns, the globe will require 'less than one planet' (0.84) to support food production by 2050. The Indian scenario is even somewhat better than the planetary climate boundary for food, which is the greatest amount of greenhouse gas emissions that food systems can generate to keep under 1.5° Celsius of the warming limit.
In comparison, the world will require the most 7.4 Earths if it follows Argentina's consumption tendencies. Argentina has the weakest system in terms of sustainability, followed by Australia (6.8), the United States (5.5), Brazil (5.2), France (5), Italy (4.6), Canada (4.5), and the United Kingdom (3.9). Among the better ones, Indonesia (0.9) figures only after India (0.84) and ahead of China (1.7), Japan (1.8) and Saudi Arabia (2).
The report also praised India's ongoing efforts to promote climate-robust millets (nutri-cereals), stating that the National Millet Campaign aims to increase national consumption of this ancient grain, which is beneficial to health and very resilient in the face of climate change.
"Eating more sustainable diets would reduce the amount of land needed to produce food: grazing land, in particular, could be freed up for other purposes, including nature restoration and carbon sequestration," according to the study. It also emphasises the significance of encouraging healthy alternative protein sources such as legumes and Nutri-cereals, plant-based meat substitutes, and nutritionally rich algae species.
