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Food systems largest violators of planetary limits: 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission

admin — Wed, 05 Nov 2025 00:34:00 +0000

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| Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

Warning that food systems are the largest contributor to the breaching of planetary boundaries, accounting for five of seven breached boundaries, the 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission on Healthy, Sustainable and Just Food Systems has, in a report, called for placing justice at the centre of all food systems transformations.

The EAT-Lancet Commission is a group of scientists who developed a planetary health diet (PHD) to foster a global shift toward healthy eating and sustainable food systems. The concept of “planetary boundaries” describes limits to the impacts of human activities on the Earth system – limits beyond which the environment will not be able to self-regulate.

The nine boundaries are climate change, ocean acidification, stratospheric ozone depletion, biogeochemical flows in the nitrogen cycle, excess global freshwater use, land system change, the erosion of biosphere integrity, chemical pollution, and atmospheric aerosol loading.

India performed poorly in terms of nitrogen overloading and high levels of pesticide pollution, having moved away from the global requirement of having 50-60% of intact nature on land. This has resulted in a loss of ecological functioning on aspects ranging from pollination to organic carbon sequestration in the soils, the report stated. According to the report, less than 1% of the world’s population lives in a “safe and just space” where people’s rights and food needs are met within planetary boundaries.

Plant-rich diet

Food systems accounted for 30% of total greenhouse gases globally, and transforming these food systems could cut emissions by half. A key element of this transformation is a shift to the PHD, which emphasises a plant-rich diet, with almost 75% made up of fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, and whole grains. The rest includes moderate intakes of animal-source foods and limited added sugars, saturated fats, and salt. In India, however, dietary transformation is moving in the opposite direction, towards excessive consumption of ultra-processed foods, leading to an increase in obesity and anemia, and widening health inequalities that disproportionately affect the poor.

Noting that the wealthiest 30% of the people drive 70% of food-related environment impacts, the report called for embedding social justice in policy transformation, highlighting that agricultural policy should be judged not only on yield or efficiency but also on whether it delivers fair livelihoods, and trade policy should be assessed on how it affects producer welfare, while corporate accountability must include decent work and transparent supply chains.

The Commission highlighted the importance of everyone’s right to healthy food and called for making the PHD accessible and affordable using policy tools such as subsidies, taxes on unhealthy foods, and restrictions on marketing.

Published – November 05, 2025 06:04 am IST

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Fishing gear a major source of ‘microplastic’ contamination along Indian coasts

admin — Wed, 06 Aug 2025 15:35:00 +0000

The major sources of ‘microplastic’ pollution along India’s coasts are “riverine inputs” and abandoned, lost, and discarded fishing gear, Minister Jitendra Singh said in a written response to a query in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday (August 6, 2025).

Also Read | Study finds microplastics in Delhi’s groundwater

The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), through the National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR), conducted field surveys along India’s coastline between 2022 and 2025 to assess microplastic and marine debris levels. Assessment of microplastics in both water and sediment has been carried out along the east and west coasts of India. On the west coast, 19 transects were surveyed from Porbandar (Gujarat) to Kanyakumari (Tamil Nadu), while on the east coast, around 25 transects were sampled from Puri (Odisha) to Thoothukudi (Tamil Nadu). The findings indicated that the predominant sources of microplastic pollution are riverine inputs and abandoned, lost, and discarded fishing gear (ALDFG), he said in his response.

Microplastics are tiny plastic particles, typically ranging in size from 1 micrometre (µm) to 5 millimetres (mm). They can be either primary microplastics, manufactured at that size (like microbeads in cosmetics), or secondary microplastics, formed from the breakdown of larger plastic items. The major concern for microplastics is that they are being increasingly linked to tumours, as well as claimed to be poisonous to marine and aquatic life.

Also Read | IIT-Madras researchers find home use products cause microplastic pollution

Research groups are investigating the presence of microplastics in a wide range of products. India’s food regulator, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), commissioned a project last year to assess microplastic contamination in food products and develop methods for its detection amid growing concern about microplastic contamination in food. Environmental research organisation Toxics Link tested 10 types of salt that claimed to reveal the presence of microplastics in all salt and sugar samples, in various forms, including fibre, pellets, films and fragments.

Published – August 06, 2025 09:05 pm IST

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U.N. body that regulates ocean floor prepares for election amid debate over deep-sea mining

admin — Sat, 27 Jul 2024 11:47:41 +0000

Representational Photo
| Photo Credit: Reuters

A United Nations (UN) body that regulates deep international waters is preparing to elect its next leader, a crucial position as it faces pressure to either ban, approve or place a moratorium on seabed mining. The upcoming election comes as the Jamaica-based International Seabed Authority (ISA) ended a two-week session on July 26 without reaching a consensus on a regulatory framework for deep-sea mining.

The drawn-out debate raises concerns that the authority could receive an application later this year seeking the first deep-sea mining exploitation license without having rules or regulations in place. The Metals Company, a Canadian-based mining company, is largely expected to be the first to apply for such a license.

Mining exploration has been ongoing in the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone, which covers 1.7 million square miles (4.5 million square kilometers) between Hawaii and Mexico. It is occurring at depths ranging from 13,000 to 19,000 feet (4,000 to 6,000 meters).

Read Also:Explained | What is deep sea mining and what are the concerns related to the industry?

However, no exploitation licenses have been issued. That could soon change given that some companies and countries are eager to mine the seabed and meet a surging demand for precious metals including cobalt, nickel and copper that are used in green technology. Scientists have warned that minerals in the deep sea take millions of years to form, and that mining them could unleash noise, light and suffocating dust storms.

More than two dozen countries have called for a ban, pause or moratorium on deep-sea mining. Companies including BMW and Samsung SDI also have pledged not to use raw materials from deep-sea mining. However, proponents of deep-sea mining say it is cheaper and has less of an impact than land mining.

Olav Myklebust, the authority’s council president, told reporters Friday that there are still outstanding issues regarding a proposed regulatory framework, including inspection, compliance and enforcement and how best to determine payments related to exploitation.

He and secretary general Michael Lodge, who is seeking a third term, did not say if exploitation should start despite the absence of rules and regulations. “It’s the council and member states that decide these issues,” Mr. Lodge said.

He is seeking to lead the International Seabed Authority for another four years but faces a challenge from Leticia Carvalho, a Brazilian oceanographer and former oil-and-gas regulator. Mr. Lodge also has faced allegations of financial irregularities within the authority, which he has rejected.

The authority is scheduled to elect its next leader on August 2.

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UN body that regulates ocean floor prepares for election amid debate over deep-sea mining

admin — Sat, 27 Jul 2024 11:47:41 +0000

Representational Photo
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The authority is scheduled to elect its next leader on August 2.

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2023 on course to be warmest year on record | Data

admin — Thu, 12 Oct 2023 11:36:11 +0000

FILE PHOTO: Police officers use a hose in effort to extinguish wildfires in Ogan Ilir regency, South Sumatra province, Indonesia, September 20, 2023, in this photo taken by Antara Foto.
| Photo Credit: Antara Foto/Nova Wahyudi

As the world gears up for COP28, there is alarming data on the horizon. The year 2023 is on course to possibly becoming the warmest year in recorded history, with temperatures nearing 1.4°C above the pre-industrial era average.

In September 2023, global temperatures reached a record high. The average surface air temperature was 16.38°C, which is 0.93°C higher than the September average between 1991 and 2020. Moreover, it was 0.5°C warmer than the earlier record set in September 2020.

Chart 1 | The chart shows the globally averaged surface air temperature anomalies relative to 1991–2020 for each September from 1940 to 2023.

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The month of September 2023 was approximately 1.75°C above the average temperature of September during the 1850-1900 span, which is considered the pre-industrial benchmark.

From January to September 2023, the global surface air temperature was 0.52°C above the 1991-2020 average and 0.05°C higher than the same period in 2016, the warmest year. During this time frame in 2023, the world’s average temperature was 1.40°C higher than the baseline period of 1850-1900.

According to the Copernicus Climate Bulletin, in September 2023, the majority of Europe experienced temperatures significantly higher than the average from 1991 to 2020. A region stretching from France to Finland and extending to north-western Russia reported its hottest September ever. Notably, both Belgium and the U.K. faced unparalleled heatwave conditions at the start of the month.

Chart 2 | The chart shows the average global surface air temperatures for the 30 warmest months between 1940 and 2023, arranged in ascending order. The temperatures for June, July, August, and September of 2023 are highlighted.

The hottest-ever September of 2023 followed the warmest-ever two months on record — July and August 2023 — when the global mean temperature reached monthly records of 16.95°C and 16.82, respectively. The notable increase in these two months, especially compared to the July 2019 record of 16.63°C, is evident in Chart 2. Moreover, September 2023 is the sole September represented in this chart. The warmest September before 2023 recorded an average surface air temperature 15.88°C, which is not high enough to be included in chart 2.

Chart 3 | The chart shows the global daily surface air temperature (°C) from January 1, 1940 to September 30, 2023, plotted as a time series for each year. The line for 2023 is highlighted.

Other years are marked in grey. The thick black line represents the 1.5°C threshold above pre-industrial levels. For more than 80 days in 2023, the global temperature was at least 1.5° higher than pre-industrial levels. The year 2023 holds the record for the highest number of such days.

In a worrying update, the extent of sea ice has stayed at very low levels for this time of the year in the Antarctic region. Sea ice extent refers to the total area of an ocean where there is at least some sea ice present. Satellite records for September reveal that both daily and monthly extents have plummeted to their lowest annual peaks, with the monthly extent dropping 9% below the norm.

Chart 4 | The chart shows the daily Antarctic sea ice extent from 1979 to September 2023. The year 2023 is highlighted; the median for 1991–2020 is shown as a dotted line.

Meanwhile, the monthly average Arctic sea ice extent in September 2023 reached its annual minimum of 4.8 million km2, about 1.1 million km2 (or 18%) below the 1991-2020 average for September. This value is the fifth lowest in the satellite data record.

Source: European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service

Also read: In Frames | The heat is on

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