Prioritization exercise of research questions/themes for collaboration between BDN and Climate Action

There is increasing recognition that due to the inter-linked nature of planetary health and human health a systems approach is required (Harrison et al., 2024) to address cross-cutting research questions (Gupta et al. 2024; Rockström et al. 2025; Bezner Kerr et al. 2022; IPCC 2023; Ambikapathi and Mason-D’Croz 2024; Ambikapathi 2025; Bryan et al. 2024; 2023). Our food systems, the way we produce, process, transport, and consume food, have a clear impact on planetary health outcomes, which in turn, further exacerbates climate change. Similarly, there is concern that climate will affect the functioning of our food systems. These bi-directional relationships, i) that of our food system processes on the rate of planetary climate change, and ii) the influence a changing climate could have on our diets and food systems, are important research questions for the CGIAR, especially in LMIC countries where increasingly both facing consequences of climate change and increasingly contributing to climate change (Chancel et al. 2023). The 2025 EAT-Lancet commission report shows that food drives five planetary boundary transgressions, including land system change, biosphere integrity, freshwater change, biogeochemical flows, and approximately 30% of greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change (Rockström et al. 2025). Shifting diets toward the Planetary Health Diet (PHD), one that is rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, and whole grains, could lead to a 15% reduction in agricultural emissions, as well as declines in nitrogen and phosphorus use (Bui et al. 2024; Cacau et al. 2021). However, transforming food systems to meet planetary and human health goals will require a dramatic shift in what we choose to produce and consume. The EAT commission estimates there would need to be a 63% increase in the production of fruit, vegetables, and nuts, and a 33% decrease in ruminant meat and the products grown to sustain the animal feed industry (Rockström et al. 2025).