Publication details
Journal: Environmental Research Letters, vol. 21, 164007, August 19th 2026
Doi: doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ae9328
Arkiv: hdl.handle.net/11250/5561539
Archive: nva.sikt.no/registration/01a04783e54c-c3af96b7-373c-4214-a14b-1b531ddef3dc
Summary:
Urban consumption plays a central role in driving global carbon emissions and is associated with a wide range of environmental pressures, including deforestation, water use, and biodiversity loss. As cities and networks of cities work to define and achieve quantitative sustainability goals, the lack of insight into their unique food footprints, shaped by each city’s specific dietary patterns and demographic composition, remains a significant obstacle. Here we combine demographic, group-specific diet, and supply-chain environmental footprint data to estimate the dietary footprints in 12 228 urban centers across 159 countries. We show that diet-related greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) are highly concentrated in a small number of cities: The 200 urban centers with the largest footprints account for 39.8% of global urban population and 45.6% of total global urban dietary emissions. Overall, adoption of the EAT-Lancet 2.0 diet across all studied centers delivers a modest net reduction in total footprints (≈5%–16%). However, this aggregate outcome masks substantial variability: high-income centers achieve considerable reductions through lower meat and dairy consumption, while lower-income centers presently consuming below EAT-Lancet recommended levels experience footprint increases, partially offsetting global gains. Within transnational city networks (C40 Cities, Eurocities, and Milan Urban Food Policy Pact members), where member centers are predominantly high-income, EAT-Lancet 2.0 adoption delivers substantially larger reductions of 22%–50% in GHGE, underscoring the policy relevance of targeted urban-level dietary interventions. Complementary supply-side interventions, including decarbonization of agricultural production, processing, and distribution, offer additional reductions, indicating that dietary and supply-side levers must be deployed jointly. Our results highlight the need for context-specific urban dietary strategies. The resulting database, MATILDA-City, provides a globally harmonized evidence base to benchmark, rank, and monitor urban-level dietary footprints, supporting municipalities to coordinate actions toward sustainable food systems.