Citation: Kioumarsi, H., Novogratz, E., & Brown, F. (2025). Impact of Plant-Based Diets on Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Environmental Sustainability. https://communities.springernature.com/manage/posts/294691

Climate change, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Environmental Sustainability are very important and multidisciplinary concepts which interlinked with many aspects of human life including human nutrition and lifestyle. Plant-based diets are currently an important approach to minimizing greenhouse gas emissions and facilitating world environmental sustainability. Livestock farming is one of the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases like methane, nitrous oxide, and carbon dioxide from animal digestion, manure, feed production, and land use change like deforestation which would result in the loss of natural habitats and carbon sinks. Plant-based diets like vegetarian and vegan diets decrease emissions significantly by decreasing the need for resource-intensive animal agriculture that consumes large areas of land, water, and energy. Research suggests that plant food diets can cut greenhouse gas emissions from food by a third to half compared to meat-based diets. Some research suggests that meat diets can emit two or three times the amount of emissions of plant food-based diets. Methane from animals is a major source of warming from agriculture, so converting to plant foods can cut methane emissions quickly and substantially. Also, the production of animal feed crops relies on synthetic fertilizers and energy, producing nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide which could significantly harms the environment and degrade soil quality. Aside from reducing emissions, plant-based diets also maintain biodiversity by limiting pressure to deforest to produce animal feed and reduce toxic chemicals in ecosystems introduced through agricultural fertilizers, pesticides and microplastics. Sustainable plant cultivation enhances soil health, conserves water, and reinforces ecosystems, all contributing to the health of the planet as a whole. Some plants, like legumes, have the natural ability to fix nitrogen in the soil, reducing the need for artificial fertilizers even more. Plant-based diets, in general, require less water and energy use and aid in forest and natural habitat protection, all of which benefit the cause against climate change and the establishment of sustainable food systems. In summary, there is sufficient evidence on plant-based diets as a vital solution to realizing international climate goals without compromising natural resources and biodiversity. Notwithstanding some challenges like sustaining sufficient nutrition and access to food, the environmental and health advantages of plant-based diets make it an inevitable aspect of sustainable development. Subsequent research ought to strive to break social and economic barriers and scale up plant-based food systems to reap maximum benefits for human and planetary health.

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Kioumarsi, H., Ali Doust, M., & Allen, S. C. (2022). Sustainable development. Avaye Ostad—ISBN: 978-622-94990-2-3.

Rosen, A. R., Kioumarsi, H., & Gholipour Fereidouni, H. (2025). Climate action and net-zero emissions. European Journal of Sustainable Development Research, 9(4), em0334. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejosdr/16864

Scarborough, P., Clark, M., Cobiac, L., Papier, K., Knuppel, A., Lynch, J., Harrington, R., Key, T., & Springmann, M. (2023). Vegans, vegetarians, fish-eaters and meat-eaters in the UK show discrepant environmental impacts. Nature food, 4(7), 565–574.

Viroli, G., Kalmpourtzidou, A., & Cena, H. (2023). Exploring Benefits and Barriers of Plant-Based Diets: Health, Environmental Impact, Food Accessibility and Acceptability. Nutrients, 15(22), 4723. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15224723