Climate and biodiversity targets require larger reductions in animal-sourced foods from current higher-income levels

There is increasing recognition that biodiversity loss and climate change must be addressed together through integrated land-use policies. Dietary change is a key strategy for doing so. Here, we model the impacts of three dietary scenarios on land use, greenhouse gas emissions, and biodiversity loss. We assess diets with moderate, low, and zero animal-sourced food (ASF) intake aligned with EAT-Lancet recommendations across high- and middle-income nations. Moderate ASF levels, corresponding to reductions across high-income nations but increases in lower-middle-income nations, result in a carbon storage loss of 74 PgC and additional potential species extinctions of 2%. Low and Zero ASF levels yield carbon opportunities of 11 PgC and 93 PgC and extinction risk reductions of 1% and 5%, respectively. We present a case for increased ambition for plant-rich diets in high-income countries, given that even moderate ASF intake diets would be sufficient to threaten climate and biodiversity targets.