Environmental impact of the new DGE dietary recommendations

Since the beginning of 2024, corsus has been working on the ModErn project (Modelling the ecological effects of the revised DGE dietary recommendations) on behalf of the Federal Environment Agency (UBA, funding code: 3723 36 101 0; duration: February 2024 to February 2026).
The main objective of the study is to quantify the diet-related environmental impacts of the updated DGE recommendations in the environmental impact categories that are central to the assessment of food. In addition, five different scenarios are developed in order to identify the potential environmental benefits and risks of the updated DGE recommendations. Furthermore, an assessment is made with regard to compliance with the planetary boundaries.

The methodological basis of the study is the international standard for life cycle assessments, ISO 14040/44 (2006). The starting point for analysing the impact of the DGE recommendations on the environment through nutrition in Germany is the food basket consumed annually by a person in Germany. This shopping basket is made up of the various foods consumed in a year and includes all foods consumed and discarded. Based on the food contained in the shopping basket, the material flows are traced back to their origin and agricultural production. This research project looks at climate change, land use, the water cycle, phosphorus and nitrogen flows, energy consumption and biodiversity.
The project is supported by experts from the UBA, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) and the DGE. In addition, at least two expert meetings will be held as part of the project to discuss the scenarios and possible approaches to making nutrition more ecological.

An initial, preliminary assessment of the environmental impact of the new dietary recommendations was published in mid-June. The results of the initial assessment show that the new dietary recommendations, if implemented, would be significantly better than the current status quo in terms of land use, greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity. However, the impact on the scarcity-weighted water footprint would increase significantly. The factsheet “Sustainable nutrition in practice: Ensuring planetary health with the new DGE recommendations” from the Federal Environment Agency, which presents the results of the first, preliminary assessment in more detail, can be found here (in German) .