Coordinated pathways to a low-carbon, healthy, and equitable food system in China

Qi, Xinxian, Liu, Zemiao, Zhou, Yiqi, Zhong, Honglin, He, Pan ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1088-6290, Huang, Xianjin, Sun, Laixiang, Feng, Kuishuang, Yang, Hong, Thompson, Julian R., Di, Yanfeng, Zhong, Taiyang and Lyu, Xiao 2026. Coordinated pathways to a low-carbon, healthy, and equitable food system in China. Science Bulletin 10.1016/j.scib.2026.02.018

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Abstract

Tackling the ongoing challenges of food insecurity and nutritional deficiencies may complicate efforts to reduce carbon emissions within the food system, a critical component of meeting the climate target. Spatial disparities in food distribution further intensify existing inequalities. This study enhances a widely used regional integrated assessment model by incorporating a novel bottom-up lifecycle assessment framework for China’s food system at the provincial level. It evaluates trade-offs and explores synergies across strategies aimed at balancing healthy diets, low carbon emissions, and reduced inequalities through 2060. The results indicate that implementing single mitigation measures may increase food costs and exacerbate inequality without achieving the target carbon emission mitigation goal. However, a coordinated approach integrating actions across the supply chain, consumer demand, and land management transformation could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 41.7%, improve nutritional quality by 24.4%, and decrease inequality by 21.9% by 2060. This study highlights the need for a cross-sectoral and regionally coordinated food system framework to achieve the climate target, ensure adequate nutrition, and foster an affordable, equitable food system.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > Earth and Environmental Sciences
Publisher:	Elsevier BV
ISSN:	2095-9273
Date of Acceptance:	15 January 2026
Last Modified:	23 Feb 2026 12:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/185110

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