India, Oct. 6 -- Food systems account for a third of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions due to human activity. Within this, 70% is attributable to the food habits of the wealthiest 30%, a new study by EAT-Lancet Commission has found. This shouldn't surprise - skewed consumption is a leitmotif in the apportioning of responsibility for emissions. Given that food systems are the biggest contributor to the breach of five of the nine planetary boundaries - the limit in critical areas within which humanity can exist and thrive without impacting the planet drastically - and that business-as-usual here will keep us off the below-1.5 degree-path even with complete global energy transition, the need for urgent action is clear. The wealthiest certainly must shoulder the bulk of the responsibility. That said, it is clear from the EAT-Lancet Commission report that food systems must be re-imagines for everybody. The share of the world's population that is in the "safe and just space" - where people's rights and food needs are met within planetary boundaries - is below 1%. The report makes a few broad prescriptions: Promoting traditional diets, which emphasise local procurement; making healthier food affordable; reducing food wastage, thereby causing production pressures to ease with commensurate gains for emission reduction; and halting conversion of intact ecosystems for agricultural use. A drastic 33% cut in global meat consumption and a 63% growth in the vegetable, fruit, and nuts sector is also called for. The challenge, of course, will be cultural and behavioural change - and, by extension, political. At a time of deepening rifts within and among nations, this would seem insurmountable. But leaders gathering next month in Belem, Brazil for COP30 must bear in mind that the clock is ticking for meaningful action....