We were commissioned, alongside CE Delft, by the City of Amsterdam via the NetZeroCities – EU Mission Platform for 100 Climate Neutral Cities by 2030, to assess which (additional) policy options could effectively reduce emissions from food consumption and advance the protein transition in Amsterdam.
Countries across Europe, including Germany, Denmark, Czechia, Estonia, Ireland, and Luxembourg, are advocating for broader diversification of protein sources due to the potential environmental benefits of plant-based proteins.
Amsterdam is taking bold action as part of its net zero commitments and has identified animal protein consumption as the leading contributor to the city’s scope 3 emissions. In response, the city has prioritised the ‘protein transition’ – a shift in diets from animal-based proteins towards primarily plant-based proteins – as a key lever to cut emissions and advance animal welfare. The city aims to increase protein consumption to 60% plant-based by 2030, up from 42% in 2024.
To accelerate this work, its Food Strategy Implementation Agenda focuses on municipal procurement, supporting institutions to shift towards plant-based options, public awareness campaigns, and advocacy for stronger national targets.
Focusing on the protein transition, our research aimed to:
- Facilitate an evidence-based approach to reducing scope 3 emissions in Amsterdam’s food system by accelerating the shift towards plant-based diets.
- Create an evidence review that can serve as the basis for a policy innovation trajectory that explores and prioritises relevant and realistic policy interventions.
- Provide actionable recommendations for next steps to accelerate the protein transition in Amsterdam.
We identified, 75 possible policy measures the City of Amsterdam could implement to accelerate the protein transition. We then refined this list through an assessment of potential climate mitigation impact, implementation cost, and the likelihood of influencing behaviour, before carrying out a deeper dive on four policy themes that are most promising in accelerating the city’s protein transition, including:
- The retail sector
- Sustainable and healthy food in educational institutions and sports settings
- Opportunities within the Metropolitan Region of Amsterdam, and
- The positioning of Amsterdam as a plant-based capital
Procurement is a powerful tool that is not on this list because Amsterdam already focuses on this.
The report goes on to offer a set of recommendations for Amsterdam across these policy themes for different audiences including: retail, government, consumers, farmers.
While this work was conducted specifically for Amsterdam, the findings will be of potential interest to any jurisdiction (municipal, regional, or national) considering options for healthy and sustainable food strategies.
This project has received funding from the H2020 Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreement no101036519.
