When Johan Falk, CEO and Co-founder of the Exponential Roadmap Initiative, opened the plant-rich food panel at First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels, he put a single number on the table: up to 30 times. That is the difference in climate emissions between a plant-rich meal and beef, across the full value chain including methane, land use, and production. It is one of the largest levers available to the global economy, and it does not require a new technology. It requires a shift in what ends up on the plate.

The panel brought together a sustainability director from one of the world’s most recognised plant-based brands, the food policy director of New York, a government minister from Luxembourg, and the head of a foundation that has already educated 400,000 children about sustainable food. Together they mapped the path from a niche dietary choice to a mainstream default.

Making Plant-Based the Easy Choice

Caroline Reid, Senior Sustainability Director at Oatly, described how the company has qualified as a climate solutions company under ERI assessment criteria, meaning that more than 90% of Oatly’s revenue comes from products that have at least 50% less climate impact than conventional dairy. That qualification matters because it gives credibility to Oatly’s role as a core part of the ecosystem building a food system within planetary boundaries. But much of the important work Oatly does lies in influencing the culture of food, not just delivering a range of product options.

Reid said:

“We have a product that fits into existing habits. We need to normalise plant-rich diets. They shouldn’t be seen as niche or woke. We want to really use a fun and playful way of engaging with consumers, but being grounded in science, both for health and climate science. We really want to show up everywhere from schools to workplaces, from cafes to trains. And so being where people are, being part of the food environment and making it easy, accessible and delicious to choose Oatly is really what we are doing to try and change that cultural shift.”

The argument is not about persuading people to care about the climate. It is about removing the friction between caring and acting.

Institutions as Market Makers

Kate MacKenzie, Executive Director of the Mayor of New York City’s Office of Food Policy, brought the most concrete proof of institutional scale. New York City’s agencies serve more than 220 million snacks and meals every year across schools, corrections facilities, and city offices. The food standards governing those meals require two plant-based options per meal type per week. That purchasing power, MacKenzie argued, is the city’s strategic advantage in reshaping the national food market and influencing what products companies innovate and offer.

MacKenzie also echoed what Reid had argued: plant-based food cannot compromise on taste, health, or cultural relevance. NYC’s approach combines blended products with intensive culinary training to ensure that sustainable meals are also appealing ones.

She also made a point of highlighting philanthropy as an important stakeholder in the transition, providing the funding for experimentation and testing different approaches in spaces where governments need to move more carefully.

Policy That Prices in the True Cost

Thomas Schoos, Director-General for International, European and Internal Affairs at Luxembourg’s Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Biodiversity, pointed to the EU deforestation law as a potential structural turning point. By forcing the externalities of meat production, including the costs of deforestation, into the price that farmers pay, the law makes high-emission food more expensive without requiring a direct consumer mandate. The market does the rest.

Schoos also pointed to schools as the most powerful cultural lever available to governments. When children eat sustainable meals in school canteens, they bring those habits home. The demand signal travels from the institution to the family, not the other way around.

Educating the Next Generation of Cooks

Cosimo Scarano, Head of the Electrolux Food Foundation, described a decade of work at the intersection of food, education, and culture. Operating across more than 100 countries, the Foundation has educated more than 400,000 children and is targeting one million by 2030. It also trains the next generation of chefs and culinary professionals, on the premise that the people who shape the food supply need to understand the system they are working within before they can change it, and that raising awareness across society requires reaching cooks, consumers, and young people alike.

Scarano said:

“If you take food systems as a whole, they account for almost a third of the global greenhouse gas emissions. And most of this is connected to the use of fossil fuels. So when we help people shift towards more sustainable diets, we are also making food systems polluting less, using less fossil fuels, and being less energy intensive.”