Protein transition in Amsterdam: Policy levers for a sustainable diet

The City of Amsterdam, through the ‘NetZeroCities EU Mission Platform for 100 Climate Neutral Cities by 2030’, commissioned CE Delft and Eunomia Research & Consulting to investigate which policy options could be effective in reducing emissions from food consumption and advancing the protein transition.

The City of Amsterdam aims to increase protein consumption to 60% plant-based by 2030, up from 42% in 2024. With this target, Amsterdam seeks to reduce its Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions as part of its ambition to become climate neutral.

The result is a municipal protein transition policy menu to achieve this goal. Through literature review and expert interviews, we explored examples from around the world and elaborated on those most suitable for Amsterdam. The report includes, among other things, a longlist of 75 policy options. The longlist was shortlisted and categorised through an assessment of potential climate mitigation impact; implementation cost; and likelihood of influencing behaviour or action, as well as through client workshops.

We selected four policy themes with high potential to reduce emissions and change consumer behaviour for in-depth analysis. These themes focused on different target groups, built on the city’s existing strengths (notably, approaches to public procurement), and helped address policy gaps where action is currently lacking.

The themes, and one example per theme, are:

• Engage retail: By making agreements with local retailers to achieve their self-defined target of a 60 to 40 protein ratio by 2030.
• Increase sustainable and healthy food offerings within educational institutions and sports settings: In addition to education, this target group can be specifically supported in making the healthy and sustainable choice the easy choice, for example through restrictions on unhealthy food near schools and sports facilities via permitting policies for food outlets.
• Connect with the surrounding region: For example through long-term contracts with farmers in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area who are transitioning towards more sustainable farming practices, making this shift financially viable.
• Strengthen the image of Amsterdam as Plant-Based Capital: Through high-profile and impactful measures such as sustainability requirements for animal feed transported via the port.

Besides this, we recommend Amsterdam to continue to leverage the power of sustainable public procurement: Amsterdam can use its extensive experience in sustainable procurement to effectively support semi-public institutions and the covenant ‘Together we eat Amsterdam healthy, sustainable and fair’.

Decision makers will use this report as they implement the city’s food strategy. The findings will also be of potential interest to any jurisdiction (municipal, regional, or national) considering options for healthy and sustainable food strategies.

The report can be downloaded on this page. The longlist is available at CE Delft upon request.

This project has received funding from the H2020 Research and Innovation Programma under grant agreement no. 101036519.