Hello and good day to all of you.
We’re here to discuss the tobacco industry’s interference in tobacco control.
It’s one of the most important parts of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) and it’s covered by Article 5.3, which recognises this as a very serious threat to public health.
We should always remember that tobacco has some unusual characteristics; it is the only legal product that when used as recommended by its manufacturers kills up to half of its users.
Also, there is an industry behind it, that throughout the years has profited from disease and death, preying on young people to hook the new users that are vital for its survival.
And, this industry is extremely rich.
And like the super-rich everywhere, its money buys a lot of influence.
Today I want to talk about the effect of tobacco interference particularly in one area – the environment.
Sustainable development is impossible without environmental protection.
It’s one of the three pillars of sustainability.
But we don’t talk about it enough.
How does the tobacco industry harm the environment?
In many ways — it depletes soil, contributes to deforestation and desertification, and pollutes water, to name just a few.
And it leaves tobacco filters scattered across our environment.
They’re not biodegradable and they last for long periods.
And the litter is either left to clutter and poison, or it’s cleared up by the rest of us. The tobacco industry does not pay; instead, local people pay, using their taxes.
Research shows that up to 4.5 trillion butts are discarded improperly every year.
4.5 trillion cigarette butts! That’s 680,000 metric tonnes of plastic. This might be considered minor compared with the weight of other plastic waste, but this is not just plastic, it’s also toxic waste.
People think — Well, at least filters help people. They make smoking safer.
Right?
Wrong.
The tobacco industry introduced filters in the 1950s in a dishonest attempt to convince addicts that they represented a safety improvement, by stopping tar getting into the lungs.
Like so many other statements from the tobacco industry, this was dishonest.
Filters make no significant difference to smokers’ health. Or even worse, they help to make smokers going when they might have quit, smoking something that they think is safer.
And they do make a significant – and very negative – difference to our environment.
You might know that the tobacco industry has been an enthusiastic adopter of the so-called environmental, social and governance (ESG) agenda.
The ordinary person might think this gives the industry a chance to detail how it’s going to clean up its mess.
But this industry as you — the experts — all know, it is not very ethical.
ESG has allowed the industry to set its own targets and then to accept its own applause when it achieves them.
Or, as in the case of cigarette filters, blame the user for the problem and I quote: “By engaging with consumers through impactful awareness-raising campaigns, we believe we can drive behavioural change and encourage the correct disposal of cigarette butts, with the ultimate goal of reducing littering.” Words from PMI website.
And this brings us to its corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs.
It is very clear that tobacco CSR is simply an industry figleaf to conceal the damage the industry produces.
And to impersonate a good corporate citizen and so sneak into government discussions, where it works to sabotage work to limit its interests.
It is, we know, better described as corporate social irresponsibility and we have 4 trillion ways to prove this.
When related to the environment, this behaviour is known as greenwashing, but as any other form of CSR is an attempt to look good when your behaviour is bad.
So the question is, who can stop them?
You can.
By “you”, I mean civil society.
These groups of motivated citizens are central to the fight against tobacco.
They are the eyes and ears of this movement; they provide detailed local intelligence on what’s happening.
But they are also our voice – they speak out on what is happening in their country or region, and they work to make sure governments and parliaments know the issue, that the media is well-informed and that the alarm is raised when the tobacco industry is caught interfering with the policy-making process.
Article 5.3 is a powerful instrument. It states that Parties must protect public health policy “from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry”. And its guidelines for implementation add “and from those who work to further its interests”.
Governments can be forgetful or overwhelmed with problems. So, it’s sometimes useful to remind them of their obligations under the WHO FCTC. Remind them that this is not a choice — it’s a commitment they have chosen to make.
There’s plenty of room for further work among Parties to protect us from the tobacco industry, and to make it pay for the damage it does.
Thank you.