The Secretariat of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) is proud to be part of the World No Tobacco Day campaign this year which focuses attention on the environmental damage caused by the tobacco industry and its products and calling for steps to make the industry more accountable for the destruction it is causing.
As part of this year’s campaign, the Secretariat of the WHO FCTC has also partnered with UNEP on their Clean Seas Campaign (which brings together 63 countries devoted to ending marine plastic pollution) to raise awareness on the environmental and human health impacts of microplastics in cigarette filters as well as co-organized technical webinars with WHO and partners. The Secretariat of the WHO FCTC has also developed an advocacy video and social media assets as part of the broader World No Tobacco Day campaign.
The environmental issue of tobacco
Every year, besides the 8 million human lives lost to tobacco use, 200,000 hectares of forests are flattened to grow and cure tobacco leaves which is equivalent to 600 million trees lost. For every 15 boxes of cigarettes sold, one tree is chopped down.
Cigarette production also contributes towards global warming – with almost 84 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions annually. This is nearly as much as some countries’ entire annual emissions. Cigarette production also causes 22 billion tons of water depletion which is equivalent to more than 2.5 times the annual water supply to the entire population of the United Kingdom.
The tobacco industry produces six trillion cigarettes per year that are consumed by one billion smokers worldwide. These cigarettes contain filters mainly composed of microplastics known as cellulose acetate fibres. Despite tobacco industry claims, there is no evidence that filters protect smokers from the harms of tobacco.
Cigarette butts are the most discarded waste item worldwide, accounting for approximately 766.6 million kilograms of toxic trash each year. They are also the most common plastic litter on beaches, making marine ecosystems more susceptible to microplastic leakages from cigarette filters. When ingested, the hazardous chemicals in microplastics cause long-term mortality in marine life, including birds, fish, mammals, plants and reptiles.
The tobacco industry invests heavily in corporate “greenwashing” initiatives as a cover for its activities, for example funding tobacco product waste clean-up programmes and reporting on environmental standards often set by the companies themselves.
Some countries have adopted the Polluter Pays principle and implemented “extended producer responsibility legislation” which makes the tobacco industry responsible for clearing up the pollution it creates.
In line with Articles 17 and 18 of the Convention on the Provision of Viable Alternative Activities and Protection of the Environment and its Policy Guidelines, the Secretariat of the WHO FCTC is calling on governments to better regulate tobacco agriculture and to help tobacco farmers worldwide switch to environmentally friendly alternative crop production.
Other measures that countries could implement are strong tobacco taxes (that could include an environmental tax) and to offer support services to help people quit tobacco.