Growing disengagement of economic players in tobacco in France

A growing number of investors are now deciding to divest from tobacco[1]. The latest ones, Crédit Agricole SA, and its subsidiaries Amundi Asset Management and CNP Assurances, the leader in life insurance in France.These financial institutions make a double observation: tobacco is the cause of 75,000 premature deaths each year in France and internationally, the WHO counts 8 million deaths per year attributable to smoking. As part of their socially responsible business policy, they consider that they cannot therefore support the tobacco industry through their investments. Furthermore, these financial institutions make the observation of other economic agents, namely: tobacco induces a major cost for the community and in particular for businesses. The loss of production is estimated at nearly 9 billion Euros per year[2]. This decision is part of the implementation of the WHO treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which calls for the mobilization of all of civil society to reduce tobacco consumption. Today, smoking is seen as a real industrial epidemic and the interests of tobacco manufacturers are considered irreconcilable with those of public health. In this perspective, France, alongside more than 180 countries in the world, is engaged in an overall strategy that also involves the withdrawal of funds from the tobacco sector. [3].This evolution of the economic world reinforces the denormalization of tobacco consumption and contributes to reducing the influence of its industry.Launched in Australia, the movement of long Tobacco Free Portfolios on the initiative of cancer specialist Dr Bronwyn King, has already led, to date, around a hundred financial institutions to commit to the Tobacco Free Finance Pledge (banks, pension funds, insurance companies, etc.). In order to accelerate this movement, Alliance Against Tobacco (ACT) has just signed a partnership with the Australian NGO, as part of its DETAF project[4] (Denormalization of Tobacco in France). For Dr. Bronwyn King, "The partnership that we have just signed with the Alliance against Tobacco will help accelerate the movement to disengage from financing the tobacco industry in France, strengthen collaboration between the financial sector and the health world and send a clear message to the French: tobacco is not a "normal" product.©Tobacco Free Generation

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[1] https://cnct.fr/communiques/axa-desengage-investissement-tabac/[2] The social cost of drugs in France, Pierre Kopp, OFDT, December 2015, ISBN: 979-10-92728-09-5, https://www.ofdt.fr/BDD/publications/docs/epfxpkvc.pdf[3] Guidelines for the implementation of Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control on protecting public health policies on tobacco control from commercial and other interests of the tobacco industry https://www.who.int/fctc/treaty_instruments/article_5_3_fr.pdf[4] DETAF is a three-year project financed by the fund to combat addictions and managed by the Alliance against tobacco in collaboration with 6 of its members and 2 international partners.©National Committee Against Smoking |