WHO: World No Tobacco Day to focus on environment

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Monday, December 13, that its campaign for World No Tobacco Day will focus on the theme: "Tobacco: a threat to our environment."

This campaign will aim on the one hand to provide smokers with an additional reason to stop smoking, but also to report on the strategies implemented by the tobacco industry to "green" its image, its reputation, and its products, by seeking to present itself as a responsible player concerned about the environment and sustainable development.[1].

The Decisive Impact of the Tobacco Industry

As the WHO points out, the tobacco industry contributes significantly to global warming, with an annual emission of 84 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, the equivalent of a country like Peru or Israel. Similarly, tobacco growing causes massive deforestation, concentrated in developing countries, leading to both flooding and reduced access to drinking water. The tobacco industry also uses large quantities of pesticides and chemicals for tobacco growing, thereby permanently polluting soils and groundwater. For Dr Ruediger Krech, Director of Health Promotion at the WHO, "the environmental impacts of tobacco consumption add unnecessary pressure on our planet's already scarce resources and fragile ecosystems."

The environment, a communication lever to improve the image of manufacturers

While the impact of the tobacco industry's activity is in conflict with at least 12 of the 17 sustainable development goals established by the WHO, manufacturers tend to focus their communication on their social responsibility, and in particular their environmental responsibility. This strategy involves in particular the financing of projects and organizations within the framework of so-called corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. These practices are aimed in particular at giving credibility to the deteriorated image of tobacco manufacturers in the eyes of public decision-makers, and at establishing a partnership relationship with public authorities. However, the tobacco industry and CSR are hardly compatible: the UN Global Compact (UNGC) recognizes "a conflict of interest between [tobacco industry products] and human rights, the right to public health, international security and peace. The strategy to reduce the prevalence of tobacco use is part of a much broader objective than simply guaranteeing the right to health, and aims to contribute to the fight against global warming, to the preservation of the environment and living things, and to enable sustainable economic growth, respectful of different social needs.

Keywords: WHO, CSR, JMST

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[1] World Health Organization, Protect the environment, World No Tobacco Day 2022 will give you one more reason to quit, 13/12/2021, (accessed 14/12/2021)

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