WHO Raises Alarm on Tabacco Industry Impact on Environment

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WHO Raises Alarm on Tabacco Industry Impact on Environment
31 May 2022
min read

News Synopsis

The World Health Organization (WHO) has released new information on how tobacco harms both the environment and human health, taking steps to make the industry more responsible for the destruction caused by tobacco. 

The tobacco industry consumes more than 8 million lives worldwide, 600 million trees, 200,000 hectares of land, 22 billion tonnes of water, and 84 million tonnes of CO2 each year.

Most tobacco is grown in low-and middle-income countries, and water and farmland are often heavily needed to produce food in the region. Instead, more and more land is logged from the forest and is used to grow deadly tobacco crops.

Products such as cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, and e-cigarettes also contribute to the increase in plastic pollution. Tobacco filters contain microplastics, the second-highest form of plastic pollution in the world.

Countries such as France and Spain, and cities such as San Francisco, and California in the United States are taking a stand. Following the Polluter Pays Principle, they successfully implemented the extended Producer Responsibility legislation. This gives the tobacco industry the responsibility to clean up the pollution it causes.

WHO provides countries and cities with support services to help tobacco farmers switch to sustainable crops, introduce strict tobacco taxes (which may also include ecotaxes), and help people quit smoking.

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