“The tobacco industry is infrequent because it is dangerous for our health, our environment and our democracy”

NWe are talking about an industry that sells a product that endangers the health of its customers and kills half of its regular consumers. We are talking about the tobacco industry, whose cost to our health system, estimated at 26 billion per year, is much higher than the tax revenue generated by the sale of tobacco, which is only 16 billion euros. We are talking about a product sold by tobacconists, two thirds of which do not respect the law prohibiting the sale of cigarettes to minors.

We are talking about an industry whose social and environmental toll is catastrophic: child labor in tobacco fields, deforestation – according to the World Health Organization (WHO), you have to cut down a tree to produce 300 cigarettes –, monoculture leading to the use of pesticides and fertilizers, very high water consumption since it takes more than 3 liters of water to produce a cigarette, production of CO₂ corresponding, each year, to 3 million transatlantic flights.

Relations troubles

We are talking about an industry whose manipulation techniques, attempts at corruption and involvement in illicit trade have been demonstrated time and time again, having led to a specific treaty: the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, whose preamble states “the need to be vigilant against potential efforts by the tobacco industry to undermine or misrepresent tobacco control efforts”.

The tobacco industry is therefore not an industry like any other. And yet, in recent months, several worrying signals have emerged showing that the tobacco industry is winning the fight against the general interest.

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The tobacco industry is responsible for 5% of annual global deforestation. However, the recent decision taken by the European Union (EU) to ban the import into Europe of products from deforested land after December 2020 concerns beef, cocoa, coffee, palm oil and soy. , but not tobacco.

The tobacco industry generates 84 megatons of CO₂, equivalent to 20% of annual emissions from commercial flights. But it is spared by the future European carbon border tax mechanism which will be put in place to align the carbon price paid for imported goods with that of EU products. Imports of steel, aluminum, cement, fertilizer, electricity, hydrogen will be subject to this carbon tax. Not tobacco!

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