World No Tobacco Day - 31 May 2022

600,000,000

Trees chopped down to make cigarettes

84,000,000

Tons of CO2 Emissions released into the air raising global temperatures

22,000,000,000

Liters of water used to make cigarettes

 

 

The harmful impact of the tobacco industry on the environment is vast and growing adding unnecessary pressure to our planet’s already scarce resources and fragile ecosystems.

Tobacco kills over 8 million people every year and destroys our environment, further harming human health, through the cultivation, production, distribution, consumption, and post consumer waste.

 

 

 

World No Tobacco Day - Key messages

hands holding plant

Tobacco harms the environment
Tobacco growing, manufacturing and use poison our water, soil, beaches and city streets with chemicals, toxic waste, cigarette butts, including microplastics, and e-cigarette waste. Don’t fall for the tobacco industry’s attempt to try and distract from its environmental harms by greenwashing their products through donations to sustainability initiatives and reporting on environmental “standards” they often set themselves.

industrial buildings with smoke

Make the tobacco industry clean up their mess
The tobacco industry is making profit by destroying the environment and needs to be held accountable for the environmental destruction and made to pay for the waste and damages, including to recover the cost of collecting these wastes.

hands holding the planet

Quit tobacco to save our planet
Tobacco smoke contributes to higher air pollution levels and contains three kinds of greenhouse gases.

hands holding coffee beans

Help tobacco farmers switch to sustainable crops
Governments and policy makers should support tobacco farmers to switch to alternative, more sustainable livelihoods to reduce the environmental impact of tobacco growing, curing and manufacturing while continue to implement tobacco control measures.

CAMPAIGN CALLS TO ACTION

General Public

  1. Give tobacco users an extra reason to quit. Quitting tobacco benefits your health and the environment.
  2. Support policy action around ban on single use plastics which include cigarette butts, smokeless tobacco pouches and electronic waste
  3. Raise awareness of the tobacco industry’s greenwashing tactics
  4. Support governments on additional levies/taxes on industry to protect the environment

Youth and Future Generations

  1. Advocate for 100% tobacco free schools to protect children and youth from exposure to direct, second-hand and third-hand smoke
  2. Start or join a movement to protect the environment. Raise awareness about the environmental impact of tobacco and sensitize the public, in particular the youth
  3. Support the reduction of chemicals, including the carbon footprint to protect the younger generation for the ill effects of environmental tobacco waste
  4. Reduce the number of tobacco retail stores

Ministries and Policymakers

  1. Impose the EPR policy principle on the tobacco industry to hold them accountable for the cost of cleaning up TPW
  2. Impose an environmental tax levy on the tobacco manufacturers, distributors and the consumer, across the supply chain for carbon emissions, air pollution and other environmental costs.
  3. Implement tobacco control (MPOWER measures) to minimize the environmental impact of tobacco
  4. Support tobacco farmers to switch to alternative, sustainable livelihoods, in line with Art 17 and 18 of WHO FCTC
  5. Advise governments on how to leverage the COP of International Climate in Cairo in November 2022 to collaborate and advance the tobacco control agenda in line with World No Tobacco Day

NGOs and Civil Society

  1. Raise awareness of the environmental impact of tobacco across the life cycle from cultivation, production, distribution, use and waste
  2. Showcase the tobacco waste problem in public spaces and communities
  3. Raise awareness of the benefits of switching to different crops and how it is linked to tobacco control more broadly
  4. Advocate for national bans on single use plastics
  5. Expose tobacco industry tactics and efforts to “greenwash” its reputation and products by marketing themselves as environmentally friendly

Tobacco Farmers

  1. Switch to sustainable and environmentally friendly crops providing a greater return on investment in terms of health and wealth

Academia and Intergovernmental Organizations including UN Agencies and Development Banks

  1. Collect data on water use, deforestation, and the lethal and environmentally degrading chemicals in tobacco products and the environmental harm of these components on soil, drinking water, human and animal health
  2. Estimate the total impact of tobacco product waste as well as the total environmental impact of one tobacco product
  3. Raise awareness of projects in tobacco growing countries, for example in Kenya where hundreds of farmers successfully switched to alternative crops, as well as deforestation and climate change projects in East Africa
  4. Raise awareness of the linkages between environmental impact of tobacco and health outcomes, linking it to adverse development outcomes
  5. Remind stakeholders that accelerated implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) is an SDG 3A target

Click on the following button to learn more about the impact of tobacco on your environment

Q & A

World No Tobacco Day News

PUBLICATIONS

Quit tobacco today!


Why should you quit smoking and how can you do it? +


 

Smokers have a higher risk of getting coronavirus because they are constantly putting their hands to their lips.

And then, if they get coronavirus, they run a greater risk of getting a severe case because their lung function is impaired. 

Quit today to reduce these risks and start living a healthier life.

Quick tips to curb your cravings:  

  1. Delay: Delay as long as you can before giving in to your urge.
  2. Deep breathing: Take 10 deep breaths to relax yourself from within until the urge passes. 
  3. Drink water: Drinking water is a healthy alternative to sticking a cigarette in your mouth. 
  4. Do something else to distract yourself: Take a shower, read, go for a walk, listen to music!

There are many resources within your own community. Find out if your healthcare providers, Quit line Counsellors,  mCessation programmes are available to support you in your journey to quit.

 

Q&A Smoking and COVID-19

 


How to quit tobacco smoking? +


A guide for tobacco users to quit 

This self-help material was developed based on WHO Capacity Building Training Package 4 entitled “Strengthening health systems for treating tobacco dependence in primary care”. Its target audience are tobacco users. It aims to give advice and information to improve tobacco user’ readiness to quit and to help those who are ready to quit to plan a quit attempt. The content of this self-help material includes:

  • How to get ready to quit (for tobacco users not ready to quit);
  • How to plan and make quit attempts (for tobacco users ready to quit);
  • Local tobacco cessation support resources.

 

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