Parties at COP11 Make Important Progress, But Tobacco Industry Interferes to Sustain Profits at the Expense of Lives

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Governments participating in an international tobacco control summit in Geneva this week made important progress in advancing measures to save lives from the global tobacco epidemic. Parties gathered for the 11th Conference of the Parties (COP11) to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) adopted measures supporting Parties in holding the tobacco industry legally liable for the harms of tobacco use, and in implementing forward-looking policies to accelerate progress such as reducing the nicotine content in cigarettes and other products to minimally or non-addictive levels. 

Parties also adopted a decision recognizing the importance of mobilizing domestic resources to achieve sustainable funding for tobacco control programs and took significant steps to address the enormous environmental harm caused by tobacco and nicotine products, supporting a comprehensive and coordinated effort among countries to do so.

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids applauds the Parties at COP11 for this important progress. Unfortunately, even greater progress was delayed by tobacco industry interference in the deliberations. The global tobacco epidemic kills over 8 million people each year because the tobacco industry remains committed to protecting its profits by undermining global tobacco control efforts, targeting kids and keeping adults addicted.  

The agenda for COP11 included measures encouraging Parties to strongly regulate the full range of tobacco and nicotine products, including heated tobacco products, electronic cigarettes and nicotine pouches, and to step up programs to monitor the contents of these products and disclose them to the public. These approaches are founded upon scientific evidence and were supported by a vast majority of Parties at COP11. However, a small but vocal group of Parties echoed tobacco industry talking points, including those claiming that more recent tobacco products provide current smokers with a less harmful option.  

The truth is, tobacco companies are merely developing markets to boost their profits and addict new customers, including youth.  They have never been interested in protecting public health, and they are not interested now.  These latest efforts are a continuation of the industry’s long history of manipulating science and misleading the public about the health risks of their products.

The measures deferred in Geneva will next be taken up by Parties at COP12 in 2027, but Parties have an opportunity to move discussion and collaboration forward before then. We urge Parties supporting the evidence-based recommendations deferred from COP11 to waste no time in organizing to strengthen their policy positions, build consensus behind them, and strongly reject tobacco industry influence in their work.