‘Manage and mitigate punitive regulatory measures, enhance the corporate image, influence public policy’: industry efforts to shape understanding of tobacco-attributable deforestation
| Autor: | Thomas E. Novotny, Natalia Carrillo Botero, Kelley Lee |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Předmět: |
Economic growth
Conservation of Natural Resources Public policy Public Policy Tobacco Industry Tobacco industry 12. Responsible consumption Leaf farming 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine Public Relations Deforestation Development economics Economics Humans 030212 general & internal medicine Corporate social responsibility Social policy Professional Corporations Social Responsibility Policy influence 030505 public health business.industry Research Health Policy Public Health Environmental and Occupational Health Agriculture 15. Life on land Cultivation of tobacco 0305 other medical science business Social responsibility |
| Zdroj: | Globalization and Health |
| ISSN: | 1744-8603 |
| DOI: | 10.1186/s12992-016-0192-6 |
| Popis: | Background Deforestation due to tobacco farming began to raise concerns in the mid 1970s. Over the next 40 years, tobacco growing increased significantly and shifted markedly to low- and middle-income countries. The percentage of deforestation caused by tobacco farming reached 4 % globally by the early 2000s, although substantially higher in countries such as China (18 %), Zimbabwe (20 %), Malawi (26 %) and Bangladesh (>30 %). Transnational tobacco companies (TTCs) have argued that tobacco-attributable deforestation is not a serious problem, and that the industry has addressed the issue through corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Methods After reviewing the existing scholarly literature on tobacco and deforestation, we analysed industry sources of public information to understand how the industry framed deforestation, its key causes, and policy responses. To analyse industry strategies between the 1970s and early 2000s to shape understanding of deforestation caused by tobacco farming and curing, the Truth Tobacco Documents Library was systematically searched. The above sources were compiled and triangulated, thematically and chronologically, to derive a narrative of how the industry has framed the problem of, and solutions to, tobacco-attributable deforestation. Results The industry sought to undermine responses to tobacco-attributable deforestation by emphasising the economic benefits of production in LMICs, blaming alternative causes, and claiming successful forestation efforts. To support these tactics, the industry lobbied at the national and international levels, commissioned research, and colluded through front groups. There was a lack of effective action to address tobacco-attributable deforestation, and indeed an escalation of the problem, during this period. Conclusions The findings suggest the need for independent data on the varied environmental impacts of the tobacco industry, awareness of how the industry seeks to work with environmental researchers and groups to further its interests, and increased scrutiny of tobacco industry efforts to influence environmental policy. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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