For years, the great names of finance turned a blind eye to the damage caused by tobacco, lured by the profits it offered. But times are changing.
World No Tobacco Day is approaching, and this year too it will remind citizens around the world just how serious, far-reaching and indelible the damage caused by smoking is. On the financial front as well, the coming months could prove far from easy for the tobacco giants.
The tobacco giants have already had to say goodbye to 4 billion dollars in investments last year. Credit goes (among others) to Axa, the French pension fund FRR, the Bank of New Zealand, and Irish and Swedish pension funds, all of which withdrew their capital. So says the Financial Times, citing data provided by Tobacco Free Portfolios, a non-governmental organisation working to rid investment portfolios of tobacco. Reaching that goal, however, is far from straightforward. Historically, tobacco has been among the very first sectors abandoned by responsible investors. Yet it is also true that, faced with still-enticing profit margins, many others have proved reluctant to give up their tobacco investments entirely. Fortunately, it seems that, slowly and with great effort, times are changing.
A joint statement, international in scope, to support "global action against the tobacco epidemic and its significant costs for society and development". According to early reports from the Financial Times, the parties working on this are the French insurance giant Axa, the Californian pension fund Calpers, the French reinsurance company Scor and the Australian investment firm Amp Capitals. These four prominent names in global finance, which already manage billions of dollars between them, have all withdrawn their capital from the tobacco industry, or will do so in the near future. And in recent weeks, according to the London-based financial newspaper, they have been gathering the support of other investors, ahead of officially publishing the statement on World No Tobacco Day on 31 May. It is a clear communications move, intended to encourage the financial sector and governments to join forces towards a common goal.
In 2003, the WHO (World Health Organization) chose 31 May as the date on which to mark World No Tobacco Day. The aim is to raise awareness of the risks of smoking, which to this day is linked to approximately six million deaths per year worldwide. The theme chosen for 2017 is "Tobacco – a threat to development", and seeks to highlight the fact that tobacco is a concrete threat to the sustainable development of nations and to the wellbeing of their citizens, both on the health front and on the economic front. Among other things, the WHO calls on governments to introduce specific measures to counter the political interference of the tobacco giants, as well as national strategies to curb the spread of smoking.
