10.15 The environmental impact of tobacco production

Last  updated: September 2021 

Suggested citation: MacKenzie, R., Freeman, B., & Winstanley, MH. 10.15 The environmental impact of tobacco production. In Greenhalgh, EM, Scollo, MM and Winstanley, MH [editors]. Tobacco in Australia: Facts and issues. Melbourne: Cancer Council Victoria; 2021. Available from :  http://www.tobaccoinaustralia.org.au/chapter-10-tobacco-industry/10-14-the-environmental-impact-of-tobacco-producti

 

In 2019, 6.7 million tonnes of tobacco leaf were grown in more than 120 countries.1 Almost two-thirds (63.7 %) of this was produced by three countries—China (40.2%), India (12.0%) and Brazil (11.5%).2  As with smoking prevalence, tobacco production has shifted from high-income countries—primarily in North America and Europe—to low and middle-income countries.  Between 1961 and 2019, the percentage of global production of tobacco leaf in Asia and Africa doubled, from 44.3% in 1961 to 88.4% in 2019;3  nine of the ten leading tobacco producers are developing countries, and four—India, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, and Malawi—are low-income food-deficit countries.4  

For many farmers, particularly in low and middle-income countries, tobacco is considered an important source of income.5, 6 A number of observers7-10 however, have described how industry control of tobacco growing and the leaf trade has resulted in cycles of indebtedness, particularly among farmers contracted directly by leading cigarette manufacturers.11, 12 An analysis of the situation in Zimbabwe, for example, described tobacco farmers as “largely victims, rather than beneficiaries, of the sector.”13 In many cases, short-term, unreliable income is offset by costs of fertilisers and pesticides, the risks associated with dangerous working conditions and illness experienced by farm workers, and the long-term negative consequences of child labour7, 14-17 (see Section 10.14).

While governments of tobacco growing countries benefit from rural employment and income from taxation, a range of tensions exist ‘between economic reliance on tobacco production and the negative impacts of such reliance on the economies of low and middle-income countries.’18, 19 These include the costs of treatment of farmers and families exposed to nicotine and chemical components of fertilisers, and pesticides, food insecurity, and environmental degradation.19, 20  

Further, the ostensible benefits of tobacco cultivation have been used by tobacco companies to influence domestic tobacco control policy, creating a favourable operating environment that features less regulation and lower production costs. The situation in Malawi, for example, has been described as an example of ‘state capture’; a situation in which firms operating in a country have significant capacity to shape and influence regulation and laws.21-23 In the twentieth-first century, the China National Tobacco Corporation has played an increasingly prominent role in the African tobacco growing sector,24  joining the traditional corporate actors Philip Morris International (PMI), British American Tobacco (BAT), Imperial Brands and Japan Tobacco International and maintaining the ‘hierarchal governance of an exploitive and harmful industry.’25

Since the late 1970s, concerns have been raised regarding the environmental impacts of tobacco growing.4, 7, 26-28 Tobacco leaf cultivation is labour-intensive, requires significant use of pesticides  and fertilisers, and extensive water supply.4  While some tobacco leaf is air or sun-dried, the majority of cultivated leaf, particularly in low and middle-income countries is flue-cured in barns using heat produced by burning wood, coal or gas. Manufacturing cigarettes from tobacco crops generates a further range of hazardous chemical by-products, including ammonia, nicotine hydrochloric acid and toluene. In high-income countries, appropriate disposal of these chemicals is strictly regulated; the same may not be true in developing countries where tobacco manufacturing is increasingly concentrated.26

10.15.1 Land clearing and deforestation

Tobacco cultivation and curing is a ‘proximate cause’ of deforestation due to associated land clearance, use of timber for wood fuel, and soil nutrient depletion.29 International concerns were first raised at the 1979 World Conference on Smoking and Health in Stockholm; subsequent research included a 199930 study which reported that flue-cured tobacco consumed the equivalent of 1.2–2.5 million hectares of open forests or woodlands annually for curing. The study concluded that tobacco’s impact on forest resources had reached ‘high’ or ‘serious’ levels (above the national mean average of 4.6%) in almost one-third of the sixty-six low or middle income countries in which tobacco is grown, including Uruguay, Bangladesh, Malawi, Jordan, Pakistan, Syria, China, Zimbabwe, Tunisia and Burundi. In contrast, the impact of tobacco farming on woodland in high-income regions such as North America was low, and a net increase in forest cover had been recorded.30

Subsequent findings suggest that 4% of annual global deforestation in the 2000s has been attributable to tobacco growing. The problem is particularly acute in low- and middle-income countries, and accounted for 18% of deforestation in China, 20% in Zimbabwe, 26% in Malawi, and close to 30% in Bangladesh.29

Industry response

The industry has downplayed the contribution of tobacco cultivation to deforestation, and claims careful management of sustainable leaf production. BAT for instance, states ‘[w]e do not own tobacco farms or directly employ farmers—but our approach to agriculture and working with farmers means that we have strong influence.’31

But growing concerns around the environmental impacts of leaf growing have led leading tobacco companies to issue reports and publicise programs that address these issues, generally as part of broader corporate social responsibility (CSR) agendas.24, 32-35 Analysis of industry initiatives, however, has demonstrated that they are primarily designed to deflect attention from environmental impacts of tobacco cultivation, and to influence public and policy-maker attitudes toward tobacco companies15, 24, 28, 36-39 (see Section 10.11).       

External verification of outcomes of these programs has not been made available, and an urgent need exists for independent monitoring of the scale of tobacco-related deforestation, effectiveness of response to the problem, and the tobacco industry strategies to influence public policy on the environment. Industry strategies to shape understanding of deforestation have focused on claims of economic benefits and responsible behaviour by industry toward consumers and communities, and have been promoted at national and international levels through use of front groups and paid consultants.29

The International Tobacco Growers’ Association (ITGA), which has been described as a tobacco industry front group,40  has taken a more robust approach. Created in 1984, it actively promotes industry agriculture initiatives and states that ‘sustainability of our farmers and their communities have been key in the core objectives of our association.’41 The association’s website also dismisses as ‘myths’ the mounting evidence that tobacco growing: has deleterious health impacts for farmers; increases poverty for tobacco farming families; and exacerbates food insecurity. It also denies that child labour is a particular problem and questions the existence of economically sustainable alternatives to tobacco farming.42

10.15.2 Pesticides

Commercial tobacco growing involves herbicides, fungicides and insecticides to maximise crop production. Consumer concerns about chemicals in tobacco production has prompted some global tobacco companies to provide broad plans regarding sustainable cultivation, but little in the way of detail on use of pesticides and fertilisers.43-45 BAT for instance, states that by 2020, ‘around 50% of our contracted farmers’ footprint had been successfully converted to natural bio-pesticides” and that the company was “aiming to increase this to 80% by 2023.’45

Despite such assurances, evidence retrieved from previously confidential internal tobacco industry documents indicates that the industry has fought to retain the rights to use certain pesticides and has sought to influence regulatory processes in some countries.46  Studies that have found that pesticides prohibited in Europe are still used in Cuba,47 and on use of pesticides in Kenya48 and Pakistan49 raise further concerns.   

Commercial tobacco growing ended in Australia in 2006.50 Prior to their ban in the mid-1980s, organochlorines such as dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and dieldrin were used in domestic tobacco cultivation;51 testing in 1981 found that Australian cigarettes contained 43 times more DDT and 30 times more dieldrin than samples of British or American-manufactured cigarettes.52 DDT and dieldrin residue was still evident in soil and river sediments from the tobacco-producing Ovens and King region in Victoria in 1989,53 and Philip Morris Australia was aware in 1994 that leaf it used still contained organochlorines from pesticides banned in the preceding decade.51 Cigarette manufacturers operating in Australia are not required to divulge levels of pesticide residue in their products,51, 54 and leaf used in cigarettes sold domestically is primarily sourced from low and middle-income countries, where use of agrichemicals is more common and less strictly regulated.7, 55

10.15.3 Genetically modified tobacco leaf 

Public concern about genetically modified (GM) agriculture has led tobacco companies to take a cautious approach to its use, or at least to publicising any involvement in related research. PMI states that in line with its Good Agricultural Practices principles, genetically modified (GM) tobacco is not acceptable to PMI: ‘We have solid programs in place to avoid any inadvertent introduction of GM tobacco into the products we commercialize’.56 Imperial Brands website notes that the company doesn’t ‘seek to use genetically modified tobacco, as we don’t believe our consumers wish to buy products that contain genetically modified materials’;57 while BAT asks ‘suppliers to submit a GM risk assessment and GM testing to monitor compliance to our standard for no usage of any GM organisms in tobacco crops.’45 The tobacco industry, however, has put considerable effort into altering the qualities of tobacco leaf and to improve disease resistance through genetic manipulation since the 1980s58 and in 1990, China became the first country to commercialise GM tobacco for virus resistance.59

Tobacco companies have also used genetic engineering to reduce nicotine content60, 61 as part of broader strategies to produce potentially less harmful cigarettes. Related efforts include mapping of the tobacco genome, and funding research into genetically modified tobacco leaf that produces fewer carcinogens.62, 63 Research has also been undertaken into raising nicotine levels, with the intention of increasing addictiveness;58, 64-66 the best-known example may be BAT’s ‘super-tobacco’—a genetically engineered plant variant that contained a much higher than usual amount of nicotine and was intended to make the company’s products more addictive.67

10.15.4 Tobacco production and climate change  

Climate change, the large-scale, long-term shift in the planet's weather patterns or average temperatures, is the result of increased greenhouse gas emissions, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, among others. These emissions have been increasing since the pre- industrial era, and are caused primarily by economic activity, and population growth.68 All phases of cigarette production, from leaf cultivation through cigarette manufacture to transportation, contribute to greenhouse gas emission.58 Assessments of production frequently use CO2-equivalent (CO2e) emissions, a metric measure that is used to compare greenhouse gas emissions on the basis of their global-warming potential; this is done by converting quantities of other gases to the corresponding amount of carbon dioxide with the same global warming potential.69

Most of the release of CO2e emissions occur during the agricultural production of tobacco leaf, however manufacturing pollution, distribution, and transport pollution contribute an estimated one-third of tobacco’s environmental impact due to CO2e pollution.70

A 2018 analysis using life cycle assessment reported that 32.4 megatonnes (Mt) [1 Mt = 1 million tonnes] of tobacco leaf was used to produce 6.48 Mt of dry tobacco that was used in the global manufacture of six trillion cigarettes in 2014. This process contributed some 84 Mt CO2e emissions to climate change, or 0.2% of the global total, as well as contributing to ecotoxicology levels, and water and fossil fuel depletion.4

Industry reporting

The tobacco industry has contributed to efforts to raise doubt around anthropogenic climate change among the public and policy-makers,26, 70-72 while publicly highlighting its commitment to a range of carbon reduction schemes. As with other environmental claims, deforestation and use of pesticides for example, industry promotion of carbon reduction targets and use of renewable energy sources are listed on corporate websites, but provide limited transparent detail or analysis.45, 73-75 Problems with voluntary reporting include shifting baselines supplied by companies that make accurate estimates difficult to calculate, and the reality that companies failing to meet their own targets may simply stop reporting them.70  Another tobacco industry tactic is to compare its environmental footprint with other industries. But pointing to lesser water consumption than the coffee or chocolate industries, as Philip Morris has done, is severely restricted in terms of ostensible benefits by the mortality and morbidity impacts of tobacco consumption.70

Given the industry’s record of using voluntary reporting to avoid regulation, and for ‘moving   from countries to avoid facing the consequences of their activities, including environmental harms’,70 it is worth noting that  BAT states that it will ‘meet all legal and regulatory requirements governing environmental management in the countries where we operate’.76 The company’s ESG Report 2020 lists operations in 180 markets, 45 cigarette factories, and purchase of 370,000 tonnes of tobacco leaf purchased from 84,000 contracted farmers.45 Meeting local standards allows the company considerable latitude in terms of climate change policy and represents a less robust commitment than establishing a company-wide best practice standard.

All four leading global tobacco companies highlight their participation in CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project) emissions database.  A UK-based not-for-profit organisation founded in 2000 by 35 institutional investors, CDP aims to transmit investor concerns about sustainability to companies, cities, states and other potential investment targets, while providing information to investors on climate change-associated performance.77 More than 5600 companies and 533 cities voluntarily provide relevant data to CPD.78

Despite its impressive database, analysis of the CDP has raised a number of questions about its effectiveness, particularly as corporations decide which, and how much, information they supply.79  PMI’s claim that  ‘CDP ratings provide companies with a credible, trusted benchmarking system for environmental information at the global level’80 is, for instance, disputed by Bowen who argues that the CDP  promotes climate change initiatives and credentials provided by firms ‘whether or not they affect their substantive environmental impacts’.81 Further, there are ‘no costs or carbon commitments’82 for the more than 800 signatory investors (representing some US$100 trillion in assets).78  

The range of industry voluntary reporting and corporate social responsibility sustainability initiatives remains unreliable in terms of accurately determining the environment footprint of its operations and stated efforts to become more sustainable.  A more meaningful process would involve transparent and independent assessment of the tobacco industry’s environmental impact across its operations and markets.

 

Relevant news and research

For recent news items and research on this topic, click  here. ( Last updated March 2023)

 

References 

1. Food and Agriculture Organization at the United Nations (FAOSTAT). Crops and livestock products. Tobacco, unmanufactured.  2021. Available from: http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QCL/visualize

2. Food and Agriculture Organization at the United Nations (FAOSTAT). Crops and livestock products. Tobacco, unmanufactured 2021. Available from: http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QCL/visualize

3. Food and Agriculture Organization at the United Nations (FAOSTAT). Crops and livestock products. Tobacco, unmanufactured 2021. Available from: http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QCL/visualize

4. Zafeiridou M, Hopkinson NS, and Voulvoulis N. Cigarette Smoking: An Assessment of Tobacco's Global Environmental Footprint Across Its Entire Supply Chain. Environ Sci Technol, 2018; 52(15):8087–94. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29968460

5. Appau A, Drope J, Goma F, Magati P, Labonte R, et al. Explaining Why Farmers Grow Tobacco: Evidence From Malawi, Kenya, and Zambia. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 2020; 22(12):2238–45. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31608412

6. Appau A, Drope J, Witoelar F, Chavez JJ, and Lencucha R. Why Do Farmers Grow Tobacco? A Qualitative Exploration of Farmers Perspectives in Indonesia and Philippines. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2019; 16(13). Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31269640

7. Lecours N, Almeida GE, Abdallah JM, and Novotny TE. Environmental health impacts of tobacco farming: a review of the literature. Tobacco Control, 2012; 21(2):191–6. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22345244

8. World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Conference of the Parties. Economically sustainable alternatives to tobacco growing (in relation to Articles 17 and 18 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control). Report by the working group. Provisional agenda item 5.5 (FCTC/COP/4/9  for Uruguay 15-22 November 2010)15 August Geneva: World Health Organization, 2012. Available from: http://apps.who.int/gb/fctc/PDF/cop5/FCTC_COP5_10-en.pdf.

9. Otanez MG, Mamudu H, and Glantz SA. Global leaf companies control the tobacco market in Malawi. Tobacco Control, 2007; 16(4):261–9. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17652242

10. Hamade K. Tobacco Leaf Farming in Lebanon: Why Marginalized Farmers Need a Better Option, in Tobacco Control and Tobacco Farming: Separating Myth from Reality.  Leppan WL, N. Buckles, D., Editor London: Anthem Press; 2014.

11. Magati P, Lencucha R, Li Q, Drope J, Labonte R, et al. Costs, contracts and the narrative of prosperity: an economic analysis of smallholder tobacco farming livelihoods in Kenya. Tobacco Control, 2019; 28(3):268–73. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29967193

12. Makoka D, Drope J, Appau A, Labonte R, Li Q, et al. Costs, revenues and profits: an economic analysis of smallholder tobacco farmer livelihoods in Malawi. Tobacco Control, 2017; 26(6):634–40. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29066593

13. Chingosho R, Dare C, and van Walbeek C. Tobacco farming and current debt status among smallholder farmers in Manicaland province in Zimbabwe. Tobacco Control, 2020. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32848076

14. Lecours N. The Harsh Realities of Tobacco Farming: A Review of Socioeconomic, Health and Environmental Impacts, in Tobacco Control and Tobacco Farming: Separating Myth from Reality.  Leppan W, Lecours N, and Buckles D, Editors. London: Anthem Press; 2014. p 99–138.

15. Otanez M and Glantz SA. Social responsibility in tobacco production? Tobacco companies' use of green supply chains to obscure the real costs of tobacco farming. Tobacco Control, 2011; 20(6):403–11. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21504915

16. Human Rights Watch. Teens of the Tobacco Fields: Child Labor in United States Tobacco Farming.  2015. Available from: https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/12/09/teens-tobacco-fields/child-labor-united-states-tobacco-farming.

17. Human Rights Watch. “The Harvest is in My Blood”. Hazardous Child Labor in Tobacco Farming in Indonesia.  2016. Available from: https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/05/24/harvest-my-blood/hazardous-child-labor-tobacco-farming-indonesia.

18. Kulik MC, Bialous SA, Munthali S, and Max W. Tobacco growing and the sustainable development goals, Malawi. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 2017; 95(5):362–7. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28479637

19. Hu TW and Lee AH. Tobacco control and tobacco farming in African countries. J Public Health Policy, 2015; 36(1):41–51. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25428192

20. No authors listed. Tobacco and its environmental impact: an overview. World Health Organization (WHO), Switzerland 2017. Available from: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/255574/1/9789241512497-eng.pdf?ua=1.

21. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Projections of tobacco production, consumption and trade to the year 2010. Rome: FAO, 2003. Available from: https://www.fao.org/3/y4956e/y4956e.pdf.

22. Jones AS, Austin WD, Beach RH, and Altman DG. Tobacco farmers and tobacco manufacturers: implications for tobacco control in tobacco-growing developing countries. J Public Health Policy, 2008; 29(4):406–23. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19079300

23. Smith J and Lee K. From Colonization to Globalization: A history of state capture by the tobacco industry in Malawi. Rev Afr Polit Econ, 2018; 45(156):186–202. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31467461

24. Fang J, De Souza L, Smith J, and Lee K. "All Weather Friends": How China Transformed Zimbabwe's Tobacco Sector. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020; 17(3). Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31979132

25. Smith J, DeSouza L, and Fang J. Eastern Africa’s tobacco value chain: links with China. Third World Quarterly, 2020; 41(7):1161–80. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2020.1736544

26. Novotny TE, Bialous SA, Burt L, Curtis C, da Costa VL, et al. The environmental and health impacts of tobacco agriculture, cigarette manufacture and consumption. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 2015; 93(12):877–80. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26668440

27. Javadian S, Stigler-Granados P, Curtis C, Thompson F, Huber L, et al. Perspectives on Tobacco Product Waste: A Survey of Framework Convention Alliance Members' Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2015; 12(8):9683–91. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26295244

28. Geist HJ. Tobacco and Deforestation Revisited. How to Move towards a Global Land-Use Transition? Sustainability, 2021; 13(16):9242. Available from: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/16/9242

29. Lee K, Carrillo Botero N, and Novotny T. ‘Manage and mitigate punitive regulatory measures, enhance the corporate image, influence public policy’: industry efforts to shape understanding of tobacco-attributable deforestation. Globalization and Health, 2016; 12(1):55. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12992-016-0192-6

30. Geist HJ. Global assessment of deforestation related to tobacco farming. Tobacco Control, 1999; 8(1):18–28. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10465812

31. British American Tobacco. Sustainable agriculture and farmer livelihoods.  2021. Available from: https://www.bat.com/farmers.

32. Philip Morris International. Protecting the Environment.  2021. Available from: https://www.pmi.com/sustainability/protecting-the-environment.

33. British American Tobacco. Sustainability 2021. Available from: https://www.bat.com/group/sites/UK__9D9KCY.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DO52AD7G.

34. Imperial Brands. Reducing Our Environmental Impact 2021. Available from: https://www.imperialbrandsplc.com/sustainability/approach/reducing-environmental-impact.html.

35. Japan Tobacco International. We’re serious about protecting the environment.  2021. Available from: https://www.jti.com/about-us/sustainability/were-serious-about-protecting-environment].

36. Otanez MG, Muggli ME, Hurt RD, and Glantz SA. Eliminating child labour in Malawi: a British American Tobacco corporate responsibility project to sidestep tobacco labour exploitation. Tobacco Control, 2006; 15(3):224–30. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16728754

37. McDaniel PA, Intinarelli G, and Malone RE. Tobacco industry issues management organizations: creating a global corporate network to undermine public health. Global Health, 2008; 4:2. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18201375

38. McDaniel PA and Malone RE. British American Tobacco's partnership with Earthwatch Europe and its implications for public health. Glob Public Health, 2012; 7(1):14–28. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21347934

39. Hendlin YH and Bialous SA. The environmental externalities of tobacco manufacturing: A review of tobacco industry reporting. Ambio, 2020; 49(1):17–34. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30852780

40. Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Tobacco Industry Front Group: The International Tobacco Growers’ Association. Washington: Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, 2011. Available from: http://global.tobaccofreekids.org/files/pdfs/en/IW_interference_ITGA_fact_sheet.pdf.

41. International Tobacco Growers Association. Sustainability.  2021. Available from: https://www.tobaccoleaf.org/sustainability/tobacco-growing-myth-and-facts/].

42. International Tobacco Growers Association. Tobacco Growing: Myth and Facts.  2021. Available from: https://www.tobaccoleaf.org/sustainability/tobacco-growing-myth-and-facts/].

43. Philip Morris International. Good Agricultural Practices.  2018 Available from: https://www.pmi.com/resources/docs/default-source/sustainability-reports-and-policies/good-agricultural-practices-gap.pdf?sfvrsn=2fc091b5_4].

44. Japan Tobacco International. Good Agricultural Practices Protocol. Version 5.0. .  2020. Available from: https://www.jti.com/sites/default/files/global-files/documents/related-documents/good_agricultural_practices_protocol.pdf.

45. British American Tobacco. A Better Tomorrow; ESG report 2020.  2020. Available from: https://www.bat.com/group/sites/UK__9D9KCY.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DOAWWEKR/$file/BAT_ESG_Report_2020.pdf?open&v=1.

46. McDaniel PA, Solomon G, and Malone RE. The tobacco industry and pesticide regulations: case studies from tobacco industry archives. Environ Health Perspect, 2005; 113(12):1659–65. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16330343

47. Lopez Davila E, Houbraken M, De Rop J, Wumbei A, Du Laing G, et al. Pesticides residues in tobacco smoke: risk assessment study. Environ Monit Assess, 2020; 192(9):615. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32876774

48. Kibwage JK, Othoo CO, and Ndungu C. Environmental Audit and Policy Compliance of Tobacco Farming Practices in Migori County, Western Kenya. Journal of UOEH, 2019; 41(3):259-69.

49. Taufeeq A, Baqar M, Sharif F, Mumtaz M, Ullah S, et al. Assessment of organochlorine pesticides and health risk in tobacco farming associated with River Barandu of Pakistan. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2021; 28(29):38774–91. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33742378

50. Hart C. Payout deal ends tobacco farming. The Australian, 2006. Available from: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/payout-deal-ends-tobacco-farming/story-e6frg8y6-1111112425673

51. Chapman S. 'Keep a low profile': pesticide residue, additives, and freon use in Australian tobacco manufacturing. Tobacco Control, 2003; 12(suppl. 3):iii45–53. Available from: http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/cgi/reprint/12/suppl_3/iii45

52. National Health and Medical Research Council, Report of the 92nd Session of the National Health and Medical Research Council (October 1981). Canberra: NHMRC; 1982.

53. Environment Protection Authority, Biocide contamination in the aquatic environment.  A study of the Ovens and King Rivers region.  Scientific series SRS 90/004. Melbourne, Australia: EPA; 1990.

54. Australian Government. Department of Health. Australian cigarette ingredient information. Ingredients used in cigarettes produced by British American Tobacco Australia, Imperial Tobacco Australia Ltd and Phillip Morris Ltd.  Available from: https://www.health.gov.au/resources/collections/australian-cigarette-ingredient-information].

55. Carter SM and Chapman S. Smoking, disease, and obdurate denial: the Australian tobacco industry in the 1980s. Tobacco Control, 2003; 12 Suppl 3(suppl. 3):iii23–30. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14645945

56. Philip Moris International. Biodiversity.  2021. Available from: https://www.pmi.com/integrated-report-2019/protecting-the-environment/biodiversity.

57. Imperial Brands. Our products. Genetically modified tobacco.  2021. Available from: https://www.imperialbrandsplc.com/media/our-views.html.

58. Proctor RN, Golden Holocaust: Origins of the Cigarette Catastrophe and the Case for Abolition.  1 ed: University of California Press; 2011. Available from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1pnxdm.

59. Raman R. The impact of Genetically Modified (GM) crops in modern agriculture: A review. GM Crops Food, 2017; 8(4):195–208. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29235937

60. Dunsby J and Bero L. A nicotine delivery device without the nicotine? Tobacco industry development of low nicotine cigarettes. Tobacco Control, 2004; 13(4):362–9. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15564619

61. Wayne GF and Carpenter CM. Tobacco industry manipulation of nicotine dosing. Handb Exp Pharmacol, 2009; (192):457–85. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19184659

62. Madrigal A. Cigarette maker has conducted 33 GM tobacco tests since '05. Boone, Indianna: Conde Naste Publications, 2008. Available from: http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/03/cigarette-maker.html.

63. Elias J and Ling PM. Origins of tobacco harm reduction in the UK: the 'Product Modification Programme' (1972-1991). Tobacco Control, 2018; 27(e1):e12–e8. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29330172

64. Douglas CE. Taking aim at the bull's-eye: the nicotine in tobacco products. Tobacco Control, 1998; 7(3):215–18. Available from: http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/cgi/reprint/7/3/215.pdf

65. Rabinoff M, Caskey N, Rissling A, and Park C. Pharmacological and chemical effects of cigarette additives. American Journal of Public Health, 2007; 97(11):1981–91. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17666709

66. Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. Designed for Addictions. How the Tobacco Industry Has Made Cigarettes More Addictive, More Attractive to Kids and Even More Deadly. 2014. Available from: https://www.tobaccofreekids.org/assets/content/what_we_do/industry_watch/product_manipulation/2014_06_19_DesignedforAddiction_web.pdf

67. Lewan T. Dark secrets of tobacco company exposed. Tobacco Control, 1998; 7(3):315–8. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9825426

68. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change  [Core Writing Team]. ed. Pachauri RK and Meyer LA. Geneva 2014. Available from: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/.

69. European Environment Agency. Glossary; Cardon dioxide equivalent 2017. Available from: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Glossary:Carbon_dioxide_equivalent.

70. Hendlin YH and Bialous SA. The environmental externalities of tobacco manufacturing: A review of tobacco industry reporting. Ambio, 2020; 49(1):17-34. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-019-01148-3

71. Monbiot G, Heat: How to stop the planet burning. London: Penguin Books; 2006.

72. Monbiot G. The denial industry. The Guardian, 2006; 19 Sept. Available from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2006/sep/19/ethicalliving.g2/print

73. Philip Morris International. Sustainability. Climate change and PMI’s efforts 2019. Available from: https://www.pmi.com/sustainability/climate-change.

74. Japan Tobacco International. Our sustainability strategy.  2021. Available from: https://www.jt.com/sustainability/strategy/index.html.

75. Imperial Brands. Sustainability Approach. Reducing Our Environmental Impact.  2021. Available from: https://www.imperialbrandsplc.com/sustainability/approach/reducing-environmental-impact.html#climate.

76. British American Tobacco. Integrated Environmental, Health and Safety Policy Manual. Group Environmental Policy Statement.  2014. Available from: http://www.bat.com/group/sites/uk__9d9kcy.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DO9DEM2W/$FILE/medMD9SGFL4.pdf?openelement 

77. Depoers F, Jeanjean T, and Jérôme T. Voluntary Disclosure of Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Contrasting the Carbon Disclosure Project and Corporate Reports. Journal of Business Ethics, 2014; 134(3):445–61. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2432-0

78. CDP. CDP: Driving Sustainable Economies.  2016.

79. Pearse G, Greenwash: Big Brands and Carbon Scams. Collingwood, VIC: Black Inc; 2012.

80. Philip Moris International. Climate Change 2016. Available from: http://www.pmi.com/eng/sustainability/climate_change/Pages/climate_change.aspx.

81. Bowen F, After Greenwashing: Symbolic Corporate Environmentalism and Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2014.

82. Kolk A, Levy D, and Pinkse J. Corporate Responses in an Emerging Climate Regime: The Institutionalization and Commensuration of Carbon Disclosure. European Accounting Review, 2008; 17(4):719–45. Available from: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09638180802489121