The French banking group BNP Paribas announced on Friday that it was ending its financing and investment activities relating to tobacco companies.
BNP PARIBAS PREFER FINANCES AN ECONOMY WITH A POSITIVE IMPACT!
« This decision extends to all professional players in the sector whose activity is mainly dedicated to tobacco.“, Namely the manufacturers of tobacco products, producers, wholesalers and negotiators whose income comes mainly from this activity, the bank said in a statement.
Asked by AFP, a spokesperson for the group did not wish to speak about the amount of financing activities of BNP Paribas in tobacco.
“The World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations international institution specializing in health, identifies tobacco as the leading cause of preventable death, and in 2003 implemented the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the first treaty global public health "Legally binding, explains the bank.
His decision is " in BNP Paribas' desire to finance the economy by having a positive impact on all its stakeholders“, Adds the group, which had already decided in recent months to stop funding certain players linked to hydrocarbons and to reduce its support for the coal sector.
Reducing tobacco consumption is an essential part of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development established in 2015.
One of the key objectives is to reduce by a third the number of premature deaths resulting from non-communicable diseases (cardiovascular, pulmonary, cancer and diabetes) in which smoking is an important factor.
More than 80% of the 40 million premature deaths per year occur in the poorest and middle-income countries, according to the World Health Organization.
Source : Sciencesetavenir.fr
