This is a trend that has become increasingly important in recent months. In a recent press release, The Alliance Against Tobacco (ACT) welcomes companies' announcements yesterday CNP Assurances et Crédit Agricole SA, as well as its subsidiaries Amundi asset management et Credit Agricole Assurances, to disengage from any investment in the tobacco industry, decisions favoring the denormalization of a product responsible for 75000 deaths per year in France.
TOBACCO, A "GLOBAL PANDEMIC" WHICH KILLS SEVERAL MILLION DEATHS PER YEAR!
In a recent press release published on May 28, 2020, The Alliance Against Tobacco (ACT) deals with the social responsibility of companies serving denormalization and more particularly with the financial disengagement of the tobacco industry in France.
Paris, the 28 May 2020 - The Alliance Against Tobacco (ACT) welcomes the announcements made yesterday by the companies CNP Assurances and Crédit Agricole SA, as well as its subsidiaries Amundi Asset Management and Crédit Agricole Assurances, to withdraw from any investment in the tobacco industry , decisions favoring the denormalization of a product responsible for 75000 deaths per year in France. In order to accelerate this movement, the ACT has just signed a partnership with an Australian NGO, Tobacco Free Portfolios, within the framework of its DETAF project (Denormalization of Tobacco in France).
The continuous decline in smoking prevalence highlighted by the latest figures from Public Health France published on Tuesday demonstrates the effectiveness of tobacco prevention and control policies carried out on the national territory for the past thirty years. However, the smoking rate in France remains one of the highest in Western Europe. A wider awareness is therefore necessary by the implementation of new strategies. These should make it possible to normalize the use and perception of tobacco in order to bring out by 2032 the first "Generation without tobacco", objective of the National Program to Fight Tobacco (PNLT -2018-2022).
This awareness also concerns economic players as part of their corporate social responsibility policy. Through retirement funds, banks, insurance and other financial organizations, some companies, sometimes without knowing it, financially support the tobacco industry.
Through an ethical and responsible approach to their direct and indirect investments excluding tobacco, they can engage in the fight against a global pandemic leading to the death of more than 8 million people per year.
As such, we are delighted with the announcements made yesterday by CNP Assurances and Crédit Agricole SA, as well as its subsidiaries Amundi Asset Management and Crédit Agricole Assurances, of their commitment to the Australian NGO Tobacco Free Portfolios to renounce all investment in the In addition, in the context of the DETAF project and in order to accelerate this trend in France, the Alliance Against Tobacco has just signed a partnership agreement with Tobacco Free Portfolios, which has been successfully working for more than ten years to disengagement of global finance players from the tobacco industry.
"I am delighted with the partnership we have just signed with the Tobacco Alliance. It will accelerate the disengagement movement from the financing of the tobacco industry in France, strengthen collaboration between the financial sector and the world of health and send a clear message to the French: tobacco is not a product "Normal". ”Announced Dr. Bronwyn King, CEO Tobacco Free Portfolios.
Through this collaboration, the ACT calls for a real collective awareness of the economic actors who participate in the financing of the tobacco industry. In addition to its questionable financial profitability, investment in this sector of activity must not overshadow what it represents in practice: a serious infringement of the right to health, human exploitation in particular by child labor in developing countries and environmental degradation through air, soil and water pollution. We therefore invite all companies concerned about their social responsibility to contact us to join this movement of the "Tobacco Free Business"
Source : Alliance against tobacco press release
