By Joke Kujenya
CONCERTED CALLS from global public health and climate justice advocates have prompted a renewed push for governments to enforce stronger protections against corporate interference as countries gather for critical negotiations on climate action and tobacco control.
The appeal, issued by Corporate Accountability, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), and the Network for Accountability of Tobacco Transnationals (NATT), urges governments to adopt what the organisations describe as “urgent, accountability-driven responses” to counter the tactics of big tobacco, big food, and big oil corporations.
The warning comes as two major intergovernmental meetings proceed simultaneously: the 11th Conference of the Parties (COP11) to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) in Geneva, Switzerland, and COP30 to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Belem, Brazil.
A release signed by Robert Egbe, Media and Communication Officer, CAPPA noted that both treaty spaces have faced scrutiny from public health experts over what they characterise as a growing pattern of corporate influence.
According to the secretariat of the WHO FCTC, which administers the world’s first corporate accountability and public health treaty ratified by 183 parties, tobacco corporations have made attempts to influence negotiations scheduled to begin on 17 November 2025.
The secretariat recently cautioned parties about such interference as the treaty marks two decades of implementation in 2025.
Prof Judith Mackay, veteran tobacco control advocate and senior advisor to the WHO and the Global Centre for Good Governance in Tobacco Control (GGTC), highlighted what she described as the non-negotiable importance of Article 5.3 of the treaty.
The provision requires governments to protect public health policymaking from tobacco industry interference.
Prof Mackay stated that when governments introduce measures such as new pack warnings, they set mandatory standards for the industry to follow.
She added that the policymaking process itself, however, must remain entirely free of industry presence.
Prof Mackay rejected the belief that tobacco multinationals are too powerful to challenge, citing Uruguay’s legal victory over Philip Morris International.
The company had sued the South American nation over its tobacco packaging laws, but the tribunal upheld Uruguay’s right to regulate for public health.
Prof Mackay referenced the ruling as evidence that, in her words, the industry’s intimidating posture often masks vulnerabilities.
Daniel Dorado Torres, Tobacco Campaign Director at Corporate Accountability, underscored the role of Article 19 of the FCTC, which enables governments to pursue civil, criminal, administrative, and other liability actions against tobacco corporations.
He said that global governments have, over two decades, built legal and institutional tools that strengthen national laws and hold the industry accountable.
Dorado noted that the FCTC Secretariat now maintains an expert database and a civil liability toolkit to support parties seeking to implement accountability measures.
Dorado added that delegates at COP11 in Geneva will review a report containing more than 30 recommendations on how governments can expand liability actions against tobacco corporations.
Nepal’s experience serves as a case study in the lengths tobacco companies go to impede public health measures.
Dr Tara Singh Bam, Asia Pacific Director at Vital Strategies, recalled that Nepal’s comprehensive tobacco control law, which introduced what were at the time unprecedented 75% graphic warnings, faced prolonged delays due to litigation initiated by tobacco companies.
He noted that the law took nearly three years of court battles before its implementation in 2013. When Nepal later increased pictorial warnings to 90% in 2015 and then to 100% in 2025, further legal challenges emerged, delaying implementation once again.
Drawing links between climate and tobacco treaty struggles, Akinbode Oluwafemi, Executive Director of CAPPA Nigeria, stated that both policy arenas confront similar forms of corporate infiltration.
Oluwafemi explained that COP30 on climate action and COP11 on tobacco control are navigating the influence of corporations whose business activities affect public health and the environment.
He added that the tactics used by what he described as Big Oil and Big Tobacco follow a comparable pattern of infiltration, deception, and obstruction.
Oluwafemi warned that fossil fuel lobbyists are increasingly present in climate negotiation venues and said that government delegates often arrive at UNFCCC and FCTC meetings only to find industry representatives present either directly or through proxies.
He urged governments to implement stronger rules that prevent what he described as abusive corporate actors from shaping public policy.
Rachel Rose Jackson, Director of Climate Research and Policy at Corporate Accountability in the United States and a leading figure within the Kick Big Polluters Out Coalition, drew parallels between climate and tobacco treaty platforms.
Jackson stated that the industries obstructing progress in UNFCCC and FCTC negotiations rely on similar strategies to delay and derail agreed actions.
She added that the absence of strong conflict-of-interest regulations in the climate treaty framework, unlike the FCTC, has enabled fossil fuel interests to exert significant influence over climate negotiations for decades.
According to Jackson, the scale of this influence was evident last year when more than 1,700 fossil fuel lobbyists attended climate talks in Baku.
She reported that corporations with direct stakes in fossil fuel production have even financed climate talks. Jackson argued that such developments undermine the integrity of global climate processes and contribute to the failure of negotiations to produce meaningful outcomes.
Jackson pointed to a recent measure requiring all non-state participants at UNFCCC summits to publicly disclose their sources of funding and confirm their alignment with climate goals. She described it as a small but historic step towards addressing the presence of corporate interests within climate negotiations.
More than 450 organisations have joined the Kick Big Polluters Out Coalition, calling for robust liability and accountability mechanisms within the UNFCCC.
These organisations emphasise that stronger protections are needed to ensure treaty processes prioritise public interest.
Across the public health and climate advocacy community, experts consistently argue that urgent and decisive action is required to prevent what they describe as corporate capture of global health and climate policymaking.
They stated that the coalition behind the latest appeal is urging governments attending COP11 and COP30 to reinforce conflict-of-interest rules, adopt and expand liability frameworks, and ensure that corporations are prevented from shaping public policy outcomes.
Moreover, they assert that as countries face escalating climate impacts and ongoing tobacco-related mortality, the stakes demand that public health and climate justice priorities remain protected throughout negotiation processes.
CAPPA further provided a recording link for the briefing for those willing to listen to the session in full: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEnQB3uOBVs.
