Australia breaches WHO treaty with carbon neutral certification of big tobacco company

Australia is a signatory to a WHO treaty that means the government must protect its policies from interference from the tobacco industry and its interests. Photograph: Joe Castro/AAP

The government has been forced to revoke carbon neutral certification given to a big tobacco company after the endorsement was found to be in breach of a World Health Organization treaty to which Australia is a signatory.

Freedom of information documents show a complaint was made by the managing director of the Carbon Reduction Institute, Rob Cawthorne, to the health department in August 2022 about British American Tobacco (BAT) receiving the certification from Climate Active.