Death Marketing-1

Forest-devouring BATB Being Awarded for Afforestation!

'Bonayon', the so-called afforestation program of British American Tobacco Bangladesh (BATB), has been awarded the 'SDG Brand Champion Awards 2023'. What is more concerning is that UNDP, the ICT Division, the Cabinet Division, and the a2i project of the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) were involved in the process of bestowing such prestigious recognition on a tobacco company. This goes against the Honorable Prime Minister's directive which identifies tobacco as an impediment to achieving SDGs and pledged to build a tobacco-free Bangladesh by 2040. In Bangladesh, tobacco is responsible for 31 percent of all deforestation and the loss of 161000 lives a year. BATB is a major contributor to these drastic figures. All CSR activities of tobacco companies must be banned by passing the draft amendment of the tobacco control law.