Big Tobacco used the UN Global Compact to promote its interests; UN finally expelled them

Yvette van der Eijk, Patricia A McDaniel, Stella A Bialous and I just published “United Nations Global Compact: an ‘Inroad’ into the UN and reputation boost for the tobacco industry” in Tobacco Control. 
 
This paper shows how the tobacco companies capitalized on the UN’s efforts to engage the business community in its mission.  Rather than moving tobacco companies toward supporting the UN’s activities to improve global conditions,  the companies co-opted the Global Compact as part of their “corporate social responsibility” public relations programs to undermine global tobacco control.
 
The UN recently decided that tobacco companies were not eligible to participate in the Global Compact.  It is time for other UN agencies, like the International Labor Organization and UNICEF, to follow suit.
 
Here is the “What this paper adds” section of the paper:
 
► Between 2003 and 2015, thirteen tobacco companies, subsidiaries and tobacco industry affiliates joined the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), a UN initiative to engage corporations in supporting the UN’s mission.
► In September 2017, UNGC excluded companies that derive revenue from tobacco production or manufacture from participating in the compact.
► Internal tobacco industry documents show that tobacco companies joined the UNGC to gain influence at the United Nations as part of an overall strategy to undermine the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and to improve their reputations.
► Excluding tobacco manufacturers from the UNGC denies them the reputation boost associated with UNGC participation and helps limit their influence at the United Nations, but tobacco control advocates should continue to monitor and resist indirect tobacco industry involvement with the UNGC through front groups and third parties.
 
And here is the abstract:
 
Background The United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), a UN initiative to engage corporations in supporting the UN’s mission, sets out principles that companies should follow for more ethical business practices. Since its inception in 2000, at least 13 tobacco companies, subsidiaries and tobacco industry affiliates joined the UNGC. In a September 2017 integrity review, the UNGC Board excluded from UNGC participation companies who derive revenue from tobacco production or manufacturing.
Objective To determine, from the tobacco industry’s perspective, tobacco companies’ motives for joining the UNGC.
Method Tobacco industry documents search using the Truth Tobacco Industry Documents Library, and search of published reports and documents on the tobacco industry and the UNGC.
Results Tobacco companies sought to join the UNGC for two reasons: (1) to improve their reputation, in keeping with other corporate social responsibility efforts; (2) to gain proximity to UN agencies and weaken the WHO’s influence, part of an overall strategy to undermine the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
Conclusions Excluding tobacco manufacturers from UNGC participation is an important step to limit the tobacco industry’s ability to influence the UN and promote its image and, by extension, its deadly products.  It is important to monitor enforcement of this policy and resist the engagement of tobacco industry front groups, such as industry-funded foundations, with the UNGC.
 
The full citation is:  van der Eijk Y, McDaniel PA, Glantz SA, Bialous SA.  United Nations Global Compact: an ‘Inroad’ into the UN and reputation boost for the tobacco industry     Tobacco Control Published Online First: 02 November 2017. doi: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2017-054055.  It is available here.