Reuters: Big tobacco leaves huge ecological footprint — WHO
“Tobacco growing is causing ‘massive harm’ to the environment through the extensive use of chemicals, energy, and water, and pollution from manufacturing and distribution, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday…” (Nebehay, 5/30).

U.N. News Centre: Tobacco’s killer toxins also wreak havoc on the environment, U.N. health agency warns
“Stamping out tobacco use can save millions of lives and combat poverty, the World Health Organization (WHO) said [Tuesday] and spotlighted for the first time the ways in which tobacco affects human well-being from an environmental perspective — caused by production, distribution, and waste. … The U.N. health chief’s assessment comes on the eve of World No Tobacco Day, marked annually on 31 May, and which targets the threats tobacco poses to global development worldwide…” (5/30).

VOA News: Stronger Tobacco-control Measures Vital, WHO Warns
“…WHO calls tobacco a threat to development. Besides the heavy toll in lives lost, global estimates show that ‘tobacco costs the global economy $1.4 trillion a year,’ or 1.8 percent of global gross domestic product. The WHO notes this estimate takes into consideration ‘only medical expenses and lost productive capacities’…” (Schlein, 5/30).