Leading Global Research Firms Selected to Create the First-Ever Smoke-Free Index
For Immediate Release
March 18, 2019 (New York, New York) – The Foundation for a Smoke-Free World today announced consultancy agreements with global market research company Euromonitor International and leading consulting firm and think tank SustainAbility for the creation of the Smoke-Free Index®, which will be published in June 2020. The Smoke-Free Index® will annually evaluate 15 of the largest tobacco companies in the world, along with their actions in 35 countries. The purpose of the Index is to provide quantifiable evidence over time of what steps the companies are taking toward achieving a smoke-free world and any actions they take to undermine that progress.
“The tobacco industry must change its practices. The Smoke-Free Index® will provide the much-needed assessment of the industry’s progress – or lack thereof – to end the production of combustible cigarettes,” said Derek Yach, President of the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World. “Euromonitor International and SustainAbility are among the most respected independent research firms in the world and we are confident they will produce an invaluable tool that will help stimulate effective industry transformation.”
The Smoke-Free Index is the first action of the Industry Transformation initiative, a core pillar of the Foundation’s overall mission to achieve a smoke-free world within this generation. Euromonitor International and SustainAbility will collaborate on developing the Index through a work process that includes research, global stakeholder engagement, index development, data analysis, and independent oversight. Their progress will be communicated at critical milestones leading up to the release of the initial Smoke-Free Index in June 2020.
About the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, Inc.
The Foundation for a Smoke-Free World is an independent, U.S. nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization with the purpose of improving global health by ending smoking in this generation. The Foundation supports its mission through three core pillars: Health, Science and Technology; the Agriculture Transformation Initiative; and Industry Transformation. The Foundation’s Health, Science, and Technology work complements ongoing tobacco control efforts and focuses on countries where most smokers live, a smoker-oriented agenda to accelerate quitting and switching to reduced-harm products. The Agricultural Transformation Initiative aims to diversify tobacco-dependent economies, and the Foundation’s Industry Transformation efforts focus on attaining change within the entire global tobacco industry and nicotine ecosystem.
The Foundation has received contributions from Philip Morris International (PMI) in 2018 and 2019 each in the amount of $80 million. PMI has pledged to contribute $80 million annually for the next ten years. Under the Foundation’s Bylaws and Pledge Agreement, PMI and the tobacco industry, generally, are precluded from having any control or influence over how the Foundation spends its funds or focuses its activities. The Foundation’s acceptance of the contributions does not constitute an endorsement by the Foundation of any of the pledger’s products.
Euromonitor International is the world’s leading provider for global business intelligence and strategic market analysis. We have more than 40 years of experience publishing international market reports, business reference books and online databases on consumer markets.
About SustainAbility
SustainAbility, an ERM company, is a hybrid think tank and strategy consultancy that for over thirty years has worked with companies to address all aspects of corporate sustainability strategy to help inspire and enable business to lead the way to a more sustainable economy.
