Media Contact:
Megan Manning
manningm@ash.org
(202) 390 – 9513
Nations Advance Global Health at WHO Tobacco Treaty Negotiations
Decisions on Liability, Environment and Forward-Looking Measures Blaze a Path towards Endgame
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – NOVEMBER 22, 2025 – Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) led an esteemed delegation to the 11th Conference of the Parties (COP11) for the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in Geneva, Switzerland from November 17 – 22, 2025.
COP11 marked a pivotal moment for global health, with Parties adopting decisions that will guide tobacco control efforts for years to come. These decisions address critical issues including environmental protections, forward-looking tobacco endgame strategies, and the liability of the tobacco industry for the harms it causes. Collectively, these measures represent meaningful progress toward safeguarding public health, reducing tobacco production and consumption, and holding the tobacco industry accountable.
ASH welcomes several groundbreaking decisions that will kick start global progress to accelerate the end of the tobacco epidemic:
• Article 2.1 on Forward Looking Measures (Tobacco Endgame) Decision: represents an important shift in the approach to tobacco policy, with a greater emphasis on supply reduction or elimination.
• Article 18 (Environment) Decision: Will assist countries in their efforts to prevent and manage the substantial environmental harm caused by tobacco and nicotine.
• Article 19 (Liability) Decision: calls on Parties to consider civil, criminal, administrative, environmental, human rights, and other legal actions against the tobacco industry.
• Mobilization by Parties of Sustainable Resources for Tobacco Control: helps countries in their efforts to secure adequate sustainable resources to implement lifesaving tobacco control measures
“COP11 has moved the world another step closer to ending the tobacco epidemic,” said Laurent Huber, Executive Director of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH). “We saw real progress made at COP11, and now it’s up to all of us—governments, civil society, and public health advocates—to put these new global standards into action. Implementation is where lives are saved, and COP11 has given us the tools to do exactly that.”
The COP11 head of the ASH delegation Laurent Huber, was joined by ASH Staff Chris Bostic, Kelsey Romeo-Stuppy, and Megan Manning, as well as ASH Board Member Dr. Carolyn Dresler. ASH was also joined by Micah Berman, Denis Choinière, Marita Hefler, Kurt Ribisl, and Luciano Ruggia.
“Action on Smoking and Health’s participation at the COP continues to impress. They are part of the global movement and yet, drive forward many issues. The expertise in each person within this small group of people is just un-matched. I couldn’t be prouder to be with them and watch them in action,” said Carolyn Dresler, MD, MPA, Board Member, Action on Smoking and Health.
“The WHO FCTC formally recognises that participation of civil society is essential to tobacco control. Being part of the ASH delegation provides a front row seat to what this looks like in practice,” said Marita Hefler, Professor of Public Health, Flinders University. “Seeing progress on Article 2.1 is particularly heartening, and ASH played a critical role in putting this on the COP11 agenda. The Expert Group report on Forward Looking Measures will provide important guidance to Parties to advance implementation of the treaty.”
“Attending the FCTC COP, I have been able to see how ASH’s expertise and connections are deeply valued by international tobacco policy experts and by delegations from around the world,” said Micah Berman, JD, Professor of Public Health and Law at Ohio State University. “Among other accomplishments, ASH played a key role in bringing attention to Article 19 of the FCTC, relating to tobacco industry liability, which has been one of the least implemented provisions of the agreement. I appreciated the opportunity to join the ASH delegation and learned a tremendous amount that will strengthen my research on global public health law.”
“It was an eye-opening experience to see ASH working behind the scenes to help Parties in their deliberations on issues they had identified as priorities. Thanks to ASH for giving me this opportunity,” said Denis Choinière.
“Thank you for inviting me to join the ASH delegation to COP11 and observe first-hand how your organization works behind the scenes to globally advance evidence-based tobacco control,” said Professor Kurt M. Ribisl, Chair, Department of Health Behavior at UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. “I was especially pleased that retail tobacco control policies will play a central role when the Parties start implementing their Forward Looking Measures or endgame strategies.”
“The coordination work provided by ASH for COP11 was truly impressive, and its engagement was crucial to the progress achieved throughout the week,” said Luciano Ruggia, Director of the Swiss Association for Tobacco Control. “It is particularly ironic that COP11 took place in Geneva, Switzerland — a country that still has not ratified the FCTC more than 20 years after its adoption and where several major tobacco companies have established themselves to benefit from lower taxes. From Switzerland, the tobacco industry continues to spread its ‘harm reduction’ propaganda across the world to pursue its only real objective: profit, profit, and more profit. This makes the work and leadership of ASH here in Geneva more important and necessary than ever.”
The FCTC COP is where global tobacco policy is written and monitored and where consensus is achieved on how to tackle the tobacco industry and advance health. Decisions adopted at previous COPs are what normalized smoke-free policies around the world, the banning of tobacco advertising, the introduction of plain packaging of tobacco products, and even the need to protect public health policies from tobacco industry interference.
ASH applauds all COP11 delegates who remained dedicated and committed to public health during the negotiations. ASH remains committed to supporting Parties in implementing the FCTC and will continue working alongside global partners to advocate for strong, equitable, and sustainable tobacco control measures.
ASH looks forward to helping ensure that the outcomes of COP11 translate into concrete action on the ground.
ACTION ON SMOKING AND HEALTH
Founded in 1967, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) is America’s oldest anti-tobacco organization, dedicated to a world with ZERO tobacco deaths. Because tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death worldwide, ASH supports bold solutions proportionate to the magnitude of the problem. ash.org