The government has been forced to revoke a carbon neutral certification given to British American Tobacco (BAT) after the endorsement was found to be in breach of a WHO treaty to which Australia is a signatory, reports The Guardian.

Climate Active is a carbon neutral certification scheme backed by the government and managed by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. It awards certificates to organisations making an effort to become carbon neutral.
BAT received a certificate from Climate Active which led to Rob Cawthorne, managing director of the Carbon Reduction Institute, lodging a complaint with the health department. According to The Guardian, in his complaint, Cawthorne wrote: “The certification itself could have the effect of saying smoking is not so bad because it causes no impact on our climate.”
As a signatory to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control [FCTC], Australia’s government must protect its policies from interference from the tobacco industry and its interests, this includes paid partnerships with the tobacco industry being rejected and government consultation with the tobacco industry being limited, reports The Guardian.
After Cawthorne’s complaint, the health department’s director of tobacco control advised the Department of Industry that “promotion of the tobacco industry’s carbon-neutral operations could be perceived as a corporate social responsibility activity and government endorsement could be in contravention of the FCTC”. According to The Guardian, the director noted “the ‘greenwashing’ tactic used by the tobacco industry globally”.
The BAT certification has now been revoked and is no longer found under the Climate Active website list of previously certified brands. BAT was approached for comment.