The WHO’s Campaign Against Safe Nicotine
December 01, 2025 by brownstone.org
The WHO’s Campaign Against Safe Nicotine
Every two years, the 183 Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control meet at the Conference of the Parties (COP), the treaty’s governing body. It is a closed-door diplomatic forum where global tobacco policies, regulations, and political direction are decided. Civil society and journalists are largely excluded, with outsiders allowed only in limited public sessions while real negotiations take place behind closed doors. The meetings are heavily influenced by the FCTC Secretariat and a small group of Bloomberg-funded NGOs whose positions often shape the agenda. This power structure forms the essential context for understanding what happened at COP11.
