s global leaders convene in New York for the 78th United Nations General Assembly, calls for accelerated action to achieve sustainable development are louder than ever.
Traditionally, discussions of solutions to the world’s pressing challenges have focused on international collaboration and financial investment. These are essential, of course, but there’s one critical element that should take center stage today: people-centered policymaking.
We’ve all seen technological breakthroughs heralded for the life-changing impacts they promise. Too often, however, the potential of these innovations to drive real, sustained progress is significantly curtailed because they are not designed, regulated, and delivered in a way that centers on the people who need them most. Consider, for example, decarbonization and the European Union’s plan to stop the production of combustion engines for cars by 2035. An admirable aim, without question, but the transition to electric vehicles will only succeed if e-mobility innovations are accessible and affordable for consumers across socioeconomic brackets, not just the early adopters or the privileged few.
A people-centric mindset is critical to impactful change. In practical terms, it calls for policies that boost innovation adoption by addressing four vital components: access, awareness, availability, and affordability—the latter factor being especially crucial in times of economic hardship and hyperinflation, as we see across much of the world today.
Many current challenges could be addressed more effectively if we were to apply this framework consistently. I experience this firsthand in my work at Philip Morris International, where we are transforming for good—seeking to deliver a smoke-free future. Thanks to years of scientific research and significant investments by companies like mine, today, we know that the harm caused by cigarettes can be significantly reduced by offering better, noncombustible alternatives to those adults who would otherwise continue to smoke.
Now, a prevailing global question is: how should they be regulated? A people-centric approach would prioritize policies that make it easier for people who don’t quit nicotine completely (the best choice a smoker can make) to switch to these better products and move away from cigarettes.
Consumption shifts of this magnitude require public policies that encourage the adoption of innovative products, accurate information coupled with appropriate safety standards to give consumers confidence, and regulatory safeguards to protect the public interest—in our case, to ensure smoke-free products are not adopted by adults who don’t already use nicotine or minors. Such regulatory policies, designed with the consumer at their center, can catalyze better, fairer, and impactful outcomes.
In contrast, when inaction, or worse, a prohibitionist approach prevail, progress is severely stalled with significant consequences for the very people the innovation is meant to serve.
In the case of smoke-free alternatives, we estimate that if these products are assumed to be 80% less risky than cigarettes—and if adults who currently smoke were to switch to these better products completely—then over their lifetime, there’s a potential for a tenfold reduction in smoking-attributable deaths compared with having in place historical tobacco control measures alone. This hypothetical analysis uses World Health Organization’s data, estimates, and methodologies, as well as other third-party data, and despite its limitations, it begins to show the potential impact of governmental inaction and misguided policy.
In addition, a lack of pragmatic policy making can be especially detrimental to those in lower socioeconomic groups, who typically lack the resources and means to access reliable information and the products themselves. The COVID-19 pandemic and vaccination rollout showed us how critical it is to have the broadest possible access. That applies equally well to sustainable solutions and, for adults who smoke, better alternatives to cigarettes.
The need for people-centered policy making is clear. It is our best avenue through which to multiply the positive effects of innovation and accelerate progress to the benefit of all.
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Placing People at the Center to Accelerate Progress
Image by Nino Souza Nino from Pixabay
September 19, 2023
We have typically turned to innovation as the way to kickstart progress for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but we should do so with a people-centric mindset. Such a mindset can better inform how we build regulations in fair, inclusive ways, writes Gregoire Verdeaux.
A
s global leaders convene in New York for the 78th United Nations General Assembly, calls for accelerated action to achieve sustainable development are louder than ever.
Traditionally, discussions of solutions to the world’s pressing challenges have focused on international collaboration and financial investment. These are essential, of course, but there’s one critical element that should take center stage today: people-centered policymaking.
We’ve all seen technological breakthroughs heralded for the life-changing impacts they promise. Too often, however, the potential of these innovations to drive real, sustained progress is significantly curtailed because they are not designed, regulated, and delivered in a way that centers on the people who need them most. Consider, for example, decarbonization and the European Union’s plan to stop the production of combustion engines for cars by 2035. An admirable aim, without question, but the transition to electric vehicles will only succeed if e-mobility innovations are accessible and affordable for consumers across socioeconomic brackets, not just the early adopters or the privileged few.
A people-centric mindset is critical to impactful change. In practical terms, it calls for policies that boost innovation adoption by addressing four vital components: access, awareness, availability, and affordability—the latter factor being especially crucial in times of economic hardship and hyperinflation, as we see across much of the world today.
Many current challenges could be addressed more effectively if we were to apply this framework consistently. I experience this firsthand in my work at Philip Morris International, where we are transforming for good—seeking to deliver a smoke-free future. Thanks to years of scientific research and significant investments by companies like mine, today, we know that the harm caused by cigarettes can be significantly reduced by offering better, noncombustible alternatives to those adults who would otherwise continue to smoke.
Now, a prevailing global question is: how should they be regulated? A people-centric approach would prioritize policies that make it easier for people who don’t quit nicotine completely (the best choice a smoker can make) to switch to these better products and move away from cigarettes.
Consumption shifts of this magnitude require public policies that encourage the adoption of innovative products, accurate information coupled with appropriate safety standards to give consumers confidence, and regulatory safeguards to protect the public interest—in our case, to ensure smoke-free products are not adopted by adults who don’t already use nicotine or minors. Such regulatory policies, designed with the consumer at their center, can catalyze better, fairer, and impactful outcomes.
In contrast, when inaction, or worse, a prohibitionist approach prevail, progress is severely stalled with significant consequences for the very people the innovation is meant to serve.
In the case of smoke-free alternatives, we estimate that if these products are assumed to be 80% less risky than cigarettes—and if adults who currently smoke were to switch to these better products completely—then over their lifetime, there’s a potential for a tenfold reduction in smoking-attributable deaths compared with having in place historical tobacco control measures alone. This hypothetical analysis uses World Health Organization’s data, estimates, and methodologies, as well as other third-party data, and despite its limitations, it begins to show the potential impact of governmental inaction and misguided policy.
In addition, a lack of pragmatic policy making can be especially detrimental to those in lower socioeconomic groups, who typically lack the resources and means to access reliable information and the products themselves. The COVID-19 pandemic and vaccination rollout showed us how critical it is to have the broadest possible access. That applies equally well to sustainable solutions and, for adults who smoke, better alternatives to cigarettes.
The need for people-centered policy making is clear. It is our best avenue through which to multiply the positive effects of innovation and accelerate progress to the benefit of all.
