“It has been such a crazy experience”, Joachim says on a videocall. "To have been at my placement organization for only four weeks, and already to have experienced something like this.”

There you are, two months after quitting your comfortable, well-paid job in Antwerp (Belgium), seated across from a row of Big Tobacco supporters and representatives in the Moldovan parliament.

“We came in and immediately saw a line of 8 or 9 people on the side of the tobacco-industry already there”, Joachim describes. “It was very intense, even just the way we were seated directly across from each other.”

The intensity in the room reflected the stakes at hand: a revised tobacco law that could either mean protection for Moldova’s ever increasing smoking population, or a loosening of the rules that would give the tobacco industry free rein. But as Joachim sees it, that intensity meant he was in the right place.

“I realized that if I wanted to do something impactful, this speech would be the moment”, Joachim tells us. “The chances of actually tipping the scales with a speech like this are small, but if you manage to do it, your impact could be enormous.”
‍
‍

‍

Two worlds

Before joining the fellowship, Joachim approached his work and his ideals in a way a lot of us do — mostly separate.

On the one hand, you work a corporate job that fits your skills and your level of education, and that enables the standard of life you’ve envisioned for yourself. On the other hand, you give expression to your values by changing your lifestyle, being mindful about your consumption, and perhaps doing some volunteering. For some, like Joachim, you may even go as far as to participate in climate activism.

“I was happy being in both worlds”, Joachim explains. “Climate activism was something I enjoyed doing, and in a certain way was also a part of my profile. It fit with the image I had of myself.”

Despite being content to play these two roles, Joachim found he could not always unite his work and his ideals:

“Whenever I was with my activist friends, I never really dared confess that I was active in a corporate environment. For them, corporates were the source of all evil. And during my daytime at the corporate environment, I never dared to tell them that I was also very active as a climate activist, for fear of being misunderstood.”
‍

"My primary motivation is always that it is simply fun to pursue these ideals."

‍

‍Enthusiasm

Even in hardcore climate activist circles, the driving force for Joachim was always enthusiasm, as opposed to worry and guilt.

“There were definitely some people there so invested in the cause that it caused them to be depressed”, he shares. “But I never really fell into that category. For me, the primary motivation is always that it is simply fun to pursue those ideals.”

Similarly, when Joachim discovered the Moral Ambition Fellowships it was also enthusiasm that moved him to apply.

“It was more that I saw the potential and the power of the program, than that I really felt the need to leave my old job”, Joachim explains.

What appealed to Joachim was the chance to unite his two worlds, and work in an environment where his activist side was embraced.

“The norm in the corporate world is still that you don’t really display your activist side”, Joachim explains. “But for me, Rutger’s story turned it into something cool to try and bring some of that activism into your career.”
‍

‍Read: Meet the inaugural cohort of the Moral Ambition Fellowships 
‍

Smoke rising in Moldova

While Joachim was up for an adventure, he wasn’t expecting to end up in Moldova, of all places.

“My first reaction was: where is Moldova?”, Joachim laughs. “Then you do some further research, and it turns out to be the poorest and least visited country in Europe. I’m open to new impressions, but this was something else. Still, I also saw it as something cool — somewhere I wouldn’t normally go otherwise.”

Moldova wasn’t just an adventure for Joachim — it was a rare opportunity to make a tangible impact on tobacco regulation. Unlike other EU countries, where tobacco use is declining, Moldova is moving in the wrong direction. Between 2000 and 2020, tobacco consumption rose from 25% to 29%, making it one of only 6 countries in the world where the smoking numbers are worsening.

Moldova also theoretically has all the regulatory tools in place to fight back against rising tobacco use. Joachim explains: “Their tobacco legislation is actually stronger than the German or Belgian legislation in many ways, but there is a huge gap between the laws on paper and their enforcement in practice.”

And lastly, while the tobacco industry has a strong presence in Moldova, the tobacco control side is still incredibly neglected. Joachim: “In the entire National Agency for Public Health where I work, there is only one person who is truly knowledgeable about tobacco control.”

‍Read: What world problem do you want to tackle? Focus on importance, tractability and neglectedness
‍

Right time, right place

Besides Moldova being an excellent place to work in tobacco control, Joachim is also arriving there at a crucial moment.

“Moldova has a tobacco law that is being revised right now”, Joachim explains. “And they will vote on the amendments in December of 2024, so this is really an ideal time to be here.”

The amendments to the tobacco law would expand on the public spaces where smoking is prohibited, by including children’s playgrounds, sports fields, and amusement parks, among others. Crucially, the bill also includes the use of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco devices, which are rapidly gaining popularity in Moldova (as in many other countries).

While the amendments originally weren’t the focus of Joachim’s placement, he has quickly found himself in a position to play an important role. “The original tobacco law is from 2015, and the person who basically wrote it is one desk over from me in my current office”, he shares.

Due to his placement, Joachim was not only able to follow the process of revision closely, but he could even play a part — by testifying in a public hearing about the tobacco legislation, in front of the Moldovan parliament.

A staredown with Big Tobacco

On November 12th, Joachim stepped into the Europa-room of Moldova’s Parliament, alongside Cornel Radu-Loghin, a seasoned advocate from the European Network for Smoking and Tobacco Prevention (ENSP). Across the room, a line of tobacco industry representatives waited, their presence a stark reminder of the stakes.

“That was interesting, because we came in and immediately saw a line of 8 or 9 people on the side of the tobacco-industry already there”, Joachim describes. “While we were the first 2 of the ‘good guys’ to arrive, so to speak.”

While Joachim and the other tobacco control advocates had been prepared for this, the presence of tobacco industry representatives should still raise eyebrows (in the end, 22 people with ties to the tobacco industry attended the meeting). Both World Health Organization (WHO) directives and Moldovan law explicitly forbid contact between the tobacco industry and politicians or politics — only by obscuring their affiliations and promising that they wouldn’t speak could the representatives be at the hearing at all.
‍
‍

‍

“It was kind of a unique experience in that sense”, Joachim tells us. “In theory the tobacco industry isn’t allowed to talk to parliament members, so the chances of being a part of an event like this with both sides aren’t huge.”

The presence of tobacco industry lawyers and representatives led to a particularly intense hearing, culminating in an exchange where tobacco control advocates had to force a testifying lawyer to disclose that one of his clients was, in fact, tobacco giant Philip Morris International.

“You are the tobacco industry voice”, Radu-Loghin exclaimed angrily. “This is the problem here!”

‍

"I could just sit there and tick off the boxes one by one."

‍

Bullshit bingo

Being across the aisle from experienced Big Tobacco lawyers can be quite intimidating, but Joachim says his preparation helped him deal with that. In particular, he credits a workshop by lung doctors Danielle Cohen, Pauline Dekker and Esther Croes that the Tobacco Control Fellows followed during their first week of training.

“During that workshop they gave us a bingo card with all the arguments the tobacco industry uses to evade regulation”, he shares. “That really helped me feel prepared. I heard them start talking about illicit trade, a smoke-free generation, heated tobacco products, etcetera. And I could just sit there and tick off the boxes one by one.”

Because of this feeling of preparedness, Joachim’s initial nerves quickly dissipated. He describes: “As the meeting went on and the tobacco industry bullshit kept coming, and I felt like I knew what they were going to say, I started to be more nervous about the idea of the meeting ending before my chance to speak came. I wasn’t nervous about the speech itself, I was thinking: ‘I’m not going to miss this opportunity now’.”

Luckily, Joachim's turn did come, and he delivered a passionate testimony as to why the Moldovan parliament should vote to pass the amendments to the tobacco law, and how irregular the tobacco industry’s presence at the hearing was.

“It’s like inviting mosquitos to discuss malaria”, Joachim remarked. “It’s a clear conflict of interest and a violation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control article 5.3.”
‍

More to come

We won’t know whether or not Joachim’s testimony had the impact he hoped until parliament votes on the amendment in December. While hopeful about the current opportunity, Joachim also stresses that it could still be an uphill battle to get the amendment passed.

“There were only four members of parliament at the hearing”, he notes. “And we know from our sources that the tobacco industry has already met with members of parliament one on one.”

Still, the experience gave Joachim a real sense of a way to impact people's lives in a positive way, that he had little feel for before.

“I have to say, the whole experience left me wanting more”, Joachim reflects. “Being part of parliamentary debates or lobbying — it’s something I’ve come to realize is not just possible but an essential part of the work. And sure, maybe it’s my ego talking, but to me it’s also just pretty cool to be in a position to do that.”