BAT (LON:BATS) Unveils Ambitious New Environmental Targets in 2020 ESG Report
Mar 16th 2021

BAT (LON:BATS) Unveils Ambitious New Environmental Targets in 2020 ESG Report

  • New targets are key drivers towards achieving A Better Tomorrow™ for all stakeholders
  • New environmental targets include:
    • Carbon neutrality across value chain by 2050
    • 100% renewable electricity by 2030
    • 100% of all manufacturing sites certified by the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) by 2025
    • 100% of all manufacturing sites to have zero waste to landfill by 2025
  • Report shows significant progress one year since stretching new ESG targets announced in 2020*

On 9 March, BAT has announced it is committing to reaching carbon neutrality across its value chain by 2050. This ambition is highlighted in BAT’s dedicated ESG report, which demonstrates significant progress towards its goals.

In 2020 BAT announced its ambition to be carbon neutral for emissions resulting from its own business activities (Scope 1 & 2) by 2030. This new commitment aims to also cut emissions across its value chain (Scope 3). This builds on BAT’s existing efforts to engage with suppliers on climate change and to support contracted farmers in adopting less carbon-intensive farming techniques.

Having achieved its water recycling target ahead of time, BAT has also announced it will set the bar higher, to increase the amount of water recycled to 30% by 2025. By 2025, BAT also aims to have 100% of all manufacturing sites certified by the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS). This respected independent audit certification will help validate BAT’s water stewardship.

BAT has been on its sustainability journey for more than 20 years. In March 2020, it announced stretching new ESG targets as part of its evolved strategy to deliver A Better Tomorrow™. The latest ESG report demonstrates that BAT has delivered significant progress since then, including:

  • Increasing consumers of non-combustible products by 3 million to 13.5 million at year end 2020
  • Increasing New Categories revenue by 15% in 2020 versus 2019
  • Increasing renewable energy to 26% – a 10% increase from last year, and a greater than 30% reduction in overall carbon emissions since 2019
  • Reducing water withdrawn by nearly 11% since 2019
  • Holding more than 38,000 human rights training sessions, with more than 390,000 attendances across its supply chain, and
  • Reaching 38% of female representation in management roles.

Jack Bowles, BAT’s Chief Executive, said “We are at a pivotal moment in our transformation and are committed to building the enterprise of the future. This report gives a transparent account of our progress and our heightened ambition. We continue to drive for excellence across all areas of ESG and we’re proud to announce our new commitment of expanding our carbon neutrality target to include Scope 3 emissions by 2050.”

“BAT is on track to build A Better Tomorrow™ for all, from enabling consumer choice and encouraging consumers to switch to scientifically-substantiated reduced-risk products** to protecting the environment, respecting human rights and investing in talent. Ultimately, our ambition is to reduce the health impact of our business and to deliver a positive environmental and social impact.”

BAT’s sustainability efforts and commitment to high standards have received notable independent recognition. These include our inclusion in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices for 19 consecutive years (the only tobacco company to be listed in the prestigious World Index in 2020), a MSCI rating of BBB and CDP A List status.

ENDS

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About BAT

BAT is a leading, multi-category consumer goods business, established in 1902. Our purpose is to build A Better Tomorrow™ by reducing the health impact of our business which entails:

Committing to providing adult consumers with a wide range of enjoyable and less risky products
Continuing to be clear that combustible cigarettes pose serious health risks, and the only way to avoid these risks is not to start or to quit
Encouraging those who otherwise continue to smoke, to switch completely to scientifically-substantiated, reduced-risk alternatives**
Tracking and sharing progress of our transformation

The company has announced a target of increasing the number of its non-combustible product consumers to 50 million by 2030; and to achieve at least £5 billion in New Categories revenues in 2025.

Notes

* In full, the targets announced in 2020 are: increase the number of our non-combustible product consumers to 50 million by 2030; New Categories revenue of £5bn in 2025; carbon neutral for Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030 while accelerating our existing environmental targets to 2025; eliminate unnecessary single-use plastic and make all plastic packaging reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025.
** Based on the weight of evidence and assuming a complete switch from cigarette smoking. These products are not risk free and are addictive.

Forward-Looking Statements

This is a release by British American Tobacco p.l.c. References to ‘British American Tobacco’, ‘BAT’, ‘we’, ‘us’ and ‘our’ when denoting opinion refer to British American Tobacco p.l.c. (the ‘Company’, and together with its subsidiaries, the ‘Group’; associate companies are excluded), and when denoting business activity refer to Group operating companies, collectively or individually as the case may be.

This release contains certain forward-looking statements, including “forward-looking” statements made within the meaning of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are often, but not always, made through the use of words or phrases such as “believe,” “anticipate,” “could,” “may,” “would,” “should,” “intend,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “will,” “expect,” “estimate,” “project,” “positioned,” “strategy,” “outlook”, “target” and similar expressions. These include statements regarding our intentions, beliefs or current expectations reflecting knowledge and information available at the time of preparation, and concerning our results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth, strategies and the economic and business circumstances occurring from time to time in the countries and markets in which Group companies operate, including the projected future financial and operating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

All such forward-looking statements involve estimates and assumptions that are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors. It is believed that the expectations reflected in this release are reasonable but they may be affected by a wide range of variables that could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated.

Among the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements are uncertainties related to the following: the impact of adverse domestic or international legislation and regulation; the inability to develop, commercialise and deliver the Group’s New Categories strategy; the impact of significant increases or structural changes in tobacco, nicotine and New Categories-related taxes; changes or differences in domestic or international economic or political conditions; the impact of serious injury, illness or death in the workplace; adverse decisions by domestic or international regulatory bodies; and the inability to lead the development and roll-out of BAT innovations (New Category products and combustibles), including as a result of unsuccessful research and development or a failure to develop robust scientific risk assessment frameworks. The forward-looking statements reflect knowledge and information available at the date of preparation of these materials, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.

The material in this release is provided for the purpose of giving information about BAT to stakeholders only and is not intended for general consumers. The Company, its directors, officers, employees, agents or advisers do not accept or assume responsibility to any other person to whom this material is shown or into whose hands it may come and any such responsibility or liability is expressly disclaimed. The material in this release is not provided for product advertising, promotional or marketing purposes. This material does not constitute and should not be construed as constituting an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any of our products. Our products are sold only in compliance with the laws of the particular jurisdictions in which they are sold.

Additional information concerning these and other factors can be found in BAT’s filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including the Annual Report on Form 20-F and Current Reports on Form 6-K, which may be obtained free of charge at the SEC’s website, http://www.sec.gov.


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