by Jennie Galbraith, British American Tobacco ’s Head of Environment, Social and Governance (ESG)

Businesses are uniquely placed to leverage their resources and expertise to help address some of the world’s greatest sustainability challenges. Here Jennie Galbraith, Head of ESG at British American Tobacco , one of the world’s leading consumer goods companies, discusses the need for business to act now to accelerate the pace of progress.

Taking an active approach to sustainability isn’t new at British American Tobacco . We’ve been focusing on key environmental and social issues for more than 20 years, and recognise we need to continue adapting and evolving to stay ahead.

With the planet in the grip of a climate emergency and the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic being felt around the world, now is the time for businesses to make a step change in their sustainability ambition.

In early 2020, we launched British American Tobacco ’s new corporate strategy and purpose, called A Better Tomorrow™. Central to our purpose is reducing the health impact of our business. How? By providing adult consumers with a range of products that are enjoyable, while carrying less risk than continuing to smoke cigarettes .

Our strategy also has a clear focus on ESG priorities, including addressing climate change and excellence in environmental management, delivering a positive social impact, and ensuring robust corporate governance. This puts sustainability front and centre in all we do and aims to create shared value for all our stakeholders.

But commitments alone are not enough. These need to be backed by clear and measurable targets and actions. We have a number of important ESG targets already, such as becoming a carbon neutral business2 by 2030. In 2020 alone, we achieved a 30.9% reduction in emissions from our operations.

We also have commitments to make all plastic packaging reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025 and for our tobacco supply chain to be free of child labour by 2025. In 2021, we added bold, new targets: to have 100% renewable electricity in operations sites by 2030; to increase the amount of water recycled to 30%; have all sites certified by the Alliance for Water Stewardship; and to have 100% of operations sites to be zero waste to landfill by 2025.

Net Zero. Can we go further?

To make a real step-change in accelerating progress, companies need to look beyond the operations they directly control, as that is where some of their greatest impacts can lie.

At British American Tobacco our supply chain emissions represent around 90% of our total carbon footprint. So, in 2021, we pushed ourselves further with a more ambitious target: to be carbon neutral across our value chain by 2050. The breadth of our resources and experience, and scale of our global business, means we have a lot to offer.

British American Tobacco operates in over 180 markets, including seven R&D and 79 manufacturing sites. Our vast global supply chain includes some 30,000 suppliers and more than 84,000 directly contracted farmers. Working collaboratively with suppliers and farmers is important for building climate-resilient businesses for the future.

Brands with purpose

For a company to effectively align its sustainability ambitions with its corporate strategy, they need to link their products and services to their sustainability ambitions and bring their consumers on the journey with them. For example, we’re cutting single use plastics from our packaging and implementing schemes for our consumers to return electronic product devices. This year, we were proud to announce that our Vuse product has become the first global carbon neutral vape brand .

As a brand leader, this is the right thing to do. It further demonstrates how we are building a portfolio of global brands with purpose for the future as part of our vision for A Better TomorrowTM.

A Better TomorrowTM

We all have a responsibility to protect our planet and the environment.

Business can and must embrace the values of a green economy and continue to accelerate progress towards a sustainable future. By working together, we can all help develop solutions to bring about lasting change and create A Better Tomorrow™ for all.