Better Health for All

BAT's principal goods, conventional cigarettes, cause severe, widespread health damage, a fact known by company scientists since the 1950s.

In 2024, approximately 82% of BAT's revenue came from these conventional tobacco products. The company's business model is dependent on nicotine addiction, with its CEO denying nicotine's addictiveness in 1994. While BAT offers 'potentially reduced-risk products' (PRRPs) like vapes and oral nicotine pouches, these are not risk-free and the best choice for adult smokers is to quit completely, with the company's approach maintaining addiction rather than supporting recovery. Historically, BAT publicly denied the harmful effects of smoking into the 1980s, impacting health literacy. A 2024-2025 survey found that 70% of policy experts and 79% of medical professionals are not well-informed enough to recommend BAT's smokeless alternatives, indicating limited effectiveness of its health education efforts. BAT scientists confirmed in the 1970s that second-hand smoke from its products was harmful, a severe negative health externality for which no specific remediation efforts are mentioned. The company does not offer health-related products or services requiring accessibility considerations, nor does it produce or sell food or nutritional products. Its studies follow standardized regulatory-endorsed methodologies and requisite quality standards, including good laboratory and clinical practice, and are conducted through third-party organizations where possible.

Fair Money & Economic Opportunity

British American Tobacco Kenya trained 208 women on financial literacy in 2024 as part of its Rural Women’s Development Programme.

These women are from tobacco leaf growing communities, which include 1,870 contracted farmers. The company's core business is tobacco, and it does not offer consumer lending, deposit, or insurance products. Therefore, KPIs related to financial product pricing, fees, loan books, debt burden, data accessibility for financial services, and fair lending compliance are not applicable. Similarly, there is no direct impact on customer credit or savings outcomes from financial products, nor is there profit reinvestment in community finance. The company does not operate financial service access points, and its products are not financial in nature.

Fair Pay & Worker Respect

The CEO to median employee pay ratio was 51:1.

For pay equity, men and women, as well as ethnically diverse and non-ethnically diverse groups, were paid within 1% of each other for the same work or work of equal value in 2024, and the company retained independent accreditation from Fair Pay Workplace. The employee engagement score was 84% in 2024, based on "Your Voice" surveys with a 92% participation rate. However, 45 violations of labour laws and safety regulations were detected at BATB's Kushtia factory.

Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing

90.6% of product materials and higher-risk indirect suppliers have undergone at least one independent labour audit within a three-year cycle.

The Supplier Code of Conduct (SCoC) is applied in 100% of contracts with suppliers.

Honest & Fair Business

The company provides independently managed "Speak Up" channels, including a hotline, email, and online portal, available 24/7 in local languages.

All reported cases are investigated, with 100% of child labor incidents identified, 100% of Thrive Supply Chain grievances, and 100% of all reported grievances resolved by the end of the growing season in 2024. The company maintains comprehensive Standards of Business Conduct (SoBC) that address ethical behavior, including anti-corruption and anti-bribery. In 2024, 100% of employees completed annual SoBC training and compliance sign-off. Operations are evaluated for corruption-related risks, and a third-party Anti-Financial Crimes Procedure is utilized to mitigate related risks. In 2024, there were 512 alleged SoBC breaches, 164 of which were established, resulting in 81 disciplinary actions where employees left the company.

Kind to Animals

The company's animal testing policy states it does not routinely test ingredients or products on animals, but allows for animal testing when necessary to meet safety, legal, or regulatory requirements where no recognized alternative exists.

For the vast majority of assessments, the company relies on scientific literature, chemical analyses, and in vitro techniques, including human 3D tissues, systems biology, and robotics. British American Tobacco has also participated in collaborative initiatives, including joining other companies to donate equipment worth $110,000 to the Institute for In Vitro Sciences (IIVS) to help replace the use of animals in respiratory testing.

No War, No Weapons

British American Tobacco's subsidiary admitted to selling cigarettes to North Korea between 2007 and 2017, violating sanctions.

These sales involved falsified transactions to trick US banks and resulted in a total monetary penalty, fine, and forfeiture of $629,891,853. The company entered a Deferred Prosecution Agreement, agreeing not to knowingly undertake USD transactions for North Korea, Iran, Syria, or Cuba in the future. While the company's Supplier Code of Conduct is based on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and its conflict minerals due diligence conforms to OECD guidance, the extensive sanctions violations indicate uneven implementation of these principles.

Planet-Friendly Business

Total Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas emissions were approximately 4.14 million tCO2e in 2023-2024.

The company's 1.5°C-aligned and Net Zero GHG emissions targets were re-submitted to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) for validation in September 2024. In 2024, 45.1% of direct energy usage came from renewable sources. The waste diversion rate was 98.7% in 2024, with 1.3% of operational waste going to landfill. The company discontinued its carbon-neutral operations target in 2024, focusing instead on absolute emission reductions. For supply chain climate transparency, 70.03% of purchased goods and services emissions were disclosed through the CDP Supply Chain programme. By year-end 2024, 23.5% of suppliers had Science Based Targets in place. The company reported 98.5% of wood used in its Thrive Supply Chain had Deforestation and Conversion Free (DCF) status in 2024, and 100% of pulp and paper materials were sourced with low risk of deforestation in 2024. In 2024, 39% of water withdrawn was from operations sites in water-stressed areas.

Respect for Cultures & Communities

The company ensures robust grievance mechanisms, with 97.96% of farmers and farm laborers in its Thrive Supply Chain reporting access to at least one channel in 2024.

All 307 grievances raised in 2024 were reported as resolved by the end of the growing season. Furthermore, 100% of employees complete annual Standards of Business Conduct (SoBC) training, which includes human rights, and over 417,000 attendees received human rights training in 2024. The company has established 10 formal partnerships, including co-founding the Eliminating Child Labour in Tobacco Growing (ECLT) Foundation, partnering with local authorities in Vietnam for a Women’s Empowerment Programme, and collaborating with the Malaysian Department of Agriculture and Residents’ Associations for the Beyond Benih initiative. No cultural appropriation incidents have been reported.

Zero Waste & Sustainable Products

The company demonstrates strong performance in take-back programs, with 100% of New Category markets having schemes in place for devices in 2023.

Packaging sustainability is high, with 97% of packaging being reusable, recyclable, or compostable in 2024. The waste diversion rate reached 88.1% in 2024. The company has set ambitious waste reduction targets for 2025, including a 25% reduction in absolute waste generated (vs 2017 baseline), which was exceeded with a 31.0% reduction by 2024. Numerous waste reduction initiatives are in place, such as ecodesign principles, a Green Design Tool, and product redesigns. Hazardous waste, which constituted 1.38% of total waste in 2023, saw its share reduced by 18.74% since 2021. Customer education efforts, like anti-littering campaigns, have shown measurable impact, reducing cigarette butt litter by over 50% in some regions. However, recycled content in plastic packaging was low at 1.15% in 2023, and the target for average recycled content in plastic packaging was withdrawn due to global shortages. Ecodesign principles were introduced and began testing in 2024, indicating an ongoing but not yet fully embedded approach.