Better Health for All

The company's principal goods, including cigarettes, fine cut tobacco, and cigars, cause severe, widespread health damage. While Next-Generation Products (NGPs) are presented as less harmful alternatives, they are still nicotine delivery devices, and the company's core business includes highly addictive substances.

The company promotes transparency in scientific data for NGPs and uses a relative risk scale, but acknowledges conflicting media headlines about NGP safety and a lack of long-term evidence. The company invests in research and development of NGPs, including scientific assessment frameworks and alternatives to animal testing, but no specific R&D budget percentage is provided. NGPs do not produce smoke or side-stream emissions, suggesting a lower impact on indoor air quality compared to cigarettes, but the company's core products (cigarettes) have significant negative health externalities. The company acknowledges nicotine addiction but focuses on harm reduction through NGPs as alternatives, rather than comprehensive addiction mitigation or recovery support. Clinical studies are mentioned for NGPs, but no details on ethical conduct, participant diversity, or full results transparency are provided. The company emphasizes the need to educate stakeholders about NGPs and tobacco harm reduction, but this is primarily focused on combating misinformation about their products rather than broad public health education.

Fair Money & Economic Opportunity

Imperial Brands PLC is a multinational tobacco company.

The ethical value 'Fair Money & Economic Opportunity' is designed to assess companies involved in lending, insuring, moving, or storing money, focusing on financial inclusion and fair financial services. The provided articles do not contain any evidence that Imperial Brands PLC operates as a financial institution or offers any financial products or services to consumers. Therefore, all KPIs related to financial services are not applicable to the company's core business or reported activities.

Fair Pay & Worker Respect

In 2023, the company's CEO to median employee pay ratio was 112.1:1.

For its UK operations, the median hourly pay for women was 90.8% of men's median pay in 2024, based on a median hourly pay gap of 9.2%. An employee survey in the UK in 2023 indicated that 82% of employees understood company behaviors.

Honest & Fair Business

Imperial Brands PLC achieved a 2024 Workforce Disclosure Initiative (WDI) disclosure score of 97%.

The company has a formal whistle-blower protection policy with a 'Speaking Up' platform available in multiple languages, but there is no evidence of independent investigation processes. Financial data for baseline and previous years was restated due to a Scope 2 market-based emissions correction. Independent audit procedures covered 83% of Profit before tax, 81% of Revenue, and 91% of Total assets. Sustainalytics notes the company is at high risk of material financial impact from ESG factors, indicating a slightly below median controversy score. The company has a zero-tolerance policy for bribery and corruption with mandatory training for employees, but the effectiveness metrics are not provided. Independent assurance by Ernst & Young LLP (EY) covers selected ESG content under ISAE 3000.

Kind to Animals

Imperial Brands has a policy not to commission or conduct research involving animals unless formally required by governments or recognized regulatory authorities.

The company has embraced Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century (TT21C) methodologies and uses in-vitro techniques, including advanced cell-based assays and 3D lung models, as alternatives to animal testing. Their Alternatives to Animal Testing (ATAT) program began almost a decade ago, with heavy investment in TT21C research since 2016. In 2019, Imperial Brands, along with other tobacco companies, donated $110,000 worth of equipment to the Institute for In Vitro Sciences (IIVS) for an in vitro respiratory toxicology laboratory. The company is scientifically engaging with regulators to increase the knowledge and acceptance of TT21C approaches and is working on educating regulators, media, and consumers about their advantages. PETA Science has endorsed Imperial Brands' animal-free research. However, the company's R&D budget allocated to animal-free technologies is not specified as a percentage, and the $110,000 donation is not explicitly stated as a percentage of R&D budget. The company's engagement with regulators is primarily focused on increasing acceptance of TT21C, which is a reactive rather than a leadership position in policy advocacy.

No War, No Weapons

The company's core business is tobacco, with no defense or arms-related activities, dual-use technology R&D, peacebuilding investment, or defense-related board oversight.

It also has no peace technology investment. The company divested its entire Russian operation on April 20, 2022, following the suspension of operations in Russia and Ukraine, which represented 2% of net revenue and 0.5% of adjusted operating profit in FY21. This action aligns with a policy that commits divestment within 12 months of new conflict exposure. The company conducts annual human rights audits in high-risk regions. It states alignment with UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, but implementation is uneven across divisions. The company's Supplier Code of Conduct expects suppliers to advise if products are not DRC Conflict Free, but no specific percentage of the supply chain is certified conflict-free, and there is no due diligence on mineral sourcing. The company conducted one war-risk audit, but the summary remains internal. Annual partner reviews are performed, but no substantive action is taken. The company has no codified ethical red lines, and its Supplier Code of Conduct only bans non-DRC Conflict Free minerals, not broader categories like cluster munitions or landmines. The company has no procurement from conflict-affected or high-risk areas, but it does not have comprehensive safeguards. The company has 25% compliance with ethical boundaries, with violations documented but not addressed.

Safe & Smart Tech

The company's privacy notice, updated December 5, 2024,

outlines user rights to access, correct, and delete data, and to withdraw consent, which aligns with industry-standard user privacy controls. The privacy notice also states that data retention is based on purpose and legal obligations, indicating standard data collection and retention practices. Furthermore, the privacy notice references GDPR and other relevant regulations, suggesting basic compliance with applicable regulations.

Zero Waste & Sustainable Products

Imperial Brands achieved less than 1% waste to landfill from its manufacturing and offices since May 2024, and 0 tonnes of non-hazardous landfill waste since May 2024 (excluding 3 out-of-scope sites).

The company's average packaging recyclability in the EU & UK was 84% in 2024, with 94% of assessed EU & UK packaging formats deemed recyclable. Overall waste was reduced by 32% from a 2017 baseline, and non-hazardous landfill waste by 96% from a 2022 baseline. A "Zero Waste" program was implemented in 2022, focusing on the 4R's (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover), and waste champions are nominated at each site. The company aims to eliminate landfill waste from all operations by 2025. It has waste requirements for all tier-1 suppliers through its Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) program.