BAT Launches tobacco industry-first Human Rights Report
London - British American Tobacco p.l.c. (BAT) has today become the first tobacco company to publish a Human Rights Report. The report coincides with UN Human Rights Day and highlights the company’s commitment and actions to protect human rights across its global business and supply chain. BAT has also announced a commitment to aim for zero child labour in its agricultural supply chain by 2025.
BAT’s Human Rights Report is aligned with the United Nations Guiding Principles Reporting Framework. The report highlights the extensive measures BAT takes to promote, uphold and protect the human rights across its extensive supply chain, which includes 90,000 directly contracted farmers. The report also features case studies to showcase partnerships and activities aimed at improving farmer livelihoods and securing the long-term sustainability of rural communities.
The report is published on UN Human Rights Day which, this year, focuses on the global impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on human rights. Ensuring the health and welfare of all employees around the world is central to BAT’s strategy to build A Better Tomorrow for all stakeholders. The report highlights many of the initiatives the company has adopted to address the pandemic including:
- Developing a potential COVID-19 vaccine candidate
- Producing and distributing protective equipment and sanitiser
- Providing financial support to suppliers where required
- Ensuring access to COVID-secure workplaces for workers throughout our supply chain
ESG is a key driver of BAT’s transformation journey to build a Better Tomorrow for all stakeholders. At the centre of our strategy is our purpose to reduce the health impact of our business through offering a range of enjoyable and potentially reduced-risk products. We continue 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. BAT encourages those who otherwise continue to smoke, to switch completely to scientifically-substantiated, reduced-risk alternatives
Jack Bowles, BAT CEO, said:
“ESG is front and centre in all that we do and is a key driver of our purpose to build A Better Tomorrow.
"We recognise that forced labour is a serious risk in agricultural supply chains and I am proud that we had zero reported cases of forced labour in 2019. We adopt a zero-tolerance approach to forced labour whilst having a clear commitment to aim for our tobacco supply chain to also be free of child labour by 2025.”
“This journey will not be easy, but by focusing on the most difficult issues I believe we can push ourselves to create A Better Tomorrow for everyone.”
The report can be downloaded from www.bat.com/humanrightsreport
ENDS
Notes to Editors
About the report
Tobacco supply chain
- Commitment to aim for zero child labour in BAT’s tobacco supply chain by 2025
- 99.4% of farms monitored had no incidences of child labour identified
- 100% of identified child labour incidents remediated and resolved
- Human rights impact assessments, aligned with the UNGPs, completed in India, Indonesia and Mozambique, including engagement with over 900 rights-holders
- 5,000+ human rights training sessions, with over 350,000 attendances
- 298 women's empowerment training sessions, with more than 24,000 attendees
- Extensive COVID support, including reaching some 34,000 farmers in Bangladesh with PPE and COVID communications; enhancing clean water supplies for farming communities in Kenya; and expanding mobile doctor units in Pakistan to reach more than 150,000 people
Beyond the tobacco supply chain
- 100% product materials suppliers assessed for human rights risks
- 94 suppliers independently audited for workplace conditions in 31 countries
- 71% of corrective actions fully completed and verified by year end
- Supplier COVID support, including helping those struggling with cashflow issues by ensuring that, where needed, they are paid earlier than existing payment terms require
- Upholding human rights standards by implementing alternatives for when on-site audits have not been possible during COVID restrictions
BAT’s people
- New ambition to increase the proportion of women in senior teams to 40% by 2025
- 100% employees trained on BAT’s Standards of Business Conduct
- US$3m pledged by the Group’s US business to organisations that combat racism and inequality
- Became signatories to the UK Race at Work Charter for supporting equality and race in the workplace
- We achieved certification as a Disability Confident Committed employer under the UK government’s accreditation scheme.
- Implemented a wide range of measures to create ‘COVID-19-secure’ workplaces, and reinforced the extensive wellbeing support available to employees, including online medical consultations and mental health support.
