PMI named a global leader in supplier engagement on sustainability by CDP

Philip Morris International has been recognized as one of the global leaders in sustainability for its efforts in supplier engagement.

International non-profit organization CDP included PMI on the Supplier Engagement Leaderboard. It rated how effective companies are in engaging their suppliers on reducing their energy use and carbon emissions. Each company was questioned on governance, targets, scope-3 emissions, and value chain engagement.

These programs have earned the company the distinction of being among the top three percent of organizations assessed by CDP, with PMI among the fewer than 160 companies on the Leaderboard.

CDP’s announcement of the Supplier Engagement Leadership scores comes after PMI received A-List ranking from CDP on both the Climate Change and Water Security rankings for 2019. 

PMI’s sustainability commitments were also recently documented as part of the 50 Sustainability and Climate Leaders initiative.

In today’s world, it is not enough for companies to work on sustainability directly within their business. They must also replicate and champion such efforts across their supply chain.

An organization’s upstream emissions (e.g., extraction, processing, handling, and transportation) are typically more than five times greater than their direct operations. This is why it is so important for companies to engage with their suppliers to reduce these emissions.

“Being recognized by CDP for our sustainability efforts is both humbling and encouraging as we continue our transformation,” said Huub Savelkouls, PMI’s Chief Sustainability Officer. “However, we must continue to accelerate our efforts for continued impact. Our work towards achieving a smoke-free future isn’t just about transforming our product. It’s about completely transforming the value chain and keeping sustainability at the heart of everything we do.” *

“Congratulations to all the companies on the CDP Supplier Engagement Leaderboard for this year,” said Dexter Galvin, Director of Corporates and Supply Chain at CDP. “They are showing leadership on engaging their suppliers to manage climate risk and cut emissions. Given that supply chain emissions are on average 5.5 times as high as a company’s operational emissions, this couldn’t be more crucial. If we are to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement and decarbonize the economy, then other companies learning from these leaders and engaging their suppliers is going to be vital.”