Focus on: Human rights

Our purpose is to transition to a world-leading smoke-free business, leaving cigarettes behind while simultaneously expanding our offerings to include products within the wellness and healthcare space that may in the longer term have a net positive impact on society. The biggest and most pressing negative externality we aim to address is the health impacts of cigarette smoking. This is the main contribution we can make to public health and is the cornerstone of our company’s purpose and strategy. To achieve it, we must radically transform our business—not only substituting one product with a new one but also evolving our entire value chain and changing the way we engage with stakeholders.

Jacek Olczak, Chief Executive Officer

Constructive dialogue is essential for moving forward our work and for advancing sustainable solutions to systemic human rights risks, especially regarding practices that are culturally embedded. We believe that the only way to reach our aspirations of a sustainable future is through stakeholder consultation. We will continue increasing consultation with rightsholders, particularly the most vulnerable groups, which is key to identify, mitigate, and remedy human rights issues throughout our value chain.

Jennifer Motles , Chief Sustainability Officer 

In our 2021 Integrated Report we announced our plans to review our Human Rights Commitment. We have achieved this, including acting upon opportunities to strengthen it. Now, we plan to ensure coherence between our policy instruments and the updated Commitment to Human Rights. We will continue to evolve our approach, and commit to progress toward alignment with emerging trends and requirements related to human rights due diligence.

Scott Coutts, Senior Vice President, Operations

The continuing transformation of our business model is aimed toward a shared and sustainable future. Along with our goal to lead an industrywide transformation whereby cigarettes are phased out completely, we also aim to enshrine respect for human rights in all our activities. Our ability to build and maintain trust and legitimacy relies on ensuring our words match our actions. The UNGPs have provided companies across industries with a shared roadmap for respecting human rights and have changed the human rights landscape, contributing toward heightened awareness and more rights-respectful practices. We will continue to report transparently on progress, lessons learnt, and key challenges. Going forward, we plan to strengthen our alignment with the UN Guiding Principles Reporting Framework (UNGPRF) and further enhance the sophistication of our approach. We aim to work as effectively as possible to reduce the risk of human rights incidences in our business activities. We are committed to continuous improvement and recognize that the only way to ensure this happens is through ongoing dialogue. Our vision is of a future where we can have a net positive impact in the world.

Yann Guérin, SVP & Global Head of Law & Compliance