PMI releases Integrated Report, demonstrating strong ESG performance and progress toward delivering a smoke-free future
LAUSANNE, Switzerland– May 18, 2021– Philip Morris International Inc. today published its Integrated Report, a comprehensive overview of the company’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance and its progress toward its purpose of delivering a smoke-free future. This includes its 2025 ambitions to have switched more than 40 million adult smokers to its smoke-free products, with half from non-OECD countries, and for smoke-free products to account for more than 50 percent of PMI’s total net revenues. Further accelerating PMI’s transformation, this year the company introduced two new 2025 ambitions, linked to its Business Transformation Metrics: for its smoke-free products to be available in 100 markets and for at least USD 1 billion in annual net revenues to come from “beyond nicotine” products. The Integrated Report also outlines case studies of early indications of PMI’s smoke-free products’ impacts in markets where such products have a meaningful presence.
“I present this report with pride in what we have already achieved in just five years, such as smoke-free products accounting for nearly one-quarter of our total net revenues in 2020, from essentially zero in 2015. I also have a deep recognition of the immense work ahead. Our new ambitious goals signal our confidence in our ability to monumentally change our company’s long-term future,” said Jacek Olczak, Chief Executive Officer. “PMI is committed to serving as an agent of change and advocate of positive values. Innovation and inclusiveness are key to solving our challenges, whether related to tobacco harm reduction, environmental impact, or social impact. We aim to create a sustainable future that benefits our company, shareholders, consumers, and society.”
PMI’s Integrated Report 2020 demonstrates how the organization’s strategy, governance, and performance create value. To showcase impact, the company reports on progress in various ESG areas, including toward achieving its ambitious 2025 Roadmap—a set of forward-looking targets pertaining to all Tier 1 topics from PMI’s sustainability materiality assessment.
The report highlights PMI’s most material sustainability topics, including the health impacts of its products and describes how the company is working toward researching, developing, and commercializing scientifically substantiated better alternatives to continued smoking for those adults who do not quit. It also includes a new section on the company’s business transformation – which extends beyond changing the product.
The report also outlines the company’s firm belief that sustainability strategy is corporate strategy and that ESG issues are business issues..
Acknowledging the difficult challenges of the past year, PMI dedicated sections throughout its Integrated Report to showing how it addressed the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the adjustments made in response.
The report was prepared following the Integrated Reporting framework and is in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative Standards. It aligns with the principles and standards of the UN Global Compact and indicates contributions to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and corresponding targets.
On June 2, PMI will host an ESG-focused webcast during which the company will offer additional insight into how integrating sustainability across its business creates value for its shareholders and stakeholders. PMI will also publish in the coming week an ESG Highlights document, which will provide a more data-focused executive summary of the Integrated Report and will be made available on PMI.com/investor-relations.
Philip Morris International: Delivering a Smoke-Free Future
Philip Morris International (PMI) is leading a transformation in the tobacco industry to create a smoke-free future and ultimately replace cigarettes with smoke-free products to the benefit of adults who would otherwise continue to smoke, society, the company, and its shareholders. PMI is a leading international tobacco company engaged in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes, as well as smoke-free products, associated electronic devices and accessories, and other nicotine-containing products. In addition, PMI ships versions of its IQOS Platform 1 device and consumables to Altria Group, Inc. for sale under license in the U.S., where these products have received marketing authorizations from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) pathway; the FDA has also authorized the marketing of a version of IQOS and its consumables as a modified risk tobacco product (MRTP), finding that an exposure modification order for these products is appropriate to promote the public health. PMI is building a future on a new category of smoke-free products that, while not risk-free, are a much better choice than continuing to smoke. Through multidisciplinary capabilities in product development, state-of-the-art facilities, and scientific substantiation, PMI aims to ensure that its smoke-free products meet adult consumer preferences and rigorous regulatory requirements. PMI’s smoke-free product portfolio includes heat-not-burn and nicotine-containing vapor products. As of March 31, 2021, PMI’s smoke-free products are available for sale in 66 markets in key cities or nationwide, and PMI estimates that approximately 14 million adults around the world have already switched to IQOS and stopped smoking.