Embedding sustainability to drive value creation

Philip Morris is a company transformed; one that is needed for a more sustainable and resilient economy. Writes Jack Bridger, Sustainability Senior Specialist

A field technician at work in Argentina, one of more than 2,500 employed by PMI worldwide, working with local farmers on agronomy and wider farming support

By Philip Morris International

24 Jun 2025

Partner Content

It might seem odd at first to hear a tobacco company talk about sustainability. But think about it: at its core, sustainability is all about companies taking responsibility for – and addressing – their negative impacts.

At Philip Morris Limited, the UK & Ireland affiliate of Philip Morris International, we don’t just talk about sustainability: we have fundamentally transformed our business to achieve it.

Jack Bridger, Sustainability Senior Specialist
Philip Morris Limited

In our case, the single most impactful thing we can do is to address our biggest negative externality: the health impact of smoking. This is why, almost 10 years ago, we completely revamped our corporate purpose. We’ve gone from being a cigarette company to a company working relentlessly to make cigarettes obsolete in the UK and globally. As our CEO has frequently said, we want to see cigarettes in museums, not on retail shelves.

Not many companies are willing to stand up and admit their legacy product needs to be replaced. Even fewer could conceive of making that change as quickly and radically as PML has. This total transformation sits at the core of our strategy.

And today, 42% of our global net revenues¹ come from smoke-free products, up from virtually zero a decade ago, with a target of two-thirds by 2030. And in the UK, our smoke-free product portfolio is
larger than that of our cigarette brands, helping us to reach this goal.

But it’s not just about what we produce, it’s about how we produce. Sustainability is a key driver across our value chain – making us more innovative and more competitive. As a company with a vast agricultural footprint and an increasingly complex supply chain, business resilience, operational efficiency and resource optimisation are vital.

We also prepare for the future by tackling environmental and wider social risks. Focusing on climate risk, prioritising product circularity, promoting biodiversity, defending against nature loss, and improving the lives of people across our supply chain all contribute to futureproofing our business.

We’re so serious about ESG that we’ve tied long-term senior executive compensation to specific sustainability targets related to phasing out cigarettes, using resources responsibly and caring for our employees and people along the value chain.

All the while, we are working hard to drive down emissions and mitigate climate risk. We’ll be carbon neutral in the UK by the end of 2025 and net zero by 2040.

We’re deploying take-back schemes for our smoke-free products at pace, have stringent Youth Access Prevention programmes and are concentrating on the fight against illicit trade, among other priorities.

These actions are why so many sustainability stakeholders are taking notice. We’ve been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for five years in a row², are triple A rated by CDP for Water Security, Climate and Forests³, and are fourth in the Forbes Net Zero list⁴.

But ultimately, none of that matters if long-term success isn’t being generated. A sustainable business is one that is profitable today, in the mid- and long term. It’s a business that adapts to the world’s changing landscapes. And most importantly, it’s a business that puts sustainability at its core: PML is doing that by relentlessly pursuing a smoke-free future in the UK.