Philip Morris International

Review summary

Philip Morris International (PMI) submitted its Biodiversity and Water Strategy, its Sustainability Materiality Report and its 2023 Integrated Report to the It’s Now for Nature campaign and met all the review criteria to take part in the campaign.

Reviewed October 2024

PMI first published the results of their double sustainability materiality assessment in February 2022 in this report. The outcome of this assessment was re-confirmed during a 2023 internal refresh. PMI plans to periodically revisit its materiality assessments.
Pressures on nature for PMI are: ecosystem use and use change, spread of invasive species, climate change, water resources exploitation and pollution of soil, water and air.
PMI has targets to address relevant pressures: net zero GHG emissions by 2040 (validated by SBTi), multiple zero deforestation targets, and targets related to water stewardship in their operations and supply chain, and waste reduction including post-consumer waste.

PMI has SMART targets and aims to protect ecosystems across its value chain and achieve no net loss on ecosystems connected to PMI’s value chain by 2033.
PMI has a sustainability roadmap that includes key performance indicators (which are linked to executive compensation).
The company has multiple targets for zero deforestation, and water stewardship for 2025, 2030, 2033 and 2050.
For example, in its tobacco supply chain, PMI aspires to scale solutions towards a positive impact on water resources, measured as volume of water optimized and restored, by 2033.

PMI’s actions are centred on limiting and counterbalancing negative impacts on biodiversity resulting from PMI activities across the value chain to contribute to reverse biodiversity loss with nature positive activities in the long-term.
PMI’s theory of change for nature is based on the mitigation hierarchy following the AR3T framework from SBTN.
An example for ‘Transform’: Along with other water stewardship best practices, PMI actively engages at watershed level with relevant stakeholder groups to work closely on shared water challenges. In their direct operations, this has already resulted in AWS certification for 24 of PMI’s manufacturing facilities.

Sustainability is integrated as part of PMI’s formal company structure with clear accountabilities at different level of the organization. The Sustainability Committee includes members of the Company Management, including the CEO.
Sustainability priorities are linked to executive responsibilities for integration into daily operations.
Company Management members are tasked with driving sustainability progress within their areas.
The Sustainability Committee reviews and validates sustainability materiality analysis, strategy, commitments, goals, and annual reporting
The Sustainability Committee, which includes the CEO, meets at least four times annually.