Philip Morris International receives fourth consecutive CDP “triple-A” rating for its sustainability leadership

06 Feb 2023
PMI’s action on climate change, protecting forests, and water security has been recognized by the environmental charity for the fourth year running. It follows the company becoming an early adopter of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD).
CDP A-list 2023 badge

Philip Morris International (PMI) has again received a “triple-A” rating from CDP for its disclosures on climate change, forests, and water security. It’s the fourth consecutive year PMI has been given the accolade from CDP, an international not-for-profit charity that helps companies disclose their environmental impacts.

This places PMI among the “leading companies in environmental transparency and action.” CDP said it had “scored over 21,000 companies based on information reported through its climate change, deforestation, and water security questionnaires. Just under 400 (two percent) of these have been named on its 2023 A List for disclosing actionable, high-quality environmental data.”

PMI is one of 10 companies to be awarded an A rating across all three thematic questionnaires—on climate change, forests, and water security. “The number of companies requested to disclose against all environmental issues in 2023 almost tripled since 2022,” CDP added.

PMI has maintained a position on CDP’s Climate A List for the past 10 years, reflecting its commitment to transparency and performance as the company progresses toward achieving its science-based targets, as well as its aspirations of carbon neutrality for direct operations (scope 1+2) by 2025, and net zero by 2040 for its entire value chain (scope 1+2+3).

PMI’s efforts to halt deforestation, aiming to achieve zero net deforestation in managed forests by 2030, have further been recognized by CDP, which placed the company on its Forests A List for the fourth consecutive year.

This is also the fifth year that PMI has been featured on CDP’s Water A List as the company works toward its water optimization targets—which include optimization of 10 million cubic meters of water (cumulative since 2019) in its tobacco-growing areas by 2030.

“External recognition from organizations like CDP encourages us to continue our transformation journey and commitment to sustainability. We are humbled PMI has received CDP’s ‘triple-A’ distinction for the fourth consecutive time,” said Scott Coutts, Senior Vice President of Operations, PMI. “Clear and transparent reporting of our progress helps us find new opportunities for action, identify and tackle growing risks, and get ahead of regulatory and policy changes.”

PMI is also committed to advancing the adoption of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) recommendations and intends to publish its first TNFD-aligned report for the financial year 2025. Accordingly, PMI has been included in an inaugural cohort of organizations that intend to become TNFD Early Adopters.

“We recognize the urgency to address climate change and protect biodiversity, and this is why our decarbonization strategy and progress are closely tied to preserving natural ecosystems,” said Jennifer Motles, Chief Sustainability Officer, PMI. “We are proud to be an early adopter of the TNFD framework and intend to publish our first report for fiscal year 2025, which builds on the work we have already done to incorporate climate-related risk and opportunities into our overall business strategy and disclosure efforts, following the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations.”

To access PMI’s latest reports, such as PMI’s TCFD Report 2022, PMI’s Low-Carbon Transition Plan, and PMI’s Water & Biodiversity Ambitions 2022, as well as additional information on its approach to sustainability, please visit pmi.com/sustainability.