PR90811

LONDON, July 23, 2021 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

- Thames voyage officially marks BAT's Vuse becoming the first global carbon

neutral vape brand[1]

- Latest step in BAT's ambitious target to be carbon neutral across its own

operations by 2030

- Supports BAT's corporate purpose of building A Better Tomorrow(TM)

BAT's Vuse celebrates its position as the first global carbon neutral vape

brand with a carbon neutral summer voyage down the Thames in London, home of

BAT's global headquarters.

The event underscores Vuse's commitment to carbon neutrality and its various

supporting initiatives. For instance, in utilising substantial sea freight as

part of its global supply chain, the aim is to move the majority[2] of Vuse's

global shipments by sea freight by the end of next year.

Kingsley Wheaton, Chief Marketing Officer at BAT, said: "I am proud of the way

that Vuse is playing its part in delivering A Better Tomorrow by reducing its

impact on the environment.

"Vuse is a leading global brand with ever-increasing scale, which allows us to

drive global supply chain efficiencies and effectiveness. I am delighted that,

in Vuse, we are demonstrating the kind of purposeful behaviour expected from

leading brands of the world. This commitment will play a part in our vision of A

Better Tomorrow becoming a reality."

Notes to editors

Vuse's carbon neutrality was certified by BAT's sustainability partner, Vertis,

in May 2021 as a world-first global vape brand achievement and a significant

contribution to BAT's ambitious climate targets, including carbon neutrality

across its own operations by 2030. The achievement builds on BAT's strong ESG

foundations which are deeply embedded in its business, its people and its

culture. In 2020 alone, BAT achieved a 30.9% reduction in emissions from its

operations, contributing to a 37.4% reduction against a 2017 baseline. In March

2021, BAT announced a further ambition to be carbon neutral across its value

chain by 2050, representing around 90% of its total carbon footprint.

Vuse's carbon neutrality status, and ambition to increase sea freight, is part

of a bigger ambition to become an environmentally sustainable vape brand with

initiatives including:

    --  A global device and pod collection scheme - through BAT's Drop the Pod

        campaign, approximately 200k pods were collected since the start of the

        pilot in 2020

    --  Cutting single use plastics from packaging - Cut the Wrap has saved 100

        tonnes of plastic, or the equivalent of four million plastic bottles in

        2020[3]

BAT has reduced its carbon usage by 30% in the last year[4]. It has been

reducing its carbon footprint by:

    --  Improving the energy efficiency of factories by upgrading to more

        efficient and lower-impact equipment

    --  Increasing the use of renewable energy through renewable energy

        purchases and on-site energy generation. On-site solar energy is used in

        factories in eight countries and two new installations are planned this

        year.

    --  Driving external certification for carbon neutrality - three of BAT's

        major sites are going through external certification for carbon

        neutrality.

BAT is committed to its purpose of building A Better Tomorrow(TM) by reducing

the health impact of its business through providing a range of enjoyable and

less risky products*.

BAT's sustainability efforts and commitment have received notable independent

recognition. These include inclusion in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices

[https://www.bat.com/group/sites/UK__9D9KCY.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DOBVDT5D] for 19

consecutive years (the only tobacco company to be listed in the prestigious

World Index in 2020), a MSCI rating of BBB and CDP A List status for climate

change.

Vuse's carbon neutrality is part of BAT's overall carbon reduction ambitions and

has been independently validated by Vertis based on product Life Cycle

Assessment data provided by an independent third party. Today's voyage down the

Thames was carbon neutral.

About BAT

BAT is a leading, multi-category consumer goods business with a purpose to build

A Better Tomorrow by reducing the health impact of its business through offering

a greater choice of enjoyable and less risky products for adult consumers. The

company continues to be clear that combustible cigarettes pose serious health

risks, and the only way to avoid these risks is not to start or to quit. BAT

encourages those who would otherwise continue to smoke to switch completely to

scientifically-substantiated, reduced-risk alternatives*. In order to deliver

this, BAT is transforming into a truly consumer-centric multi-category consumer

products business. BAT employs over 53,000 people and operates in over 180

countries, with 11 million points of sale and 45 factories in 43 markets. The

company's Strategic Portfolio is made up of its global cigarette brands and a

growing range of reduced-risk* New Category tobacco and nicotine products and

traditional non-combustible tobacco products. These include vapour, tobacco

heating products, modern oral products including tobacco-free nicotine pouches,

as well as traditional oral products such as snus and moist snuff. In 2020, we

had 13.5 million consumers of our non-combustible products, a rise of 3 million

on the year before. The BAT Group generated revenue of £25.8 billion in 2020

and

profit from operations of £9.9 billion.

*Based on the weight of evidence and assuming a complete switch from cigarette

smoking. These products are not risk free and are addictive.

Forward Looking Statements

This release contains certain forward-looking statements, including

"forward-looking" statements made within the meaning of the U.S. Private

Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are often, but not

always, made through the use of words or phrases such as "believe,"

"anticipate," "could," "may," "would," "should," "intend," "plan," "potential,"

"predict," "will," "expect," "estimate," "project," "positioned," "strategy,"

"outlook", "target" and similar expressions. These include statements regarding

our customer target ambition, New Categories revenue targets and our ESG

targets.

All such forward-looking statements involve estimates and assumptions that are

subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors. It is believed that the

expectations reflected in this release are reasonable but they may be affected

by a wide range of variables that could cause actual results to differ

materially from those currently anticipated. A review of the reasons why actual

results and developments may differ materially from the expectations disclosed

or implied within forward-looking statements can be found by referring to the

information contained under the headings "Forward-looking statements" and "Group

Principal Risks " in the 2020 Annual Report and Form 20-F of British American

Tobacco p.l.c. (BAT).

Additional information concerning these and other factors can be found in BAT's

filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including the

Annual Report on Form 20-F and Current Reports on Form 6-K, which may be

obtained free of charge at the SEC's website, http://www.sec.gov

[http://www.sec.gov/] and BAT's Annual Reports, which may be obtained free of

charge from the British American Tobacco website www.bat.com

[http://www.bat.com/].

Past performance is no guide to future performance and persons needing advice

should consult an independent financial adviser. The forward-looking statements

reflect knowledge and information available at the date of preparation of this

release and BAT undertakes no obligation to update or revise these

forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future

events or otherwise. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such

forward-looking statements.

[1] Based on ePod, ePen, eTank mini, Alto devices and consumables internal sales

forecast (calculated March 2021) for 12 months starting from April 2021

[2] Vuse aims to have 80% of international shipments transported by sea by the

end of 2022.

[3] Plastic saving per annum was calculated from 2020 global sales volumes and

the plastic bottles comparison was based on a 22.9g bottle weight,

representative weight of 500ml commercially available soft drink bottles (May

2020). Results have been verified by an independent body.

[4] BAT_ESG_Report_2020.pdf

[https://www.bat.com/group/sites/UK__9D9KCY.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DOAWWEKR/$file/BA

T_ESG_Report_2020.pdf?open&v=1]

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Photo -

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Source: BAT