Vuse makes waves as the first global carbon neutral vape brand

- 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™

LONDON, July 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- 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™ 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 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, https://www.sec.gov and BAT's Annual Reports, which may be obtained free of charge from the British American Tobacco website 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 page 125

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