Imperial Brands is a British tobacco and nicotine company headquartered in Bristol.
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Imperial Brands discloses substantial carbon reductions in operations (72% S1+S2) and has SBTi-validated net-zero targets, but structural harms persist: tobacco farming drives deforestation and water contamination, 4.5 trillion cigarette butts remain unaddressed, and the company actively lobbies against tobacco regulation while greenwashing via ESG awards.
Imperial Brands scores 44/100 (Below expectations) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Fees pay for the review, never the result. Last verified August 2026.
That places Imperial Brands joint 278th of 847 companies scored, and 10th of 45 in FMCG / Consumer Goods.
Where Imperial Brands sits among fmcg / consumer goods peers.
Among the 45 major fmcg / consumer goods brands we've scored, Imperial Brands sits 10th of 45.
Its three lowest-scoring questions, and what the evidence didn't show.
No TNFD disclosure.
No major chemical discharge incidents.
STOP/Euronews (Dec 2025) document Imperial among major producers spending ~€14M/year in opaque EU lobbying against tobacco regulation.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Evidence that isn't public can count through an evidence review.
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Get in touch →Strongest on Carbon Footprint — Operations and Targets & Commitments (8/10, 8/10). Weakest on Nature & Biodiversity Impact and Water Impact (3/10, 5/10).
The 3 companies in the sector scoring nearest above Imperial Brands.
L'Oréal has cut operational emissions 51% since 2019 and reached 97% renewable energy, but total emissions rose above 2019 baseline due to Scope 3 increases.
See the breakdown →Natura &Co demonstrates strong biodiversity leadership and transparent climate accountability, having exceeded its 2030 Scope 1&2 target early.
See the breakdown →Chopard has published its first formal sustainability report and committed to SBTi-aligned targets, but lacks verified emissions data across all scopes.
See the breakdown →The formula and all 9 sources.
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × Scale9 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
“Scope 1 emissions of approximately 73437000 kg CO2e for Scope 1, 15683000 kg CO2e for Scope 2 (market-based)”
“Every stage of the tobacco supply chain poses serious environmental consequences, including deforestation, the use of fossil fuels and the dumping or leaking of waste”
“the tobacco industry... cuts 600 million trees, 200,000 hectares of land, 22 billion tonnes of water, and emits 84 million tonnes of CO2”
“In 2021, Imperial Brands consumed 1.11 million cubic meters of water, a decrease of 7% over 2020”
“CDP corporate scores register; Imperial Brands historically CDP A-rated”
“These organisations include PMI, British American Tobacco, Japan Tobacco International, and Imperial Brands as major tobacco producers”
“All of the 'big four' TTCs (BAT, PMI, Japan Tobacco International and Imperial Brands) and Altria have been rated 'A', the highest possible rating, across various indices by the Carbon Disclosure Project”
“The Guardian reported tobacco industry lobbying activities to attempt to derail the bill... Imperial Brands also reportedly engaged with MPs and government officials”
“Imperial Brands supports net-zero by 2050; assessed as minimal substantive climate-policy engagement”
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Imperial Brands is a British tobacco and nicotine company headquartered in Bristol. It manufactures cigarettes, fine-cut and cigar products, vaping and heated-tobacco products, and oral nicotine. A major global cigarette producer, it operates across 160+ countries with a significant supply-chain footprint in agriculture-dependent regions.
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