Sustainability Investors Media Reporting Careers Contact us Worldwide Search About us Our products How we work Our industry Corporate social investment Helping to make a difference As an international business, with brands sold in more than 200 markets, we play an important role in countries around the world. Many of our companies have built close ties with the communities in which they operate and we have a longstanding approach to investing in these communities through our Corporate Social Investment (CSI) programme. The Group’s Strategic Framework for Corporate Social Investment (CSI) sets out our Group CSI strategy and how we expect our local operating companies to develop, deliver and monitor community investment programmes within three themes: Sustainable Agriculture and Environment; Empowerment; and Civic Life. Our Group Head of Sustainability has oversight of the Group CSI Strategy while Board-level governance is managed through our Audit Committee, which reviews the strategy and an analysis of activities (including spend and alignment to the Group priorities) at least once a year. We provide our companies with guidance on selecting, managing and evaluating major CSI activities and ask them to calculate their contributions using the London Benchmarking Group (LBG) model. This includes cash contributions, in-kind donations and employee volunteering in company time. In 2017, we invested a total of £18.7 million in cash and a further £14.3 million in in-kind charitable contributions and CSI projects. Nearly 73% of our total Group CSI spend is focused in our strategic markets, with a further 14% on global projects withthe Eliminating Child Labour in Tobacco Growing (ECLT) Foundation . Our companies deliver these projects in partnership with local communities, NGOs, governments, development agencies, academic institutions, industry associations and peer companies. Working in partnership has always been central to our approach, as many of the biggest sustainability challenges being faced today cannot, nor should not, be addressed in isolation. This approach is also particularly relevant to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) , specifically ‘Goal 17: Partnership for the Goals’. Our global themes Our CSI strategy focuses on activities within three themes. The sustainable agriculture and environment theme covers contributions to the social, economic and environmental sustainability of agriculture, farmers’ livelihoods and wider environmental issues. It includes activities such as efforts to improve biodiversity and access to water, afforestation, programmes to prevent child labour and tackle rural poverty, grants for agricultural research and training to help farmers grow non-tobacco crops. This theme directly aligns with SDG 15: Life on the Land, as well as with the Productivity area of our Group Strategy, and the Sustainable Agriculture and Farmer Livelihoods area of our Group Sustainability Agenda. This recognises that tobacco leaf is the most essential part of our products, so advancing sustainable agriculture practices, supporting farmer livelihoods and protecting the environment, is a pragmatic, commercial approach to ensuring we have an efficient, responsive, productive and secure agricultural supply chain, ensuring the integrity and quality of our products to satisfy our consumers. While our agricultural supply chain programmes, which you can read about in the Sustainable agriculture and farmer livelihoods section, are an important part of delivering against these business priorities, some of the major issues in agriculture today require a wider community or landscape-level approach, working collaboratively with local partners. Therefore, CSI activities in this area are an essential part of delivering our business strategy. The empowerment theme focuses on empowering individuals and communities where we operate, primarily by providing scholarships, training and skills development, supporting small businesses and promoting entrepreneurship. This directly aligns with SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, as well as our Group mission to ‘deliver our commitments to society’, which recognises that as a major international business we have responsibilities, including supporting the communities in which we operate and contributing to their economic development. It also aligns to the Group strategic pillars for 'Growth', by helping to build economic growth in key emerging markets, and ‘Winning Organisation’ by helping to upskill local people and widening the local talent pool so we can attract and employ the best people. The civic life theme encompasses activities that aim to enrich public and community life, including supporting the arts and educational institutions, such as local galleries, museums and theatres, conserving indigenous cultures and restoring public and cultural spaces. This directly aligns with SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, specifically its target to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage. Civic life is also aligned to our Group mission to ‘deliver our commitments to society’, as well as the Corporate Behaviour area of our Group Sustainability Agenda. They grow, we grow: helping farmers to thrive Sustainable agriculture and farmer livelihoods Respecting and recognising fundamental freedoms Human rights and Modern Slavery Act External links UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Eliminating Child Labour in Tobacco Growing Foundation About us We are BAT Our company A sustainable approach People and culture Our Guiding Principles Career development Culture and values Health and safety Corporate social investment Sustainable Agriculture Development Programme Meet the Board Corporate governance Policies, principles and standards Home About us People and culture Corporate social investment Latest tweets BAT Science @BAT_Sci #InVitro toxicological assessment is hugely important as a tool for BAT to assess our vaping and tobacco heating pr… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 02 Oct Our UK & Ireland Head of Legal & Ext Affairs Will Hill addresses vaping event, talking about BAT's commitmen… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 02 Oct Current UK share price 3557.00p +54.00p 02 Oct 2018 16:58 Quick Links Modern Slavery Act Statement Gender Pay Report Annual Report Sustainability Report Share price data Worldwide websites Email alerts Site map Contact us British American Tobacco p.l.c. 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