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News Round-Up #1

11th May 2020 by TDi Sustainability


Top Story

The top story is our new website!

After five years of close collaboration towards a shared vision for a responsible industry, the Coloured Gemstones Working Group (CGWG), first established in 2015, makes today its public debut with the inauguration of this website.

Dr. Assheton Stewart Carter, CEO of TDI Sustainability, the advisory firm that represents the CGWG, says,

“The responsible sourcing movement is a powerful force that has the potential to bring transformative change and improve the lives of many people deep in the coloured gemstone supply chain. The objective must be to make sustainability familiar and accessible to even the smallest businesses and the individual crafts person. To have a truly sustainable footprint, industry collaboration is the only way forward. The CGWG has taken a step to provide the tools and information to help achieve this goal, but it is only the first step. The next steps in this journey need to be taken in tandem with others and we invite businesses large and small as well as consumers to engage in this vital process and join our Platform”.

We hope you register your interest for the Platform, if you haven’t already, and enjoy finding out more throughout the website.

 


News from around the industry

A checklist for jewellery gearing up for a June reopening

Professional Jewellery shares a break-down of measures the government advises jewellers take this month in preparation for potentially reopening in June.

Emergency action needed for vulnerable artisanal and small-scale mining communities and supply chains

As the corona virus sweeps the globe, affecting the health and lives of millions, the pandemic is wreaking further economic havoc on the lives of artisanal, small scale miners and their communities. At a time of heightened risks in global mineral supply chains, the carrying out of due diligence and support for on-the-ground, OECD-aligned initiatives are more important than ever.

Good Jewels: gems for Earth Day and beyond
Growing awareness of the harm inflicted on the planet has led several jewellers to create pieces that support positive action to reverse climate change. In conjunction with Earth Day 2020, the Jewellery Editor has selected those jewels that do their part in tackling the climate crisis, including Pomellato, Venyx World, Annoushka, Pippa Small, Patrick Mavros.

CIBJO offers free resources during COVID-19 pandemic
The international jewellery confederation, CIBJO, has made its Blue Books – which define grading standards, nomenclature, and responsible sourcing practices for diamonds, coloured gemstones, pearls, coral, and precious metals – free for all to download for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Blue Books represent the most widely accepted set of rules and terminology for the international jewellery community.

5 Independent Jewellery Brands With Noteworthy Sustainable Agendas
Sustainability in an industry whose precious raw materials – gold and gemstones – come from the earth itself is a thorny subject. Given the inevitable impact of mining on the environment and a complex and often mysterious supply chain, “ethical jewellery” is a reductionist marketing phrase that gets bandied around too easily. Consumers are increasingly keen to make the right choices but greenwashing can mean they end up being misled. In ‘Get Your Greens’, an ongoing series in line with the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, British Vogue selects a pick of responsible jewellers who are moving the needle in the right direction

Baselworld cancelled for 2021
MCH Group, the owner and organiser of Baselworld, has announced that the show will not take place in 2021. The exhibition was scheduled for January 28 to February 2, 2021. It was described as the ‘2020 event – postponed’, but MCH Group has now officially cancelled the fair.

 


Coming soon

Webinar: Presentation of the Gemstones and Jewellery Community Platform

Date: 28th May 2020

Sign-up to our webinar where we will share the Platform with you in greater detail, including the resources and tools available for learning and capacity building, and answer any questions you might have about the initiative and how to join!

Sign-up for the 10am GMT webinar.

Sign-up for the 6pm GMT webinar.

Paper 2: Mining ~ Hands that Dig, Hands that Feed

Date: TBC

Discover the first steps of coloured gemstones from geological formation and discovery through to mining and recovery, and insight into the potential of the coloured gemstone mining sector to catalyse sustainable development.

 


Filed Under: TDI Sustainability Tagged With: Coloured gemstones, news round-up

The Hidden Cost

5th October 2019 by TDi Sustainability

The Human Rights Responsibility Of Jewellery Companies And International Responsible Sourcing Standards.

Human rights abuses that occur within jewellery supply chains are well-documented. In the majority of cases the problems are rooted in poverty and affect the marginalised and powerless who have little defence against exploitation. The exploitation may take place at the hands of governments, through political volatility or as a result of price-sensitive market forces squeezing the most vulnerable in a supply chain.

Typically, an item of jewellery is the end product of a long and architecturally complex supply chain. However, the word ‘chain’ is misleading; it suggests a linear process with clear links leading from one partner to the next. In reality, the route to market for each element of a finished piece of jewellery is far from linear but more accurately described and viewed as an eco-system.

Neither is it common for jewellery supply chains to be ‘vertically integrated’. That would make for a simple and highly visible chain-of-custody. While these do exist (our clients Scotgold and Goldlake set fine examples), they tend to be the exception rather than the rule.

At the heart of the gem and jewellery supply chain is a complex network of inter-dependent relationships between multiple, frequently small-scale, enterprises. As a result, full traceability remains an aspiration for many brands.

Experience teaches us that overly simple solutions to complex problems can harm more than help. An example might be a brand, in seeking to gain complete control and traceability, who abandons their small informal legitimate mining suppliers, in favour of bigger producers who are involved in large scale regulated mining.

This is not a fix. Apart from the limitations it places upon the brand in terms of the materials available to them, the consequences for those whose fragile livelihoods depend on the business can be disastrous.

TDI Sustainability (TDI) has worked for decades with the jewellery, electronics and extractives industries to bring about systemic change and improvements to mining communities on every continent and across the supply landscape.

We specialise in bringing meaningful and measurable development impacts to those who are marginalised and most vulnerable to human rights abuses. In particular, we work to promote and protect the rights of women, children and indigenous peoples. We are proud to be undertaking a project with Unicef currently, focussed on the wider effects of mining in Bolivia on children’s rights and well-being.

We also freely contribute our knowledge and subject-matter expertise to movements for gender equality in jewellery supply chains.

Our ‘Source and Connect’ service joins the dots between producers and off-takers. Producers seeking to free themselves from poverty while at the same time committing to transparent and sustainable mining practices are introduced to brands who are committed to conducting responsible business and building robust supply chains of which they can be proud.

The process of continual improvement is essential. Sustainability goals extend beyond our own lifetimes. Business is not a static activity and at TDI we take pride in anticipating and mitigating risks while capturing development opportunities. We do this through a ‘feet on the ground and head in the Heavens’ approach.

Our team scouts the globe for sources and dedicates time in the field to understand the specific issues that a mining community may face. We look at how we can address those issues through a variety of approaches including screening and due diligence tools and processes, as well as capacity building. Innovative examples include several projects with The Facility, our impact investment fund, currently being implemented with Fairtrade Africa and Comic Relief. With our ‘head in the Heavens’, we think creatively about the most impactful route to bring positive and lasting change to that community. Then we develop a commercially viable strategy to meet the objectives.

Meanwhile, we generate new initiatives and actively participate in existing ones that seek to alleviate poverty, address corruption and promote transparency for precious minerals used in jewellery. As a mission-driven consultancy, we seek to co-operate widely and effectively across the minerals space. An example of this is our on-going work with luxury jewellery brands and mining companies collaborating to develop purposeful standards and rigorous due diligence tools for a responsible coloured gemstone supply chain. In 2018 we will report further on developments and how this initiative will harmonise with existing certification schemes.

In closing the circle, TDI supports businesses seeking certification to interpret standards and how to implement them.

We have a strong track record in ‘holding hands’ with those who wish to successfully complete the journey to full 3rd party certifications (including Fairtrade, Fairmined, RJC and others). We support our clients to analyse or augment their existing CSR policies and understand what these look like, in practice, through clearly stepped procedures and learning toolkits. We can even conduct stringent ‘mock-audits’ and help them to get to know their suppliers better.

After all, that is the ultimate goal of achieving ‘transparency’; to understand and appreciate those who produce your goods so that you may create a strong sustainable business together and maximise your positive impact on those around you.

Filed Under: TDI Sustainability Tagged With: business, mining, responsible sourcing

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