Strategy for sustainable jewellery industry
CIBJO
President outlines at
Italian
business leaders!
Speaking
to members of the Canova Club, an exclusive Italian association of opinion
leaders and decision makers from the country's economic, finance and business
communities, CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri has described what he termed as
an essential shift in thinking in the jewellery industry, where the attitude
towards artisanal and small-scale mining is changing from it being considered a
challenge, to being more of an opportunity.
"Defensive
measures in which the industry has played a key role, like the Kimberley
Process, have helped reduce the level of violence in regions where artisanal
mining is taking place, although there is good deal that still needs to be
done, particularly in terms of systemic violence," he said. "But in
addition to that, the industry is getting involved at the grass-roots level to
help equip and educate the artisanal mining communities, providing them legal
access for their merchandise into the marketplace, and supplying them with
knowledge to ensure that they are being paid fairly for what they
produce."
Founded
in Rome in 1978, the Canova Club gathers together a virtual who's who of the
Italian business world, conducting conclaves at which issues of common interest
are discussed. The most recent gathering focused on the theme of
"Sustainability: A Megatrend or Utopia?"
That
featured a panel that included Dr. Cavalieri; Enrico Giovannini, a professor of
economic statistics at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, who in 2013 and 2014
served as Italy's Minister of Labour and Social Policy, and between 2001 and
2009 was Director of Statistics and Chief Statistician of the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); and Andrew Michael Spence, a
Canadian-American economist and labour specialist at New York University,
Stanford University and the SDA Bocconi School of Management in Milan, who in
2001 was the recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. The
moderator of the event was Laura La Posta, Editor in Chief at Il Sole 24 Ore, a
leading business daily in Milan.
In
his wide raging overview of the economic and social role of the jewellery
sector in developing countries, Dr. Cavalieri said that some of the traditional
definitions of sustainability needed to be adjusted for an industry where many
of its raw components are mined.
"For
minerals, we have defined sustainability as their potential to generate sustainable
grass-roots economic and social opportunities in the countries and regions in
which they are located," Dr. Cavalieri said. "And here we refer to
opportunities both in the mineral extraction and the jewellery industries, and
also in other economic sectors, which are secondary beneficiaries of the
investments made in and revenues generated by precious gems and minerals."
"But
we do need to draw a distinction between industrialised mining operations and
small-scale and artisanal mining," he continued. "Larger mining
companies typically have massive social development programmes, and are subject
to stringent environmental regulations, which are part and parcel of their
modus operandi.
The
same is not true of artisanal mining, which often is carried out by individuals
or two or three-person operations, using the most basic equipment, with health
and safety not primary concerns. These are the miners whose security is most
likely to be threatened, and who often do not properly understand the value of
what they have extracted, meaning that they are frequently exploited by the
traders who buy their goods."
However,
noted the CIBJO President, There also parts of the jewellery business, where
not only economic activity is sustainable, but so is the product -
environmentally as well as socially and economically. "These most often
these involve biogenic materials in a marine environment, where sustainability
is made possible through aqua farming, such as with cultured pearls, or
controlled harvesting, as with precious coral," he stated.
Over
the past several years there has been a strong move towards the adoption of
uniform standards of practice, so as to optimise conditions in which
sustainable activities can take place, Dr. Cavalieri said. These include the
creation of strict codes, against which companies can be audited and certified.
"In
principle these are positive developments, but they have raised some very
difficult challenges for an industry that is made up predominantly by SMEs.
Small companies, with limited human and financial resources, often struggle to
meet the demands of compliance organisations, and many family-owned firms,
which are ethical and often have been in the business for generations, find
themselves being pushed aside by clients, simply because they are not certified
as compliant," Dr. Cavalieri continued.
CIBJO,
he said, has been working hard to provide solutions, and particular in the more
fragile sectors of the jewellery business, like coloured gemstones, where
almost all firms qualify as SMEs, even the mining companies. Its new
Responsible Sourcing Blue Book provides a framework and guidance for ethically
sourcing gems and precious metals responsibly in the jewellery sector,
referencing the OECD's Due Diligence Guidance for minerals from high-risk
areas.
"The
philosophy that guided us in the creation of the Responsible Sourcing Book is
that all participants in the jewellery business have a duty of care, and thus
should conduct supply-chain due diligence to the best of their ability,"
the CIBJO President said.
"I
strongly believe that, by committing to sustainability, our industry is able
redefine the value proposition of our products in the public consciousness. Not
only are they objects d'art and symbols of love and devotion, but they also are
instruments that actively serve to create better and more sustainable
societies" Dr. Cavalieri stated.
"When
consumers buy jewellery, they should feel that they are not only doing
something for themselves and their loved ones, but for the world and society as
well," he said.
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