The World Diamond Council (WDC) urged the Kimberley Process (KP) to address today’s challenges to ensure natural diamonds’ contribution to the development of sustainable economies and societies.

Speaking at the opening day of the KP Intersessional in Botswana on June 20, WDC President Edward Asscher called for the KP to expand the definition of conflict diamonds and address the impact of traceability solutions on the rough diamond trade.

“We believe more work is required to reform the KP and have been candid about what we consider to be shortcomings of the KP. Most critical is the narrow definition of conflict diamonds,” he said.

Asscher also warned that the rapid development of traceability systems, often using blockchain technologies, would lead to a downgrading of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), leading to a two-tier market for rough diamonds.

“One of the advantages of such proprietary systems is the total elimination of conflict diamonds from their supply chains,” the WDC president said. The systems will however not be accessible for all companies and thus could lead to the exclusion of certain mining areas, and even certain producing countries. It also will exclude players in the midstream who cannot find entry to such systems, he continued.

The sudden absence of up to 30 per cent of the diamond industry’s regular rough supply due to sanctions against Russian goods would also create disruption in the diamond supply chain. Asscher was however optimistic that the diamond trade’s resilience would enable it to cope with the situation. 

The scope and the working of the KP needed to be expanded so it could properly address the challenges facing diamond-producing nations, Asscher said.

“As a KP Observer, representing the entire diamond industry value chain, the WDC remains committed to the Kimberley Process, especially as we know first-hand how diamonds do good to communities when managed properly,” he noted, citing Botswana as a shining example of how diamond deposits could be properly leveraged to achieve substantial economic and social development.

Since diamonds were discovered in the country in 1967, the country's GDP per capita grew at an average of 5.9 per cent annually, the third highest in the world over the past 55 years, he said.

Asscher’s term as WDC president was recently extended through to 2023, along with the terms of Vice President Feriel Zerouki and Treasurer Ronnie VanderLinden.