焦点 JNA March/April 2023 | 19 The next layer in the responsibility cake is certification and endorsement. Here, membership in trade bodies such as the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA), CIBJO, the International Colored Gemstone Association (ICA) and the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) can help. For a standalone entrepreneur, comprehensive guideline documents, audits and membership-based organisations can be daunting. To address this, the Coloured Gemstone Working Group (CGWG) created The Gems & Jewellery Platform in 2021. This is a digital space where anyone can access free resources and capacity-building tools to learn about responsible behaviour and implement best practices within their business. CGWG was created in 2015 by Tiffany & Co, Swarovski, Richemont, LVMH, Kering and Gemfields. The Muzo Companies joined in 2017, Chopard in 2019 and Audemars Piguet in 2022. Pioneers While many initiatives are recent and still developing, certain individuals and organisations have been at the forefront of responsible supply chains for decades. Columbia Gem House wrote its company protocols regarding responsible sourcing 21 years ago after working on a project in Madagascar for the World Bank related to poverty alleviation via gemstones. When company founder Eric Braunwart ruined one of his Ferragamo shoes stepping into an open sewer in Antananarivo, he realised his one shoe cost more than the average annual income in Madagascar at the time. “That is when we started looking at how our decisions could bring more benefits to the cutters and the miners. Supportive supply chain best describes what we do, whether working directly with a miner or an agent, to better understand the conditions under which a gem was extracted. Tracing gemstones means nothing unless you are willing to act on issues if you see them come up,” Braunwart remarked. Emerald miner Belmont was also ahead of its time, spearheading sophisticated mining initiatives for over four decades. On top of other measures to reduce emissions, it will start operating its own 1.5MW photovoltaic power plant this year, allowing its mine to run on renewable solar energy. The company aims to achieve net-zero emissions in the near future. Belmont President Marcelo Ribeiro said, “Although our industry has been talking about sustainability and traceability for many years, it is very conservative and different markets are in different levels of maturity regarding this subject. This is a theme that is just gaining relevance.” Gemfields, meanwhile, is the only gem mining company to regularly publish detailed auction results, bringing muchneeded transparency to the rough gemstone sector. To magnify their charitable work in Africa, it established the Gemfields Foundation in January 2021 and, that July, introduced ‘G-Factor for natural resources,’ a measure for calculating the percentage of a nation’s natural resource wealth that is shared with the host government, which they voluntarily publish. According to CEO Sean Gilbertson, Gemfields believes that gemstone resources belong to and are the birthright of the host nation’s citizens. The miner sees itself as the temporary custodian with a duty to deliver the maximum benefit from those resources – monetarily, socially, developmentally and environmentally. “If one avoids shortcuts, be it in the approach to health and safety, environmental best practice or full compliance with mining laws, then it is always going to be more expensive. Our approach has inevitably ruffled the feathers of parties who have benefitted historically from the ‘grey areas’ afforded by what has in the past been a complex and ‘opaque’ industry. There remains a strong financial incentive to buy cheap gems from spurious sources, and often the mine of origin is not known,” shared Gilbertson, adding that Gemfields is keen to instil in the industry a “mine-of-origin” model rather than the prevailing “country-of-origin.” Tech solutions Technology and digital marketplaces also facilitate responsible sourcing. The Emerald Paternity Test by Provenance Proof provides a foolproof mine-to-market chain of custody. Launched in 2017 with Gemfields and Belmont, the process involves immersing rough emeralds at the mine of origin in a solution containing nanoparticles, which get embedded in the natural fissures of a rough emerald, surviving the cutting and polishing process that Water project by Fura Gems Fura Gems的水利项目
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