PRESS
Nine De Beers Sightholders have committed to becoming carbon-neutral, aiming to align the manufacturing sector with environmental standards present elsewhere in the diamond industry.
July 29, 2020
The participants will begin by assessing their current emissions, and will then develop a plan to reduce them in a sustainable way. They expressed their intentions in a virtual meeting Monday held by De Beers brokerage and diamond consultancy Gemdax, which is organizing the project. De Beers executives also spoke at the online event.
The companies aren’t making firm commitments to achieve zero net emissions by a particular date because of the uncertainty around Covid-19, pointed out Anish Aggarwal, a partner and cofounder of Gemdax. However, bringing the midstream into a program aimed at sustainability is vital given consumers’ growing interest in the values behind products, he said.
“Without [the midstream], we can’t complete the picture and give the consumer what they increasingly want, which is a sustainable diamond from the mine to their finger,” Aggarwal said.
Nine De Beers Sightholders, all clients of the Gemdax brokerage, have committed to working toward making their manufacturing operations carbon-neutral.
By Rob Bates on July 28, 2020
The nine companies are D Navinchandra Gems, Dianco, Diamant Impex, Diarush, HVK International, Hari Darshan, H Dipak & Co., Yaelstar, and Star Rays. The latter company as already announced its commitment to carbon neutrality.
Anish Aggarwal, partner in Antwerp, Belgium–based Gemdax, says that the companies will work with a well-known external auditor that has done work in the jewelry industry and will judge them by a “rigorous assessment standard.”
He says that there is no current timetable for the companies to hit the carbon-neutral milestone and expects that at least some manufacturers will have to purchase carbon credits to reach it.
“It’s very hard to do this stuff without offsets in practice,” he says. “But the goal is to get to a place where the manufacturers use less carbon. Are there opportunities to use less fossil fuels and switch to renewable fuels?”
Taking their cue from companies such as De Beers, Richemont and Chanel, top diamond cutters and polishers have committed to shrinking their own carbon footprint, and becoming more sustainable businesses in the medium term.
By Samantha Conti on July 28, 2020
LONDON — With the front and back ends of the diamond pipeline looking to go greener, it was only a matter of time before the middlemen, the companies that purchase and transform rough diamonds into polished ones, decided to take a sustainable stand, too.
These buyers, cutters and polishers are not well known to anyone outside the industry, and they’re certainly not subject to the same sort of scrutiny over carbon footprints that a miner such as De Beers or a luxury group such as Compagnie Financiere Richemont or Chanel would be.
Yet they are attempting to change all the same, in the name of the environment, their own reputations — and future sales growth.
Earlier this week, nine De Beers sightholders, or preferred wholesale buyers who have first “sight” of the rocks the miner hauls out of the ground, committed to becoming carbon neutral in the medium term, and to work toward creating “a completely sustainable and ethical supply chain.”
Star Rays revealed its intention to be the first Indian diamond company to become carbon-neutral, arguing that greener credentials will help attract consumers to the product.
By Joshua Freedman on February 16, 2020
The Mumbai-based manufacturer aims to reduce travel, produce less plastic waste, and clean up its energy use, and is taking advice from a consultancy firm specializing in the area.
“Singlehandedly we can’t change the whole image of the diamond industry, but we want more people to be on board,” said Rahul Jauhari, senior vice president of global sales and marketing at Star Rays.
Being carbon-neutral means having no net contribution of carbon to the atmosphere, and can be achieved by reducing one’s own emissions while balancing them with offsets. Star Rays is assessing how it can cut down on airline flights through video conferencing and clumping overseas visits together, Jauhari explained. Executives will avoid flying business class unless absolutely necessary, as it accounts for more emissions per passenger than economy.
The company, a De Beers sightholder, is planning to print less, recycle more, cut down on single-use plastics, and encourage employees to switch off their computers and lights when they’re away from their workspace. It’s also exploring renewable-energy sources, though Jauhari admitted this would be difficult to implement.