De Beers Controls
Diamonds Trade
·
How
They Do It?
Ø
De Beers Group's innovative
diamond traceability blockchain platform, TracrTM, which now has the ability to register up to one
million diamonds per week
Ø
De Beers Code of Origin
Ø
GemFairTM parcels of
ethically-sourced artisanal and small-scale (ASM) mined diamonds to market
Ø BlackIsBrilliant campaign in partnership with RAD Red Carpet Advocacy,
bringing together Black jewellery designers with top
celebrity stylists
Building Forever 2021 sustainability report shows strong
progress following first full year since announcing the 12 goals
De Beers Group has reported on the strong progress made
in 2021 towards the achievement of its 2030 'Building Forever' sustainability
goals in its latest sustainability report, published on
1 June 2022.
In the first full year since announcing the 12 goals, De
Beers made meaningful progress in each of its priority focus areas – leading
ethical practices, protecting the natural world, partnering for thriving
communities and accelerating equal opportunity – despite ongoing challenges
presented by the Covid-19 pandemic, which continued to impact the company's
operating environment in 2021.
Key highlights during 2021
included:
Leading ethical practices
·
Increased capacity of De Beers
Group's innovative diamond traceability blockchain
platform, TracrTM, which now has the ability to
register up to one million diamonds per week
·
Launched the pilot of De Beers
Code of Origin, a consumer-facing trusted source programme
·
Brought the first dedicated GemFairTM parcels of ethically-sourced artisanal and
small-scale (ASM) mined diamonds to market (GemFair
is De Beers Group's initiative to support the formalisation
of the ASM sector)
·
Implemented a land reclamation
programme in Sierra Leone to bring old artisanal mine
sites back to productive farming use, supporting livelihoods and food security
for local communities.
Protecting the natural world
·
Reduced energy intensity by 11
per cent as De Beers strives to be carbon neutral across its operations by 2030
·
Continued to progress a
project to build a 60MW solar farm at Venetia mine in South Africa
·
Launched Okavango Eternal – a
five-year partnership with National Geographic to help protect the critical
source waters of the Okavango Delta in southern Africa
·
Continued to actively manage
biodiversity and protect threatened species across approximately 500,000
hectares of protected land in southern Africa (the Diamond Route)
·
Completed a strategy for
addressing Scope 3 emissions in De Beers Group's global supply chain.
Partnering for thriving communities
·
Supported more than 2,600 jobs
through enterprise development initiatives in southern Africa and supported
more than 18,000 students at 25 schools in South Africa
·
Commenced delivery of the
partnership with National Geographic, which includes commitments to support the
development of livelihood opportunities for 10,000 people across Africa's
Okavango Basin and help ensure water and food security for more than one
million people
·
Pledged $6.8 million to
support vaccine procurement and roll-out in De Beers Group's host countries,
including establishing vaccination clinics at the company's operations for
employees and community members
·
Invested $35 million on social
investment initiatives. Accelerating equal opportunity
·
Announced an additional $3
million investment to extend the AWOME programme in
southern Africa, which is focused on supporting women entrepreneurs to grow
their businesses – more than 1,800 entrepreneurs have been supported to date
·
Engaged 1,500 girls in STEM in
southern Africa in partnership with WomEng and
provided 21 scholarships to women studying STEM at university in Canada, in
partnership with UN Women and Scholarships Canada
·
Awarded 12 young jewellery designers in De Beers Group's host countries
training opportunities through the company's Shining Light Awards competition
·
Launched the #BlackIsBrilliant campaign in partnership with RAD Red
Carpet Advocacy, bringing together Black jewellery
designers with top celebrity stylists.
Beyond its Building Forever sustainability commitments,
De Beers Group continued to make a vital contribution to its host countries and
communities through tax and royalty payments, employment and local procurement,
which totalled $4.7 billion in 2021. In addition, 80
per cent of the revenue generated by the company's operations remained within
host countries.
Bruce Cleaver, CEO, De Beers Group, said: "As the
first full year since announcing our ambitious 2030 sustainability goals, 2021
was a pivotal year for our business. We embedded the goals into our operational
and commercial frameworks, established critical foundations and partnerships,
engaged with stakeholders and took tangible steps forward, all while continuing
to operate against a backdrop of Covid-19. Our Building Forever sustainability
goals underpin our commitment to create a better future for people and the
planet and we will continue to build on our strong momentum throughout 2022 and
beyond."
About De Beers Group
Established in 1888, De Beers Group is the world’s
leading diamond company with expertise in the exploration, mining and marketing
of diamonds. Together with its joint venture partners, De Beers Group employs
more than 20,000 people across the diamond pipeline and is the world’s largest
diamond producer by value, with diamond mining operations in Botswana, Canada,
Namibia and South Africa. Innovation sits at the heart of the De Beers Group
strategy as it develops a portfolio of offers, including its jewellery houses, De Beers Jewellers
and De Beers Forevermark, and other pioneering
solutions, such as diamond sourcing and traceability initiatives GemFair and Tracr. De Beers Group
is committed to ‘Building Forever,’ a holistic and integrated approach for creating a
better future – where safety, human rights and ethical integrity continue to be
paramount; where communities thrive and the environment is protected; and where
there are equal opportunities for all. De Beers Group is a member of the Anglo
American plc group.