The Responsible Jewellery Council & the Pact for Sustainable Industry

The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) joined the European Pact for Sustainable Industry. In this interview, Iris Van der Veken, Executive Director at Responsible Jewellery Council, shares the industry federation’s actions to mobilise collective action for long-term sustainability.

The Von der Leyen’s Commission is moving forward to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. What are the short-term and long-term challenges your sector is facing amidst Europe’s digital and green transition?

At an industry level, we face a number of common short and long-term challenges. The unfolding COVID-19 pandemic has triggered unprecedented global health, economic and social crisis. The crisis is delivering a shock to the global economy and to the jewellery industry and has underscored the urgency of climate action. Many retail businesses are temporarily closed, brands are adjusting to declining customer spending, millions of people have been affected - furloughed or out of work because of reduced or cancelled orders. With the crisis having caused great disruption and exposed weaknesses in many companies’ operations, companies will now need to rethink how they can shorten the supply chains and make them more transparent, socially conscious, and environmentally friendly. We strongly believe that companies that embrace sustainability and transparency as part of their business recovery strategy will be more resilient for the long term.

The industry is constantly evolving to address emerging and changing demands and requirements around human rights and due diligence. In 2018, 29 international NGOs and trade unions, called upon the jewellery industry in a joint letter to turn its commitment to responsible sourcing into effective action. They asked for robust supply chain due diligence systems aligned with the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas, as well as more human rights due diligence and reporting. Human Rights are a fundamental part of our mandatory Code of Practices (COP). Provision 6 helps members explicitly integrate the UN Guiding Principles into their operations. This works in tandem with provision 7, Due Diligence for Responsible supply chains of minerals from conflict-affected or high-risk areas, which operationalises the OECD Due Diligence Guidance. It also integrates other provisions of the COP such as Health & Safety, forced labour and child labour, discrimination and security. The RJC Code of Practices provides its Members with the tools to implement human rights due diligence and the OECD’s 5-step framework.

The industry also continues with its efforts to keep ahead within an evolving regulatory and policy landscape. For example, our actions to address the OECD Due Diligence Guidance will help to enable RJC members to comply with the EU Conflict Minerals regulation that came into force on 1 January 2021. This lays down supply chain due diligence obligations for Union importers of tin, tantalum and tungsten, their ores, and gold originating from conflict-affected and high-risk areas and supports the development of local communities. In 2020, the EU committed to a legislative initiative on mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence obligations for EU companies. RJC’s commitment to and action on human rights, its continued engagement with civil society organisations, its regular webinars and newsletters on the changing regulatory landscape will all be important as the industry looks to manage these risks and delivers on the changes asked for from new regulations.

The other common challenge that RJC and its members face, is the digital transition. Historically, many of our members will have worked largely offline. However, as the RJC and its members look to evolve into a professional, mature global industry organisation that leads on sustainability in the Jewellery and Watch Industry, there is now a greater imperative and focus digital transformation as a key enabler and licence to operate. This has only been accelerated over the last year, with the COVID-19 pandemic disruptions affecting all parts of the industry, and a permanent shift in Member, Stakeholder (and Employee) expectations for relevant content anytime, anywhere, in the format and on the device of their choosing. Our focus in the coming months will be to use appropriate digital technologies to transform our member’s experience, to support changes to their and our operational processes and the industry’s business model more generally. Through customised approaches we hope to support more accessible and impactful reporting and improved assurance and confidence in our member’s activities and outputs.

Your industry federation has launched its refreshed sustainability roadmap in 2020. How is the strategy/action plan contributing to reaching Europe’s climate neutrality?

As mentioned, the RJC Code of Practices (COP) is a common standard for the global jewellery and watch industry, and is mandatory for all commercial members, requiring the implementation of management systems to manage key ethical, social, human rights and environmental risks. RJC is now looking to build on this achievement and lay out a clear path to 2030 that will catalyse and deliver further positive and sustainable impacts throughout the industry. The intention is for the roadmap to be further supported by RJCs newly launched SDG Taskforce which will provide valuable member input, as well as report on progress, and on efforts related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Roadmap to 2030 was launched in December 2020 to deliver on this ambition. It was developed to guide and inspire RJC members to work together to raise their ambition for sustainable development through the implementation of the COP. It proposes a long-term framework for the industry by identifying the most impactful contributions it can make through its supply chains and provides attainable pathways to help the RJC and our members realise our collective sustainability goals. We see the UN Global Compact’s (UNGC) Ten Principles on human rights, labour, environment, and anti-corruption as a guide for a more sustainable future. Ultimately, we want all our members to understand, commit and implement, achieve results and report on their sustainability progress as part of this journey with these in mind.

The Roadmap will be accompanied by metrics as part of its performance monitoring framework, designed to demonstrate meaningful and measurable progress by our stakeholders across all these areas. The metrics were selected from existing best practice reporting frameworks, voluntary initiatives and standards - for example WEF, UNGC, OHCHR & GRI and the SDG Compass - to ensure alignment with other industries on common metrics. The metrics include measurement of climate and environment-related reporting, for example renewable energy use, greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), water use, and the generation of hazardous waste.

The SDGs are designed to address the global challenges faced such as inequality, climate change, peace and environmental degradation. RJC fully supports the UN Secretary-General’s call to action encouraging public and private organisations to mobilise for a Decade of Action to help deliver the 2030 promise. Recently, RJC also joined the UN Global Compact SDG Ambition platform, aimed at scaling business impact by accelerating the integration of the SDGs. It enables companies to move beyond incremental progress and step-up transformative change – unlocking business value, building business resilience, and enabling long-term growth.

Through extensive consultation with its members and key stakeholders, RJC has identified six priority SDGs that will inform our strategy and approach towards sustainability and reducing reliance on carbon-based energy over time: Gender equality (SDG5), Decent work and economic growth (SDG 8), Responsible consumption and production (SDG 12), Climate change (SDG 13), Peace, justice, and strong institutions (SDG 16), Partnerships for the goals (SDG 17).

The incorporation of environmental management practices in our COP aligns with two of our five focus SDGs; SDG 12 Responsible Production and Consumption, SDG 13 Climate Action.

As shown in the graphic below, you can see the alignment between our COP and the SDGs which support a more environmentally sustainable industry and supply chain.

RJCs standards require members to take the necessary steps to reduce their contributions to environmental damage, excessive consumption and production, waste and use of harmful chemical.

How are you promoting collaboration amongst companies and stakeholders operating in your sector to scale up impact on the ground?

The third strategic pillar of the RJC is partnerships. We have always believed in multi-stakeholder engagement that includes government, business, and civil society. Our UNGC collaboration, ISEAL membership since 2011, and our active participation in the Multi-Stakeholder Group of the OECD since 2012 reflect our vision of inclusion and transparency. We continue to welcome ongoing dialogue with NGOs such as Human Rights Watch, on critical topics that matter to us all. We now need more multistakeholder collaboration than ever to drive partnerships forward.

We acknowledge that partnerships are at the heart of the 2030 agenda - the 17 SDGs. It is about leaving no one behind. Harmonisation - interoperability of standards and synergies can really support impact on the ground. The future of our industry as well is all about partnerships, SDG 17. As a result, we are on a journey of continuous improvement, and RJC is here to support our members on that path, and on how they can contribute even more to the livelihoods of their communities.

It is only collectively that we can demonstrate our vision of a responsible worldwide supply chain that then promotes greater trust in the global jewelry and watch industry, improves stakeholder and consumer confidence, whilst also positively impacting society and sustainable development. RJC therefore actively supports multi-stakeholder partnership models with clearly defined action plans and intended outcomes. We continue to foster vital partnerships with global and regional trade associations, and other industry organisations to disseminate information and deliver training and education to members and the wider industry on responsible business practices and the SDGs.

We also recognise that advocacy and leadership are critical. We, therefore, strive to maintain an open, continuous, and transparent dialogue with a wide range of stakeholder groups to discuss challenges, benefits as well as share best practices. RJC will continue to prioritise engagement with key stakeholder groups such as government, NGOs, the financial community, consumers, and other value chain initiatives to mobilise collective action on the long-term impacts. We are promoting ongoing collaboration amongst companies and stakeholders in our industry to scale up impact on the ground. RJC continues to collaborate with schemes such as London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) and Responsible Mining Initiative (RMI) to ensure a robust implementation of responsible sourcing practices; our standards are designed to recognise equivalent standards and certifications to advance standards harmonisation and recognition. We facilitate open dialogue to ensure our approach and standards continue to evolve and meet the needs of all our stakeholders to benefit both the industry and society at large.

How are you aligning your sustainability strategy/action plan to the direction set by the Commission? What are the top 3 EU policy priorities you are engaging on?

Iris Van der Veken: RJCs sustainability strategy reflects the priorities of the Commission in a variety of ways, notably the alignment between EU legislation and the RJC COP. For example, as of January 2021, new EU legislation requires the importing of gold into EU markets to have OECD Due Diligence conducted to ensure they align with standards on human rights. This is required for both EU and non-EU companies that trade in EU markets. RJCs Code of Practices includes OECD Due Diligence requirements, and it is mandatory for members to align with this guidance for their use of gold. We are also proceeding with an application to become a recognised scheme under this directive.

While our strategy incorporates the Goals, the SDGs are also an intrinsic part of the EU Commission’s political guidelines and policy making across sectors. Therefore, the alignment between the RJP COP and the 17 UN SDGs, ultimately links to the direction of the Commission. RJC’s desired long-term impacts are linked to relevant provisions of the COP and their priority SDGs, and are interconnected.

The top three EU policy priorities that we are engaging on are as follows.

Human Rights Due Diligence
RJC’s 2019 COP is aligned with the OECD Due Diligence Guidance and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. RJC has been a member of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance (OECD DDG) Committee since its inception and represents the jewellery industry. It is also a member of the OECD Multistakeholder Steering Group (MSG), representing the global jewellery industry, and has been since its inception in 2013. The 2019 COP formally adopts the OECD DDG for RJC members. In addition to the Guidance document, RJC has also developed a specific Due Diligence toolkit for members and auditors, supporting the diamond and coloured gemstone supply chain in implementing OECD-based due diligence. Both kits are publicly available.
Gender Equality
To address inequality and women’s rights for an equal future, the RJC has embarked on a series of events with the goal of promoting Generation Equality and mobilizing the watch and jewellery industry to take action on this outcome by initiating dialogue. The roundtable ‘Generation Equality: SDG5 in Action’ is the first step in mobilizing the watch and jewellery industry, harnessing our unique opportunity to first initiate dialogue across stakeholders and to drive positive change and action on the ground. Indeed the RJC believes that gender empowerment is the cornerstone of sustainable development. A robust annual data collection and analysis programme is underway, which will allow measurement of member progress towards the SDGs over the decade to 2030.
Environment & Responsible Mining
The RJC COP includes a substantial set of environmental requirements relevant to all companies in the jewellery supply chain. The incorporation of environmental management practices in our COP aligns with two of our five focus SDGs: SDG 12 Responsible Production and Consumption, SDG 13 Climate Action. RJCs standards require members to take the necessary steps to reduce their contributions to environmental damage, excessive consumption and production, waste and the use of harmful chemical. In addition to this, RJC has also signed the Pact for Sustainable Industry. This Pact reflects RJCs commitment to the 2030 goals and our efforts toward a more sustainable future. Partnerships are at the heart of the 2030 agenda and we need collaboration with all stakeholders as this is a shared responsibility, and the right partnerships can create true positive societal impact.