Interview: How to Excel at Ethics
RAPAPORT... Benn Harvey-Walker makes a living as co-founder and directorof business development of Ethical Jewellery Australia, but he's made a namefor himself as a blogger who espouses the benefits of making the industry morethoughtful and less harmful to all involved. The bespoke retail jeweler,advocate, and watchdog in Brisbane, Australia, has earned a reputation as avoice of authority and reason among proponents of progress.What needs to change in the industry conversation aboutethics?Frankly, I'm not convinced the industry takes jewelry ethicsseriously. There was a surge of interest when the movie Blood Diamond came out,but then most thought that the Kimberley Process put that to bed. We have tochange the conversation, because not only is it what customers want, it's theright thing to do. Whether millennials are driving it or not, the widerindustry has a lot of catching up to do with what the marketplace now demands.And the conversation depends on your customer's definition of ethics. It's asubjective term. For example, some consider mining to be unethical, period.Others see it as essential for economic development, but not at the expense ofhuman rights and the environment. What's critical is to make consumers aware ofthe issues so they can decide for themselves what's important.What is your definition of ethics?Jewelry is a non-essential product, so we look at it from a"greatest good" perspective, which means we tend to put the planet first. Thechoices we make about materials are all about minimizing harm, but we don'tignore the human element. In the bespoke gemology and jewelry-design businessthat Melinda Bailey and I founded in 2007, we use ethically-sourced recycledgold, platinum and palladium (and fair-trade gold from time to time). We alsoonly use traceable or recycled and vintage diamonds, fair-trade gemstones, orresponsibly produced lab-created gems. We focus on minimizing our carbon footprint, but that doesn'tmean we're opposed to mining, provided producers are socially andenvironmentally responsible. We're also concerned about climate change, and Ilike to think we do our bit. For every piece of jewelry we make, we plant twotrees through a group called the Carbon Neutral Charitable Fund. It's a newinitiative we started this year, and to date, we've planted 78 trees. There's a lot of talk about diamonds and ethics, but whatabout colored stones? Aren't strides being made to improve the lives of artisanalminers of other gems? Yes, and there are a lot of great people working hard in thefair-trade space to improve things. Awareness in the market is growing, but wehave a long way to go. It's still a huge problem affecting millions of people,especially in developing nations. The ethics of the jewelry they buy is stillnot top of mind for most people, and colored gemstones are just one aspect of avery complicated picture. For instance, solutions like blockchain are much moredifficult to implement in the colored-gemstone space because the supply chainis so fragmented. Some 75% of gemstones come from artisanal mining sources,whereas around 85% of diamonds come from a relatively small number oflarge-scale producers. What do you think the messaging should be surroundinglab-grown diamonds? Mine-origin, as a product, has not had any directcompetition until recently. The industry has not had to do a lot to selldiamonds ever since De Beers' "A Diamond Is Forever" campaign kicked things offin the 1940s. But now the Federal Trade Commission is saying that lab-growndiamonds are essentially the same as mine-origin, so the whole diamond-jewelrylandscape is changing. There's no ignoring the fact that lab-grown products arecheaper, so the mine-origin industry now must work a lot harder to convince themarket to pay a premium for what many perceive to be the same thing - rightlyor wrongly. The places where much of the world's precious gems andmetals originate are poor, so how can the industry continue to ethicallyprovide much-needed mining jobs in those areas? Tiffany & Co. is setting a great example. According topublished reports, it recently increased - by hundreds - the number of peopleit employs for cutting and polishing in areas adjacent to mine sites in Africa.Adding value in the country of origin helps with localeconomic development, but more could be done to sponsor local infrastructuredevelopment, health and education. This helps locals develop other ways ofgenerating income to sustain them when the resources run out, which theyinevitably will. Are fair-trade and Fairmined gems and metals the answerto the industry's ethics and sustainability issues? On balance, yes, but you need to add to that. Adopting thoseprinciples will improve the environmental and social situations in developingnations, but that's only part of the big picture. We haven't talked at all about human rights issues in thecutting and polishing industry or jewelry manufacturing, or about habitatdestruction or carbon-offsetting, or about the porosity of supply chains thatfacilitate illegal activity. Traceability and fair-trade principles, directlyand indirectly, address a lot of these issues, but not all of them. A goodstarting point is to find suppliers with personal values that match your own -whether in relation to human rights, the environment, or elsewhere.
Three tips from BennHarvey-Walker for excelling at ethics
1. Define ethical priorities.Know the various ways jewelers can take ethical stands. "Draw a boundary aroundwhat is ethical and what is not, pick a position, develop it, and find thesuppliers who can meet those standards," says Benn Harvey-Walker. If acommunity's long-term health and welfare are a concern, seek out suppliers thatcan help build up schools and clinics and provide clean water and electricitysources in remote regions where resources are found. One way to circumvent concerns about the sustainability ofmining jobs is to support those who provide alternative employment options,such as farming. "Support groups like Pact that work with mining communities tofind other ways of generating future income," he advises. 2. Tell stories. Be driven to tell the stories of jewelryethics. Find out what's important to the emerging market and explain how yourefforts - the suppliers you buy from, the sustainable steps your store takes -are furthering causes consumers care about, such as climate change and humanrights. Fair-trade and recycled gems and metals have a backstory that needs tobe explained. "We do pay a premium for a branded product like Argylediamonds because of the ethical credentials," says Harvey-Walker, referring tothe Rio Tinto-owned mine in Australia. "From the treatment of the indigenouspopulation and land rehabilitation, to conditions in the cutting factory, theirmoves set them apart."3. Make meaningful changes. Start by looking at your ownworkshop and showroom practices. Utilize more renewable energy sources, andthink about the waste you generate. Support initiatives that encourage removingmercury and cyanide from gold-mining processes, and better rehabilitatingenvironments after resource extraction. Reduce water consumption, and offsetcarbon footprints by planting trees. As you make these changes, communicatethem to consumers. The mined-diamond industry in particular has an opportunityto communicate the myriad improvements it has made to vulnerable communitiesworldwide. "It can provide retailers with educational tools to share effortswith customers," says Harvey-Walker. However, broad, sweeping (and unverifiable) termslike "eco-friendly" and "sustainable" are not enough. Being specific andtransparent is critical if you want to be a true force for ethical change.This article was first published in the June issue of Rapaport Magazine.Image: Benn Harvey-Walker. (Benn Harvey-Walker)