Sustainability the Focus of New Jewelry Task Force

RAPAPORT... The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) has unveiled a task force to help benchmark the progress of its members in the implementation of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).The group, which includes 26 industry leaders together with representatives of nongovernmental organizations, trade bodies and academia, will establish a platform to coordinate the joint efforts, according to an RJC statement.The council, which sets standards for the jewelry and watch supply chain, said the task force would also launch a library of best practices while building a unified reporting framework."Nothing is more important than the continuous improvement in the integrity of the global jewelry supply chain to help strengthen consumer confidence and underpin its future with greater trust," said RJC chair David Bouffard. "That is why the task force is critical to the future of our industry." Feriel Zerouki, senior vice president of corporate affairs at De Beers, and Matthew Kilgarriff, director for corporate social responsibility at Richemont, will be cochairs of the taskforce. Georg Kell, former executive director of United Nations Global Compact, will provide strategic guidance to the team.The UN SDGs are a "call to action" for all stakeholders to help achieve a more "sustainable and fairer future for all," the RJC added.Image: Jewelry in a box. (Shutterstock)