De Beers has announced 12 sustainability goals for the coming decade, which includes achieving “gender parity” throughout its workforce, and being carbon neutral within its own operations by 2030.
As part of the 2030 goals, the diamond group said it aims to support 10,000 women entrepreneurs in its diamond producing partner countries.
The 12 goals feature in the “Building Forever framework” approach which is embedded in the business’s commercial strategy and hopes to maximise the “positive impact” of diamonds on their journey from discovery to retail.
The company said the goals are based around four pillars: leading ethical practices across industry; partnering for thriving communities; protecting the natural world; and accelerating equal opportunity.
Bruce Cleaver, CEO, De Beers group, said: “As the world’s leading diamond company, and in recognition of the United Nations’ call for a ‘Decade of Action’ to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals, we have both a unique opportunity and a profound responsibility to create lasting benefits for the people and places where diamonds are discovered.
“This is why our Building Forever sustainability framework is central to our business strategy, and why we have set ourselves these 12 ambitious goals. We are committed to supporting a lasting positive impact that will endure well beyond the discovery of our last diamond, and it is only by pushing ourselves to do more that we can maximise long-term benefits.”
The 12 goals, and the operational plans, investments and milestones that underpin them, are reportedly the outcome of a multi-year programme to stretch the organisation’s vision of the positive impact it could make.
De Beers said it already has employed “dynamic innovations and technology” to support its goals, including the blockchain-based Tracr platform, a range of innovative mining technologies and the CarbonVault initiative, which captures carbon from the atmosphere and locks it away in kimberlite, the rock in which diamonds are found.
Katie Fergusson, senior VP sustainable impact De Beers group, added: “We have made significant progress in recent years as we have sought to deliver positive outcomes throughout the sector and in our partner communities, but we recognise that there is still so much more we can do.
“On our journey to 2030, we will continue to innovate, challenge ourselves and learn from our partners as we work to achieve these ambitious goals.”
