Good Governance and Leading Ethical Practices Across Industry

We will continue to work tirelessly to advance industry standards, enhance transparency of diamond provenance and improve the livelihoods of artisanal miners. Our ambition is to lead the diamond sector in ethical practices, helping the industry continue to progress in this area and drive consumer confidence in diamonds.

Our focus for 2030 is on extending the reach of our industry-leading Best Practice Principles; providing the provenance of our diamonds so that people can link the diamond they buy to its origin and be proud that it has been sourced responsibly and has generated lasting positive impact; and partnering on scalable solutions to support those who work in the artisanal and small-scale mining sector.

Case study – Best Practice Principles

Our shareholder De Beers Group played a key role in the establishment of the Kimberley Process in 2003 in response to the issue of conflict diamonds. However, we also recognised that there were other key areas within the industry where best practice needed to be applied.

Therefore, in 2005, De Beers Group responded by developing the strictest set of standards that the industry had ever seen. These ensure that all De Beers Group entities, NDTC Sightholder customers and their diamond contractors all abide by international human rights frameworks and labour regulations, alongside a wide range of other rigorous ethical, social and environmental requirements.

As a result, currently 2,700 entities across the diamond industry, which together employ more than 350,000 people, are subject to these standards. Each year, every entity must provide a self-assessment against every relevant standard. A randomised selection of these assessments is then independently audited and assured by a third party to confirm compliance annually.

The BPPs are reviewed annually and are considered a benchmark within the industry, so much so that others, including the Responsible Jewellery Council, have used them to formulate their own standards for the wider jewellery industry beyond our value chain. This means they are now published standards for the entire diamond industry.