When it comes to sustainability and social change, De Beers is leading by example. The company that is the biggest diamond producer in the world just released its Building Forever framework that sets 12 ambitious environmental, ethical, and social goals for the next decade.
As part of it, De Beers commits to reducing its energy use and replace almost all of its fossil electricity by building new wind and solar power plants. The company plans on recovering any remaining emissions through nature-based initiatives including its Carbon Vault program dedicated to capturing carbon from the atmosphere and storing it in kimberlite rocks. De Beers also promises to reduce its water footprint by 50 percent as well as reuse and recycle water at its mines.
The company’s Building Forever framework includes three more areas where it plans to focus its sustainability efforts. As part of improving industry ethical practices, De Beers will track the provenance of every diamond it discovers and sells to ensure none of them come from conflict zones. That, according to the company will enable “people to wear their diamond with pride, knowing it has been sourced ethically and has had a positive impact on the place where it originated.”
Finally, De Beers commits to achieving gender parity across its workforce by 2030 and that includes technical and leadership roles. In addition, the company continues to work with UN Women—the United Nations entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women—and WomEng, a leadership incubator for women in engineering, in engaging ten thousand young women and girls in STEM activities.
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“We understand that the role we play in the life of a diamond is relatively short, yet our opportunity to create a positive impact that lives long beyond the last diamond we discover is profound. Building Forever has the power to support a brighter future in essential, sustainable, beautiful ways,” the company states.
