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RJC Seminars To Address Mercury In Gold And Consumer Confidence In Jewelry Supply Chain April 29, 2021 (0 comments)
London, UK—The Responsible Jewellery Council will be holding two online seminars in the next 7 days. The first, set for Friday, April 30 at 12 p.m. Eastern U.S. time, is titled Mind the Gold We Mine, will examine the widespread use of toxic mercury in the artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) sector.
About 20% of the world’s gold is produced by the artisanal and small-scale gold mining sector. This sector is also responsible for the largest releases of mercury to the environment of any sector globally. A major source of air pollution, artisanal and small-scale gold mining release approximately 400 metric tons of airborne mercury each year. The jewelry industry has a role to play in making real change by exhibiting top level leadership in action and highlighting the solutions.
To reduce the use of mercury in mining, two organizations, Mercury Free Mining and Pure Earth, are leading efforts to find and provide alternatives to the use of mercury in gold mining. They are dedicated to discovering a pathway toward responsibly sourced gold that helps protect the industry and consumer confidence.
In this session, they will share what they are doing to address mercury pollution as well as how the industry can help in maintaining and improving the livelihoods of miners, transitioning them to be mercury-free and giving hope to gold miners around the world now and into the future.
The session will address technical solutions for mercury-free mining that involve building trust with miners so they can ecologically close their mining sites using rain forest restoration.
Speakers include:
- Iris Van der Veken, Executive Director, Responsible Jewellery Council
- Dr. Jack Caravanos PhD, CIH Director of Research NYU
- Toby Pomeroy, Founder & Executive Director, Mercury Free Mining
- Jen Marraccino, Senior Director of Development, Pure Earth
- Yves Bertran Alvarez, Executive Director, Alliance for Responsible Mining Europe
- Nere Emiko, Vice Chairman, Kian Smith Trade & Co Limited
The second event, titled Deepening Consumer Confidence In The Decade Of Action, will be held on Wednesday, May 5, at 10 a.m. Eastern U.S. time.
The event will feature two leadership panel discussions on human rights due diligence in the global jewelry and watch supply chain and include practical solutions to deepen consumer confidence and build trust.
Among the noted industry speakers for this event are David Kellie, CEO of the Natural Diamond Council, Susan Jacques, CEO of GIA (Gemological Institute of America), designer Temple St. Clair, Feriel Zerouki, senior vice president of corporate affairs for De Beers, and many more.
The event will feature a keynote speech by Georg Kell, chairman of Arabesque Partners, to set the scene for the event with a clear focus on the responsibility of business to integrate environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) strategy into overall business strategy. Kell’s address will be followed by two panels, the first chaired by Iris Van der Veken of RJC and will focus on ideas for deepening consumer confidence and the steps that everyone in the supply chain must do to build that confidence. The panel will include participants from all sections of the supply chain.
The second panel will be chaired by Dr. Nawal Aït-Hocine, in her role as RJC strategic advisor, and will focus on the practical steps companies are taking to affect change on the ground with respect to protecting and enhancing human rights.