Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC), the leading standard-setting organisation for the jewellery and watch supply chain, announced today the launch of an SDG Taskforce to create a unified platform to benchmark members’ progress in the implementation of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The UN SDGs are a call to action for all countries, organisations and people to come together in partnership to achieve a more sustainable and fairer future for all. The SDG Taskforce includes 26 leaders of the global jewellery industry together with the representatives of NGOs, other trade organisations and academia who will convene on a regular basis to drive change and track progress throughout the supply chain – from mining to retail. The SDG Taskforce will report on progress made within member companies and the industry through the annual RJC Progress Report and updates will be published to a dedicated web page (http://responsiblejewellery.com/sdg-taskforce/).

Speaking at the launch, Iris Van der Veken, Executive Director of Responsible Jewellery Council, said: “15 years ago RJC had a vision to transform the jewellery and watch industry to be more responsible and sustainable. We began by uniting the industry behind a common set of standards, and now we are uniting the industry again as we go beyond compliance from ‘do no harm’ to ‘do good’. The launch of the RJC SDG Taskforce signals a monumental shift in the industry and is an exciting milestone for the global jewellery and watch industry.”

The SDG Taskforce will establish an SDG Action Platform to coordinate the efforts of the industry, launch a global library of best practices, build a unified reporting framework based on existing international best practices, and further develop new ways and ideas to implement the 17 UN SDGs within the watch and jewellery industry.

“Nothing is more important than the continuous improvement in the integrity of the global jewellery supply chain to help strengthen consumer confidence and underpin its future with greater trust. That is why the RJC SDG Taskforce is critical to the future of our industry,” said David Bouffard, Chair of Responsible Jewellery Council. “I would like to thank Georg Kell, for his continuing strategic guidance and it is an honour to welcome the Co-Chairs, Feriel Zerouki and Matthew Kilgarriff, and all 26 members. Together, we can ensure people around the world will continue to hold jewellery close to their hearts for centuries to come.”

The SDG Taskforce consists of 26 members and the Executive Director of RJC and is co-chaired by Feriel Zerouki, Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs, De Beers Group, and Matthew Kilgarriff, Director Corporate Social Responsibility, Richemont, with strategic guidance provided by Georg Kell, founder and former Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact.

RJC SDG Taskforce leadership and members:

Co-Chair: De Beers Group

Co-Chair: Richemont

Strategic Advisor: Georg Kell, Arabesque

• ALROSA Group
• Antwerp Management School
• AURUM MONACO SAM
• Berker Bros Ltd
• BV Chinai & Co
• C.Hafner GmbH & Co.KG
• CCCMC
• Color Merchants, Inc
• Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie
• Gemological Institute of America
• Hermès Jewelry
• Natural Diamond Council
• Pinkcity Jewel House P. Ltd
• Potentate Mining LLC
• Richline Group
• Rosy Blue N.V.
• Signet Jewelers
• Star Rays
• The Gem and Jewellery Institute of Thailand
• World Diamond Council
• World Gold Council