New Standards From Responsible Jewelry Council: Responsibility = Exploitation
Editorial by Marc Choyt
After the interview with Michael Rae and Greg Valerio, editorial back in July of 2001, and the subsequent 60 Minutes report, the Responsible Jewelry Council’s (RJC) previously obfuscated policy of allowing dirty and conflict gold as part of its member’s supply chain, has entered the public domain.
Civil society groups, that were once united with the mainstream jewelry sector in a common vision anchored by the Madison Dialogues, have refused to endorse the RJC’s platform.
According to a press release signed by CAFOD, Earthworks Action, Canadian Boreal Initiative, MiningWatch Canada, and the Great Basin Resource Watch, the current standards released by RJC would:
“…let companies operate mines in conflict zones and in most protected areas. It would allow dumping of tailings waste into lakes and deeper ocean waters; and provide limited or no control on emissions of toxic substances to the environment. The standards also lack provisions for community consent for mining operations or resettlement. In addition, because the system certifies companies, rather than specific operations, it does not monitor the on-the-ground impacts of individual mining operations, or allow gold to be traced back to specific mines or practices…”
Back in July, I stated in an editorial entitled: Making The Responsible Jewelry Council Responsible, that without a wide variety of cross sector and multi-sector stakeholders working together transparently, the RJC is not acting responsibly. They will not be able to have accountability when, for example, a member comes up against a group of Bushman who don’t want the mine in their back yard.
Besides the Bushmen, another case in point is that of Anglo’s Gold activities in Tanzania. Anglo Gold is a member of the RJC.
The Citizen out of Dar es Salaam, published an article by Polycarp Machira sighting a report by Tundu Lissu and Mark Curtis. The report was titled, “A Golden Opportunity? How Tanzania is Failing to Benefit from Gold Mining.” Quoting from Machira’s article:
“Tanzania earned less than a tenth of one per cent of the value of gold mined in the country and exported from 2001 to 2007. Gold worth $3 billion was mined and exported in the six years, but the country earned only $90 million as royalties during that period. This is equivalent to a paltry 0.03 per cent.”
Machira also reports that the country lost $1.1 billion through tax incentives and poor documentation of gold production, which amounts to 10% of the countries GDP. The money lost was enough to build 1000km of tarmac roads and fund 30,000 university students for ten years in a country where nearly 90% of the population lives on one meal a day.
We do not know to what degree Anglo has been part of this theft from the people of Tanzania. RJC members would claim not to perpetuate a resource curse but who is going to enforce this and investigate? Without an outside civil society community, it is unlikely that Anglo’s conduct in Tanzania would ever be scrutinized.
Michael Conroy, author of the award-winning analysis of voluntary certification systems, Branded! How the ‘Certification Revolution’ Is Transforming Global Corporations, stated, in context to the RJC’s current approach, “This is, unfortunately, a classic ‘fox in the hen house’ approach. It provides a thin veneer of responsibility without having fundamental credibility.”
RJC’s stated reason to be on their website that members are, committed to promoting responsible ethical, human rights, social and environmental practices in a transparent and accountable manner throughout the industry from mine to retail, is merely empty words without a multi-stakeholder approach.
Given our current situation, what is most needed now is that jewelers of conscience begin to pressure the RJC to change course, supporting them to create meaningful standards that are recognized and supported by civil society. Until RJC begins to act responsibly, their actions will continue to undermine the legitimacy of the entire jewelry sector.
