Clean gold bling gets a thumbs up

British shoppers demand ethically manufactured jewelry

- Design Pics photo British Christmas shoppers are demanding their gold jewelry purchases be produced ethically without poisoning the environment or undermining the poor.

Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)
London

Jewelry retail merchants in the United Kingdom are being warned to clean up their acts or suffer the Christmas wrath of shoppers, according to the Church's international development agency in England and Wales.

Reacting to the results of a new poll it commissioned, the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) said that the gold industry ignores the clear message from consumers for "clean gold" at its own peril.

Ethical products

The YouGov poll, released by CAFOD Dec. 12, revealed a consumer shift towards ethical products, including gold jewelry, with more than one in four people (28 per cent) claiming they would buy Fairtrade gold on sale, even it means paying, and more than one in three (35 per cent) would choose to shop at stores that were concerned about how their gold is produced, the Catholic relief agency said.

Consumers in the United Kingdom are expected to spend about two billion British pounds (about Cdn$4.4 billion) in purchasing an estimated six million items of gold jewelry before the Christmas celebration.

"The poll results send a clear message to jewelry retailers that they can't afford to ignore their customers' wishes for clean gold," said Sonya Maldar, CAFOD's extractives analyst.

Scathing report

In a May 2006 report, Unearth Justice: Counting the Cost of Gold, CAFOD presented evidence of people being forced from their homes, worsening poverty, conflict over the precious metal, cyanide and arsenic water contamination, deforestation, destruction of the landscape and a declining in traditional agriculture.

The report focused on Honduras in Central America and the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa.

"Gold is one of the most prized commodities and a symbol of wealth and power," said CAFOD director Chris Bain at the time of the report's release.

"But how often do we think about how gold reaches our high streets? Gold doesn't look quite so shiny to many people in developing countries living in and around gold mines.

"To them, gold often means poverty, health risks and destruction of their homes and environment."

"Much of this can be blamed on the activities of multinational gold mining companies," Bain said.

"We have to break this destructive pattern by challenging businesses to clean up their act and stop undermining the poor."

Educate buyers

The YouGov survey pointed out that many consumers are unaware that too often gold-mining companies are failing to consult local communities and that there are major social and environment costs of gold mining.

But when asked about corporate responsibility the poll revealed that two out of three people (65 per cent) believe gold mining companies should be responsible for limiting any environmental damage caused by their operations.

CAFOD is urging the public to "use your consumer power" by purchasing from those retailers who are supporting industry standards as outlined in its 12 Gold Rules for No Dirty Gold and asking those who have not signed it yet to do so.

The "golden rules" include: respect for human rights; "free, prior and informed consent for affected communities"; safe working conditions for labourers; assurances that projects do not force communities off their lands; no dumping of mine waste into water sources; no mining operations in places of armed conflict nor ecologically fragile areas; full disclosure of social and environmental effects of mining operations; and covering all costs of closing down and cleaning up mine sites.

While acknowledging that only a few UK retailers have formally endorsed the standards, CAFOD noted that Tiffany's, the Signet Group and Cartier publicly support the "golden rules."

"We hope that the UK's leading jewelry retailers will not only sign up to the Golden Rules, but work actively with their suppliers and mining companies to set new and robust standards for the gold industry," Maldar said.

(© Catholic Online 2006, www.catholic.org)

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