Diamonds are forever. Are they sustainable?
“You must spend two months’ salary on an engagement ring”. You might have heard this saying before. Where does it come from and how has it become so pervasive in society?
In the early 19th century, only one engagement ring out of ten contained diamonds. By the early 21st century, approximately 80% of rings did. The explanation behind this considerable increase is powerful marketing by no other than the world’s largest diamond company, De Beers.
De Beers was founded in 1888 by Cecil Rhodes. Involved in the mining and trading of diamonds, De Beers has long been the market leader with more than six billion dollars in annual revenue. As of 2019, the company controlled 29.5% of the world’s diamond market share. This leadership was not obtained without controversy, including monopolistic behaviour and having a founder representative of colonialism and responsible for creating the ideological basis for Apartheid.
The Great Depression was catastrophic for De Beer’s finances. At a time when the United States saw its GDP fall by 30% and unemployment rise by more than 20%, you can imagine that the people’s priority was not to purchase diamonds. By linking diamonds with engagement, love, and commitment through marketing, De Beers would ensure its hold on the consumer’s mind. Beyond De Beers, how has the diamond industry performed with regards to social and environmental sustainability?
Knowing where to start when talking about social sustainability in the diamond industry is tough. You’ve heard about blood diamonds, right? The diamonds mined in conflict areas, financing war and insurgency with child soldiers involved? Additionally, diamond supply chains lack traceability and transparency on the human rights abuses occurring such as life-threatening working conditions and child labour.
With regards to its climate impact, McKinsey estimates the global mining industry to emit between 4-7% of annual greenhouse gases. Diamond mining is of course a subset of that industry but it is not exactly known for its environmental sustainability credentials. Diamond mining is also responsible for other environmental catastrophes such as deforestation, land degradation, ecosystem collapse and water pollution.
So what should you do if you want to buy diamonds that are socially and environmentally responsible? You could consider lab-grown diamonds, known to be chemically and physically identical to mined ones.
Jessica Warch and Sidney Neuhaus grew up in families involved in the diamond mining industry. They followed the path of their family but made a slight adjustment along the way. They would ensure the diamonds they sell are socially and environmentally responsible.
Through Kimaï, they are providing lab-grown diamonds, taking social harm and environmental degradation out of the equation. Additionally, the company provides jewellery made out of recycled gold, a beautiful show of the circular economy being put in motion. The chart on the left highlights how exactly they are cleaning the diamond supply chain.
With regards to carbon emissions, it is unclear from publicly available studies which is the best alternative between mined and lab-grown diamonds. A 2014 study from Frost & Sullivan estimates that lab-grown diamonds emit only 4.8% of the carbon emissions produced by mined diamonds. However, a more recent study by Trucost estimates the C02 per carat of lab-grown and mined diamonds to be 510kg and 160kg respectively.
These differences in findings may be explained by varying methodological approaches as well as assumptions taken on the share of renewable energy used in the production of lab-grown diamonds. However, one thing is for sure and it is that lab-grown diamonds with more controlled supply chains can provide certainty to consumers that human rights abuses and the destruction of ecological ecosystems were prevented.
Next time you make any purchase, try and consider if you’re being pushed by societal forces or if you actually want the good or service. It is tough and I certainly struggle doing it, but it might lead you to some interesting conversations with friends and family. More importantly, the value and strengths of our relationships should probably not be determined by the monetary value of gifts we offer one another.
