During the year under review, considerable progress has been made in formalising the Group’s approach to Corporate Social Responsibility (‘CSR’).
Richemont believes that businesses should operate in a responsible and sustainable manner. The global community today expects companies to operate in a manner which recognises the interests of stakeholders other than simply their shareholders.
Being a good corporate citizen requires that businesses recognise the importance of environmental issues, play an active role in the communities in which they operate and act in a fair and responsible manner vis-à-vis business partners and customers.
Richemont’s Maisons produce prestigious products of high worth. The attraction of the products is built, in part, on the heritage and reputation of the Maisons, which in many cases has been built up over centuries. Richemont is not willing to see the reputations of its Maisons debased and has therefore established a formal CSR framework, which Maisons are required to adhere to. This framework is embodied in the Richemont Code of Business Ethics and the Group’s Corporate Social Responsibility Guidelines. The framework has been implemented after a consultation period involving all of the businesses in the Group. That process and the related review of CSR compliance within the Group brought forth constructive input from the Maisons.
On the broader front, businesses in the jewellery supply chain, from mining houses through to manufacturers and retailers, have become increasingly aware of the need for the sourcing of raw materials to be more closely monitored.
In terms of diamonds, the industry has in recent years implemented the Kimberley process; this is designed to ensure that ‘conflict’ diamonds from war zones do not enter the supply chain. Through a comprehensive system of certification, the process has effectively limited the supply of funds to factions engaged in civil wars and unrest, often in Africa, in exchange for diamonds.
Attention is now turning to attempts to ensure that gold entering the supply chain for jewellery production is only sourced from environmentally and socially responsible mining operations. Cartier is a founding member of the Council for Responsible Jewellery Practices (‘CRJP’), which was established in May 2005 to respond to the challenges related to the sourcing of gold and diamonds. Both Van Cleef & Arpels and Piaget have also joined the project. Although the gold supply chain is significantly more complex than that for diamonds, the CRJP participants are implementing procedures which will provide manufacturers, retailers and customers with reassurance that the gold entering the supply chain has been sourced without doing harm to the environment or to communities in the areas where mining takes place.
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