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Scar on the landscape: a Canadian diamond mine |
Ethics formed a considerable part
of the selection process for me. It was not only something that was significant
on a personal level, but something that I knew would be important to my
girlfriend (now fiancée) as well.
Everyone has heard of the term
'blood diamond' and it was certainly foremost in my mind when I started looking
at engagement rings. I felt very uncomfortable with the idea that, by buying a
diamond ring, I could be contributing to bloodshed in Africa.
However, as I researched further,
I realised that conflict diamonds are far from the only consideration the
conscientious consumer has to bear in mind, as I will now explain.
Conflict/blood diamonds
Conflict diamonds are defined by
the UN as those "that originate from areas controlled by forces or
factions opposed to legitimate and internationally recognised governments, and
are used to fund military action in opposition to those governments, or in
contravention of the decisions of the [UN] Security Council". In essence,
they are gems that are used to finance wars.
Working on the principal that
there are very few people who aren't concerned by this, those involved in the
diamond industry have attempted to put consumers at ease with something called
the Kimberley Process.
The scheme was established in 2003
with the noble and quite necessary aim of eradicating conflict diamonds by
requiring governments of gem-producing nations to regulate the industry.
However, while many retailers
will delight in telling you their products are Kimberley certified, others with
less vested interests warn that the scheme has largely been a failure; with diamonds
simply smuggled out of conflict zones into neighbouring countries for
certification.
In December 2011, Charmian Gooch,
a founding director of
Global Witness, had this to say about the situation:
"Nearly nine years after the Kimberley Process was launched, the sad truth
is that most consumers still cannot be sure where their diamonds come from, nor
whether they are financing armed violence or abusive regimes."
This is obviously a worrying
statement for us buyers and raises the question of whether you can trust the
history of any diamonds originating from Africa.
I personally didn't feel I could
and began to look for alternatives.
As it turns out, Africa is not
the only continent where diamonds exist. In fact, there are large deposits in developed
nations such as Russia and Canada.
Clearly, these countries are not
beset by civil war, which eliminates any worries about the flawed Kimberley
Process, so I assumed it was a case of problem solved. However, as I said,
blood diamonds are far from the only ethical sticking point when it comes to
buying an engagement ring.
The environment
While I came across a number of
retailers touting Canada as an ethical choice from a conflict diamond standpoint,
it unfortunately seemed to fall down on environmental impact.
MiningWatch Canada first alerted
me to the issue: "[Canadian] mines are often built in environmentally
fragile ecosystems, have significant ecological footprints and will
significantly impact upon the caribou, wolverine, bears, ptarmigan and fish.
"Exploration and mining
distort and disrupt the cultural and social lives of Aboriginal peoples and the
regional economy, and very few of the financial benefits from the mines return
to the people who suffer most of the impacts."
So not only have Canadian mines apparently
damaged the eco system, they have also impacted negatively on the indigenous
people. At this point in my research, I was beginning to give up hope of ever finding
an ethical diamond, but could Russia provide the answer?
From Russia With Love?
It was about this point in my
research that I realised something very important: there is no such thing as an
'ethical diamond', or any piece of mined jewellery for that matter - from the
gold that is used to make the bands to the stones that sit on top of them.
Whether damaging the environment
through the creation of the pit or the use of toxic materials to get the gems
out, displacing local people or exploiting workers, or even funding wars,
mining is a dirty business.
What you have to weigh up is how
much you want the real deal (a beautiful natural stone which was created
millions of years ago) versus getting the next best thing (a synthetic lab-made
diamond or a wooden band).
In the end, I decided to try to
find the most ethical possible diamond ring I could.
This, for me, meant a Russian
diamond. Although there is no doubt that the country's main mine at Mirny is
quite a scar on the landscape (you'll come across stories of helicopters being
sucked into it), the mining firm has actually closed the open pit and started
digging underground, so no more external damage is being done.
It also appears that, as detailed
in
this BBC report, the miners are paid fairly and the local community is
supported by the mining company.
Conclusions
At the end of the day, you
ultimately have to decide what you are comfortable with. I personally felt I
had been a lot more conscientious than the average consumer who simply walks
into a store and says "I'll take that one".
After doing my research, I
decided I couldn't trust the Kimberley Process and I didn't like the way
indigenous people in Canada had suffered, but I felt I could live with buying a
certified Russian diamond that was polished in Europe and not in an Indian
sweat shop by a child labourer (yes, that's another issue with diamonds).
It's one of those things where
you try to tell yourself that your choice won't make a difference to a
multi-million pound industry. However, if everyone stopped buying African
diamonds then producers would have to start adhering properly to the Kimberley
Process and Africa would be a better place for it.
However, as consumers, I also
feel that we can only know so much and therefore ultimately we end up having to
place our faith in retailers and producers. It's a shame that many of them seem
to lack the ethics of many of their customers.