Initiative 2030: a Cartier and Kering alliance for more responsible jewelry
Kering hopes to make the watch and jewelry sector more responsible, repeating what it has already done for the fashion industry with the 2030 Watch and Jewelry Initiative.
The French luxury group has teamed up with Cartier, part of rival conglomerate Compagnie Financière Richemont, to launch the Watch and Jewelry Initiative 2030 in partnership with the Responsible Jewellery Council. This project marks its latest cross-sector alliance aimed at developing industry-wide objectives to protect the environment.
Unlike the Fashion Pact, launched in 2019 with 32 signatories, the Watch and Jewelry Initiative is starting more modestly. In addition to Cartier, Kering's watch and jewelry brands are joining. The division includes the jewelry brands Boucheron, Pomellato, DoDo and Qeelin, and the luxury watch brands Ulysse Nardin and Girard-Perregaux.
2030 Initiative: open to all jewelry and watch brands
“The initiative is open to all players in watchmaking and jewelry with a national or international footprint who commit to dedicating their resources and energy to continuous improvement on the theme of sustainability, as well as to developing a vision of excellence for the sector, regardless of their current situation, market segment or position in the value chain,” Cartier and Kering said in a joint statement this Wednesday.
This means that, like the Fashion Pact, the initiative will extend to both upstream and downstream players, including brands, distributors and suppliers. Members must commit to making progress in these 3 areas:
- Strengthening climate resilience
- Resource preservation
- Inclusion policy
Members of the 2030 Initiative alliance will be required to regularly report on progress.
Cartier and Kering: a privileged relationship since 2017
Cartier and Kering have built on their existing relationship. They have been partners in eyewear since 2017, and the agreement involved Richemont's purchase of a 30% stake in Kering Eyewear. Kering and Richemont are also among the companies that this year joined an initiative to improve the traceability of colored gemstones.
The Watch and Jewelry Initiative 2030 aims to support the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. These were defined to achieve measurable progress by the end of the decade in areas ranging from poverty to gender, climate change, inequality and reducing the gap between rich and poor.
Cyrille Vigneron, President and CEO of Cartier, said it was clear that collective action had become necessary.
“More than ever, we remain committed to sharing our common vision of a future in which all houses, their suppliers and commercial partners are empowered to collaborate on projects that have a positive impact on the planet and its people,” he said in the statement.
Jean-François Palus, CEO of the Kering group, said that this initiative is in line with the group's existing commitments. Since 2011, Kering has been quantifying its impact on nature across its entire supply chain.
Making a real environmental and social impact with the 2030 jewelry and watch initiative
“At Kering, we believe that luxury is inseparable from the highest environmental and social standards, and that it is our responsibility, as major players in luxury, to initiate the necessary changes to protect our planet,” said Palus.
“For watchmaking and jewelry, as for fashion, we believe that collectively committing to a common framework of quantified environmental objectives around a few themes is the best way to make a real impact,” he added.
Those joining the initiative must commit to reducing their carbon emissions with the aim of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. At a minimum, they must commit to signing and submitting the Science Based Targets Initiative by 2022, the two companies said.
Helping vulnerable populations in the watch and jewelry industry value chain and contributing to low-carbon solutions for these communities is one of the other objectives pursued.
Members must also commit to measuring and prioritizing their impact on biodiversity and water across their sourcing of key raw materials. In the future, they will need to ensure that supply chains are free of products from old-growth and endangered forests, and commit to restoring habitats where mining and other extractive activities take place.
- Cartier wedding ring for women and men
Involvement of the Responsible Jewellery Council
Participating brands are required to join the Responsible Jewellery Council and be certified in compliance with its code of conduct. This is an international standard governing responsible business practices for diamonds, colored gemstones, silver, gold and platinum group metals.
Iris Van der Veken, Executive Director of the Responsible Jewellery Council, said she hoped that all industry players would get involved. "Working in the old way is no longer an option," she said.
The Fashion Pact launched by Kering two years ago now has 70 signatories, including retailer H&M, Adidas and Nike, Gap Inc., Ralph Lauren Corp., Chanel, Hermès, Prada, Ferragamo, Giorgio Armani and Burberry, among others.
LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton is not part of it, notably for fear of being associated with sports brands. However, LVMH is a signatory of the initiative for responsible colored gemstones, known as the Gemstones and Jewelry Community Platform.
