The EU Csddd changes the rules of the game

It's raining wet. The ongoing geopolitical crises, with the slowdown in demand for jewellery, the high price of gold, the ban on Russian diamonds due to the embargo, the drop in sales of natural diamonds and the overproduction of lab grown were not enough. Adding to the concerns of the jewellery industry is the raft of European sustainability regulations, which complicates business on the Old Continent. "The industry would do well to study, in particular, the recent Csddd directive, which extends corporate responsibility throughout the supply chain, with maxi-fines for companies that fail to prove that the raw materials of products exported to the EU were not socially and environmentally dumped," explained Iris van der Veken, executive director of the powerful Watch & Jewellery Initiative 2030, at the 2024 congress in Shanghai of Cibjo-The World jewellery confederation. And the debate among the delegates of the confederation led by Gaetano Cavalieri was lively. According to Feriel Zerouki, president of the World Diamond Council and senior vice-president of De Beers Group, "such stringent rules kill innovation and can damage business; the legislator's intentions are positive but taken literally they have the side effect of curbing the entrepreneurial spirit". Edward Johnson, corporate responsibility director of Gemfields (the world's largest coloured stone mining company), takes a different view. "Regulation forces one to take a step forward to the next level; without regulation, companies are less inclined to take big and onerous steps in the ESG sphere," he said. "That is why my assessment of the Csddd is positive: it is a difficult regulation to deal with, but one that can take one to the next level of responsibility along the supply chain. Who is well beyond regulatory compliance - and was applauded for it by the 250 delegates at the Cibjo congress - is Italpreziosi, the largest gold refinery in our country. "We are the first company in the sector in the world to be B Corp certified, because we believe that profit must be achieved by creating value for the whole community, operating with morality, dignity, energy and passion," said president and founder Ivana Ciabatti, assisted at the congress by her daughter Alice Vanni, the company's compliance and sustainability officer. To them, subject to rigorous B Corp audits, the Csddd directive does not scare.