De Beers Group has reported on the strong prog-
ress made in 2021 towards the achievement of its
2030 ‘Building Forever’ sustainability goals in its
latest sustainability report, published today.
In the first full year since announcing the 12 goals, De
Beers made meaningful progress in each of its priority fo-
cus areas – leading ethical practices, protecting the natural
world, partnering for thriving communities and accelerat-
ing equal opportunity – despite ongoing challenges pre-
sented by the COVID-19 pandemic, which continued to
impact the company’s operating environment in 2021.
Key highlights during 2021 included:
Leading ethical practices
• Increased capacity of De Beers Group’s innovative
diamond traceability blockchain platform, TracrTM,
which now has the ability to register up to one million
diamonds per week
• Launched the pilot of De Beers Code of Origin, a
consumer-facing trusted source programme
• Brought the first dedicated GemFairTM parcels of
ethically sourced artisanal and small-scale (ASM)
mined diamonds to market (GemFair is De Beers
Group’s initiative to support the formalisation of the
ASM sector)
• Implemented a land reclamation programme in
Sierra Leone to bring old artisanal mine sites back to
productive farming use, supporting livelihoods and
food security for local communities.
Protecting the natural world
• Reduced energy intensity by 11 percent as De Beers
strives to be carbon neutral across its operations by
2030
• Continued to progress a project to build a 60MW solar
farm at Venetia mine in South Africa
• Launched Okavango Eternal – a five-year partnership
with National Geographic to help protect the critical
source waters of the Okavango Delta in southern Africa
• Continued to actively manage biodiversity and protect
threatened species across approximately 500,000 hect-
ares of protected land in southern Africa (the Diamond
Route)
• Completed a strategy for addressing Scope 3 emissions
in De Beers Group’s global supply chain.
Partnering for thriving communities
• Supported more than 2,600 jobs through enterprise de-
velopment initiatives in southern Africa and supported
more than 18,000 students at 25 schools in South Africa
• Commenced delivery of the partnership with National
Geographic, which includes commitments to support
the development of livelihood opportunities for 10,000
people across Africa’s Okavango Basin and help ensure
water and food security for more than one million people
• Pledged $6.8 million to support vaccine procurement
and roll-out in De Beers Group’s host countries, includ-
ing establishing vaccination clinics at the company’s
operations for employees and community members
• Invested $35 million on social investment initiatives.
Accelerating equal opportunity
• Announced an additional $3 million investment to extend
the AWOME programme in southern Africa, which is
focused on supporting women entrepreneurs to grow
their businesses – more than 1,800 entrepreneurs have
been supported to date
• Engaged 1,500 girls in STEM in southern Africa in
partnership with WomEng and provided 21 scholar-
ships to women studying STEM at university in Can-
ada, in partnership with UN Women and Scholarships
Canada
• Awarded 12 young jewellery designers in De Beers
Group’s host countries training opportunities through
the company’s Shining Light Awards competition
• Launched the #BlackIsBrilliant campaign in partner-
ship with RAD Red Carpet Advocacy, bringing togeth-
er Black jewellery designers with top celebrity stylists.
Beyond its Building Forever sustainability commit-
ments, De Beers Group continued to make a vital contri-
bution to its host countries and communities through tax
and royalty payments, employment and local procurement,
which totalled $4.7 billion in 2021. In addition, 80 per cent
of the revenue generated by the company’s operations re-
mained within host countries.
Bruce Cleaver, CEO of De Beers Group, said: “As the
first full year since announcing our ambitious 2030 sustain-
ability goals, 2021 was a pivotal year for our business. We
embedded the goals into our operational and commercial
frameworks, established critical foundations and partner-
ships, engaged with stakeholders and took tangible steps
forward, all while continuing to operate against a back-
drop of COVID-19. Our Building Forever sustainability
goals underpin our commitment to create a better future
for people and the planet and we will continue to build on
our strong momentum throughout 2022 and beyond.”