De Beers has expanded the pioneering blockchain platform, Tracr, opening it up to the wider industry and enabling participants to record a diamond’s journey from source to store, according to its 2023 sustainability report.
The group said it is now registering more than two-thirds of its global production by value on the platform, with 1.5 million individual diamonds registered last year, bringing the total registered on Tracr to 2 million.
Several key industry businesses also joined the platform in 2023.
“Our leadership in diamond transparency and traceability also continued throughout 2023, underpinned by leading technologies, so that we can increasingly connect consumers with the provenance of their natural diamond and all the benefits it has delivered along its journey,” said De Beers chief executive Al Cook.
Meanwhile, the De Beers head said they continue to reduce the company’s carbon footprint in line with their recently validated science-based emission reduction targets and are progressing investments in renewable energy to power our operations.
This included working with Envusa Energy, a joint venture between Anglo American plc and EDF Renewables, to develop renewable energy infrastructure to provide 48 MW of power to the company’s Venetia mine in South Africa from 2025 and progressing planning for a 34 MW wind farm in Namibia.
De Beers also held its inaugural Scope 3 supplier summit, mandating carbon reporting for the company’s Sightholders and securing commitments with key suppliers to work on aligned GHG reduction roadmaps.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
