Colloquium: Dr. Laurent Cartier
Wednesday, Sept 27, 2023, at 12.15 - 13.15
Online, Zoom | Sign up here
From Conflict to Romance: The Science, Policy and Sustainability of Diamond Traceability
Recent developments have brought due diligence, along with tracking and traceability, to the forefront of discussions and requirements in the diamond and jewellery industry. This is a result of consumer demands for detailed information on the provenance of gems, banking requirements aiming to reduce risks, industry and company initiatives seeking to bring greater transparency, and growing government legislation on mineral supply chains. Russia is the world's largest producer of diamonds and the topic of traceability has become vital as the G7 is currently discussing sanctions on Russian diamonds. This talk will discuss the opportunities and challenges of tracing diamonds, along with policy and sustainability considerations that need to be taken into account. It will also ask the question: Can blockchain and traceability mechanisms truly provide more sustainable outcomes for diamond supply chains and communities?
About Dr. Laurent Cartier
Dr. Laurent E. Cartier holds a Masters in Earth Sciences from Basel University and a PhD from Basel University that focused on pearl farming and pearl traceability issues. Laurent works as Head of Special Initiatives for the Swiss Gemmological Institute SSEF - a leading gemmological laboratory. He is also a lecturer and researcher on gemstones at the University of Lausanne (Switzerland) and an affiliated associate professor at the University of Delaware (USA). He is a co-founder of the Sustainable Pearls project and also a co-founder of the Gemstones & Sustainable Development Knowledge Hub. He continues to work on sustainability issues in coloured gemstones and diamonds and frequently visits mining areas, most recently in West Africa and Colombia.