The Gold Standard

Earthworks hopes to apply its success with the mining industry to oil, gas, and e-technology.

By Margo Alderton

Background

Founded in 1988 by former Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall and others as the Mineral Policy Center, the organization was formed to advocate for reforms of mining laws and to help communities facing mineral development proposals. Its efforts have expanded to support communities outside the United States and to reach out to the private sector and increase public advocacy. The name was changed to Earthworks in 2004.

Recent Campaigns

No Dirty Gold. This initiative was launched two years ago in conjunction with Oxfam to change mining practices by targeting consumers and retailers through a public campaign focused on responsibly sourced gold jewelry. Earthworks met with jewelers, non-governmental organizations, and investors to highlight the issues. The result: Tiffany & Co. advertised in The Washington Post supporting responsible jewelry sourcing; and almost 13,000 retail jewelers (part of Jewelers of America, a trade association) publicly supported protecting public lands that Congress was considering selling to mining companies and commercial developers. The industry also formed The Council for Responsible Jewellery Practices, an international trade group.

But the campaign still faces challenges, says Earthworks President Stephen D’Esposito. When Earthworks asked jewelry retailers to sign “the golden rules”—an in-principle commitment to work toward a set of human rights and environmental standards at mine sites, few agreed at first. After Earthworks threatened to publicize the dispute, eight of the world’s largest jewelry retailers—Zale, the Signet Group (parent of Sterling and Kay Jewelers), Tiffany, Helzberg Diamonds, Fortunoff, Cartier, Piaget, and Van Cleef & Arpels—signed on.

“On the one hand, we’re very firm that we want to reach out and create the dynamic where we’re working with corporate leaders on these issues,” says D’Esposito. “On the other hand, it seems sometimes you just need both the carrot and the stick, or the stick, to come into play because that… creates the pressure necessary to get people to move it from the B pile to the A pile.”

Current Undertakings

Earthworks is now looking to focus on issues such as oil and gas. “We’ve got a set of objectives around changes to federal regulation of the oil and gas sector in certain states in the U.S.,” D’Esposito says. Another project focuses on recycling electronic waste, such as cell phones, which with their volume of metal could make recycling profitable. “Most people are not throwing away their cell phones because they know in the back of their minds they’re worth something and it’s probably a good idea for the environment not to throw them away,” says D’Esposito. “One of our challenges has always been how you bring these distant environmental issues to life for people—you’ve got to make it doable.”

Current Trends

D’Esposito thinks a shift in recent years from government oversight and regulation to voluntary commitments has created interesting dynamics. “In sector after sector, NGOs and civil society groups are looking at how you create mechanisms where the marketplace—the consumers, investors, insurers—can actually use certification of compliance with environmental, social, human rights best practices as a basis for making market decisions,” he says. Another trend: product stewardship and lifecycle responsibility, a subject being discussed more in Europe than the United States, though D’Esposito predicts it will eventually become a global trend. “Companies realize they are going to have to deal with it in some countries in one way or another. So you look for methods to regularize that across your entire company—not just treating it in one way in one part of the world, and another in another part of the world.”

Where to Learn More

In addition to Earthworks (www.earthworksaction.org ), there’s the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance at (www.responsiblemining.net ). D’Esposito also recommends The Katoomba Group (www.katoombagroup.org ) for information about similar issues in the forestry sector.