"FairTrade" Gold Launched

I suppose it was only a matter of time. Disturbed by stories about how rough gold mining is, particularly in the Third World, UK jeweler Greg Valerio has successfully spearheaded "FairTrade - FairMined" gold for the jewelry trade. As reported on by the Guardian:

Gold is one of the most potent symbols of wealth, power, glamour and - today of all days - of romance. But the industry is often secretive, exploitative and highly unregulated. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, gold and other minerals are funding a war where five million people have died since 1996, yet there is no global campaign to ban trafficking of blood gold. It is often extracted by the most vulnerable and disenfranchised - in Ivory Coast, for instance, the UN has reported how five-year-old girls are sent down pits - yet few seem to realise. It causes enormous environmental damage, with mercury and cyanide often used in the extraction process, but these issues are rarely thrust into the spotlight.

And then there's the issue of traceability. Talk to anyone about ethical gold, and the first thing that will be mentioned is traceability. Gold comes out of mines, goes through the hands of middle men and melts magically away into a refinery. Try and trace this back, and a stumbling block immediately appears.

"There's no international legislation which compels mining companies to disclose their source," says Valerio. "That's how it works. The jeweller is put into an untenable position. They just don't know. I think that is morally unacceptable. There is legislation coming into place in America, in particular, looking at minerals from eastern Congo and eastern Africa. But lots of mining companies are resisting - they don't want traceability. They don't want people knowing what they are doing."

Today something will change, as the world's first Fairtrade and Fairmined hallmark for gold is launched in the UK. This will ensure customers buying jewellery can, for the first time, know exactly where it came from. Like other hallmarks, this mark will be a physical stamp, and each piece will be fully traceable and come with its own certification....

It's further evidence that green-oriented people and the like have come into money. Oddly, their views coexist quite comfortably with multiculturalism. Perhaps, multiculturalism was promulgated to stave off the gunboats and the domestic equivalent. There are signs that "international law" is becoming the 21st century answer to the gunboat: the former's presumably more ethical than the latter.

Still, given the fact that the UN doesn't have an army or police force of its own, the gunboat will have to be used to enforce any sort of "international law." Given current power dynamics, the Stars and Stripes is the most likely flag to fly in such maneuvers.


There are also rumours that Prince William and Kate Middleton will be using Fairtade gold for their rings. In fact, the couple are asking their guests to donate to charity in lieu of wedding gifts.