Annual Sustainability Statement 2023

During early 2022, Kiki McDonough Ltd began a process of embedding sustainable and responsible business practices into its day-to-day operations. As a member of the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC), we are committed to the implementation of the Code of Practices (COP) standard and as such we have developed a range of policies and procedures to ensure our ongoing compliance with its requirements.

We are also committed to developing and nurturing strong relationships with suppliers and other business partners to promote responsible business practices throughout our supply chain. This includes taking steps to identify and, where applicable, mitigate negative social impacts with a particular focus on addressing issues related to human rights, child labour and forced labour.

To achieve this, we carried out due diligence on all our suppliers in alignment with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas (OECD Guidance). Our due diligence framework includes the following elements:

To understand the potential and/or actual human rights risks that might be present in our upstream supply chain, we asked all our suppliers to complete a survey questionnaire. This questionnaire asked suppliers to provide information on their legal compliance, labour practices, controls to manage child and forced labour risks, the controls they have in place to ensure adequate workplace health & safety and the due diligence processes they have in place to address risks related to minerals originating from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas (CAHRAs).

Regarding our suppliers' labour practices, we did not identify any significant areas of concern related to the systems and processes our suppliers have in place with regard to the management of employees. For example, all our suppliers reported having processes in place for verifying the ages of workers and ensuring working hours remain within legal limits.

With regard to risks concerning the geographical origin of jewellery materials in our supply chain, all but one of our suppliers were able to trace their gold supplies to a refiner that has been independently certified against a recognised standard aligned with the OECD Guidance [This includes the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) 2019 Code of Practices Standard, the LBMA Responsible Gold Guidance and the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) RMAP Standard.]

For precious stones (diamonds and coloured gemstones- Due diligence currently covers coloured gemstones used by Kiki McDonough Ltd that are within the scope of the RJC 2019 Code of Practices Standard. This includes emeralds, sapphires and rubies), all but two of our suppliers were able to trace precious stones supplied to Kiki McDonough Ltd to the original country of mining origin. 

We were able to identify that a small percentage of our diamonds originate from South Africa, which meets the definition of a Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Area (CAHRA), but we also identified that these diamonds are mined by DeBeers in accordance with its own strict social and environmental standards, the DeBeers Best Practice Principles (BPP) and, since they are an RJC certified member, the RJC 2019 Code of Practices Standard.

We will continue to work with our supply chain partners throughout 2023 and beyond to build on these efforts which will include, where applicable, steps to appropriately manage identified risks in alignment with our policies and the requirements of the RJC Code of Practices standard.

In addition to the above we have also implemented processes and controls to manage the environmental impacts of our direct business operations. This has included implementing measure to minimise waste, increase recycling of paper and the implementation energy efficiency measures. During 2023 we will continue to seek opportunities to improve our environmental performance.