Copenhagen Commitment Summit in London seen as hugely positive step forward

Delegates such as Pippa Small, Jos Skeates, Stuart Pool, Peter Crump, Melanie Eddy, Thelma West, Yianni Melas, Karen Westland of the Scottish Goldsmiths Trust, Marcus McCallum, Charlotte Cornelius and many, many others were in attendance.

Svend Wennick who drives the Copenhagen Commitment initiative gave a contextual introduction for the day and was ably facilitated by Camilla Frederiksen.

Although transparency, social impact, supply chains, extractive industries, beneficiation and carbon zero were discussed amongst many other issues, ‘People & Planet’ were cited as arguably the themes which were most discussed.

The day moved on to find ways to address these issues with actionable and impactful results.

Communication and partnership working were also major themes to come out of the day.

As participant of the day Iris Van der Veken, Executive Director at Watch & Jewellery Initiative 2030 said: “What we learn, we share.”

She continued:

"The day was truly inspiring and constructive discussions on key topics we all so deeply care about including governance, transparency, traceability, SME guidance, climate action [resulted out of] in this meaningful round table.

At the heart of the discussion we all agreed it is about people, how can we uplift communities and embrace the principle of dignity for all.”

Founder of the Copenhagen Commitment Svend Wennick said about the event this week:

“It was inspiring to be a part of a passionate opinionated group of people that all put aside their disagreements on how we move forward and instead focus constructively on what we all agree and know needs to be done, and then take the first steps right away.

We all know we need to act, take the responsibility that only we can take and do so together.

Thank you for the openminded approach and efforts from everyone [it made] this day a game changer for me, us and for Copenhagen Commitment.”

As a result of the summit Thelma West a jeweller of more than 25 years based in London commented:

“One of the best kept secrets in the jewellery world. And no, that’s not good news. Because everyone who cares about sustainable jewellery and luxury should know about the invaluable work the Copenhagen Commitment folks are doing. Just like you, I had never heard of them until a few weeks ago. Here’s to this wonderful group of troublemaking folks who fight for a better jewellery industry. May they soon become the worst kept secret and be on everyone’s lips!”

Iris Van der Veken summated:

“I fully agree that the time is now that all of us need to see how we can work better together through learning and respectful partnerships. Sustainability is a journey and it takes hard work and dedication to advance progress. No one can do this alone. A lot more sharing needs to happen. Human rights, gender, climate, traceability transparency ... we all need to work in an integrated way.
No one should reinvent the wheel. We need to build on solid frameworks that already exist. We are committed to share what we learn with the wider industry ecosystem.”

To learn more about the Cophenhagen Commitment follow https://lnkd.in/eeTXavHP they will be meeting again in January to progress the ideas formulated and agreed upon this week.