Diamond mining major De Beers says it has made meaningful progress in areas such as emission reduction, safety and conservation, while advancing work on diamond provenance and traceability.

In its latest sustainability report for 2024, the group confirms a Scope 1 and 2 emission reduction of 7% since 2021.

The group is working with Envusa Energy to complete the financing of wind and solar plants in South Africa, which will start catering for 100% of the Venetia mine’s electricity needs next year.

The group had 248 MW of renewable energy in planning stage in 2024, including the Mmadinare solar PV project, in Botswana.

On the fuels front, De Beers is advancing alternative fuel studies in Botswana and Namibia for its Debswana and Namdeb operations.

“Our frontrunning alternative to diesel is a fuel made from recycled end-of-life tyres. In 2024, we launched a prefeasibility study for a pyrolysis plant in South Africa to support both our decarbonisation and circular economy objectives.

“We also have oil seed trials under way to explore biodiesel production in partnership with Sasol and Anglo American,” the company confirms.

Moreover, the company has worked with its top 100 strategic partners to develop roadmaps for reducing Scope 3 emissions.

The group ultimately aims to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 42% and Scope 3 emissions by 25% by 2030 – from a 2021 baseline.

Additionally, the company managed about 375 000 acres of land for conservation purposes in 2024, ensuring the habitat for a range of endangered fauna and flora. For example, the group relocated ten white rhinos from Botswana to South Africa as part of a rewilding project.

The company also has a seabird rescue initiative in place through the Namdeb-Debmarine Foundation, which is working with conservation stakeholders to prevent the extinction of the African Penguin.

On the social front, De Beers made a total tax and economic contribution of $2.9-billion in 2024, which it says highlights the socioeconomic value that responsibly sourced natural diamonds can deliver.

In particular, De Beers spent $1.7-billion on local procurement in the year, comprising 74% of its total procurement spend, which provides ripple effects across local economies.

The group also achieved its best-ever safety performance in 2024, with a total recordable injury frequency rate of 1.2.

De Beers has several high-impact programmes in place across its host countries. For example, through the EntrepenHER programme, in partnership with UN Women, De Beers has supported more than 500 women entrepreneurs and aims to reach 1 500 more in the next three years.

In turn, De Beers supports the Stanford SEED programme, which supports entrepreneurs across Southern Africa. This initiative has helped to create 3 400 jobs since its inception in 2018.

As part of De Beers’ engagements with the government of Botswana for a new Debswana sales agreement and mining licences, De Beers developed a ten-year Diamonds for Development Fund.

In recognising the importance of responsible sourcing and traceability, De Beers advanced and scaled its Tracr blockchain platform in 2024, with nearly three-million individual diamonds having been registered on the platform since 2022.

Producers and suppliers can register the source of diamonds on the platform, with the platform then providing country of origin information for all De Beers Group-sourced rough diamonds weighing more than 1 ct.

The Tracr platform is now undertaking both rough-to-rough and rough-to-polished objective verification of diamonds on the platform, which enhances the levels of assurance it can provide throughout the value chain.

Additionally, owing to the growing consumer interest in where a product originates and the impact it has had along its journey, De Beers enables participating retailers to access polished diamonds that have been sourced by De Beers and tracked through the value chain by Tracr.

De Beers has been running its Best Practice Principles Assurance Programme since 2005, which involves independent yearly assessments across the diamond value chain to account for best practice environmental, social and governance standards. In 2024, this programme covered 274 000 people in 79 countries.

De Beers brands and diamond desirability CEO Sandrine Conseiller says sustainability is embedded in the group’s operations, from developing renewable energy in its host countries to advancing gender equity and supporting long-term national development.

“We are not just powering our operations more sustainably, we are helping to build infrastructure that benefits communities,” she adds.

Conseiller concludes that, when customers choose a De Beers natural diamond, they are helping to shape a brighter future for the people and places behind it.