Fairtrade gold advocate Greg Valerio has been named Member of the British Empire (MBE) in the Queen’s New Years’ honour list 2016.
“This award belongs to all of us and I hope it will embolden us all to keep fighting for fairness in the jewellery trade,” said Valerio, owner of U.K.-based Cred Jewellery.
“Jewellery and justice are not incompatible and lost to each other. The great challenge we now face is to forge a new luxury jewellery narrative that connects the aspirational emotion of the purchase with the dignity of the source. This is true luxury jewellery, a legacy of peace, justice, and prosperity for the communities at the source and a continued celebration of design, creativity, and love in the gift that is given.”
About 15 million artisanal and small-scale miners around the world—including women and children—produce 200 to 300 tonnes of gold each year. This accounts for 90 per cent of the work force in mining gold and 10 per cent of the metal’s global supply. The miners are at the bottom of the pyramid and represent one of the worst forms of child labour, although in many cases, the children are working with their families.
A jeweller since 1996, Valerio says he first saw the exploitation of the jewellery supply chain during a visit to India, where he witnessed slavery, child labour, and terrible working conditions. He says the experience motivated him to become an activist in the jewellery industry. By 2004, he delivered what he says was the world’s first traceable gold, from mine to wedding ring.
Seven years later, Valerio collaborated with the Fairtrade Foundation to launch the fairtrade gold movement in support of artisanal and small-scale miners in Peru, Colombia, and Bolivia. And in 2012, he helped deliver a Comic Relief-funded pilot project for Fairtrade International to apply fairtrade principles to small-scale mining groups in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. The groups underwent their first-ever fairtrade audit in 2015 and the hope is several will achieve accreditation.
“We are happy to hear Greg Valerio was awarded MBE in the Queen’s Award,” said
Bismarck Onyando, a gold miner from Micodepro in Kenya and one of nine co-operatives that took part in the African pilot. “We are celebrating with him this great honour. Congratulations to you, my friend Greg!”
Last January 2015, Valerio worked with the Fairtrade Foundation and other global fairtrade markets to launch a bridal campaign, ‘I Do’ to encourage 100,000 brides and grooms to ask for fairtrade gold when buying their engagement and wedding rings.
Fairtrade gold miners receive a guaranteed fair minimum price and a premium to spend on improving their businesses or on community projects, such as education, clean water and healthcare. Click here for more on fairtrade gold.
