Geneva, 10th April, 2024 – The Watch & Jewellery Initiative 2030 (WJI 2030) hosted a C-Driven panel at Watches & Wonders to launch its second annual Stakeholder Report – Report on Progress 2023 – 2024.
Under the moderation of Iris Van der Veken, Executive Director & Secretary General of WJI 2030, an esteemed C-Suite panel of executives took the stage on the topic Up to 2030: Why Collective Action Matters. The panel included Cyrille Vigneron, President & CEO of Cartier SA; Dr. Anino Emuwa, Founder of 100 Women @ Davos; Frédéric Grangié, CEO of Chanel Watches & Jewellery; and Dr. Daniel Klier, Advisor to the ESG Committee at WJI 2030.
Over the past year, WJI 2030 has continued to strengthen its engagement with key stakeholders while embarking on a journey dedicated to action, collaboration, impact, and transparency. The Annual Progress Report showcases progress of the Initiative and its Members in accelerating the pathway on the three strategic pillars – climate resilience, preserving resources and fostering inclusiveness.
- Under Pillar 1 Climate Resilience, WJI 2030 has built member capacity on setting science based targets through face-to-face workshops, a series of webinars, resources and guidance materials on the science based target journey, and launched the SBTi for SMEs training module with help desk support with experts. Looking back at 2023, significant progress has been made by members in their climate resilience journey, with 48% of Maison and Partner members meeting the minimum commitment on Climate Resilience to sign and submit the Science Based Targets initiatives (SBTi) commitment letter. Acknowledging that SMEs require special support and guidance, we are proud to have launched the SME Solutions Lab in collaboration with United Nations Global Compact.
- Under Pillar 2 Preserving Resources, WJI 2030 acknowledges that this topic is challenging for many of its members, and therefore additional capacity has been invested through expert helpdesk sessions, face-to-face workshops, and webinars, to enable and activate companies on their nature journey. The Nature Primer was launched to guide members on first concrete actions and to build members’ awareness and familiarity with new global goals for nature, frameworks, and regulations – and begin to make connections to their business. Currently, on the commitment of setting up a Nature Roadmap for their company commensurate to their level of ambition and capabilities, less than one third (29%) of Maison and Partner members have achieved this goal whereas the remaining members (71%) are in progress or just getting started – with 22% yet to get started. As a result, WJI 2030 has activated the Nature Roadmap and Nature Playbook to be launched in 2024, and will provide an action pathway aligned with recognised global goals and frameworks, including the work of Business for Nature, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), Capitals Coalition, World Economic Forum, and the overarching ACT-D (assess, commit, transform, disclose) model, alongside the guidance and methodologies under development for the Science Based Targets for Nature (STBN), the Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), and new reporting standards and regulations such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Global Reporting Initiative’s updated Biodiversity Standard.
- Under Pillar 3, Fostering Inclusiveness, the focus this year has been on building capacity in the operationalisation of Human Rights Due Diligence, Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) implementation, and an introduction to Artisanal and Small Scale Mining Engagement. A Human Rights Navigator Tool has been developed in December 2023, and the first phase of a Gender Responsive Procurement (GRP) pilot in collaboration with UN Women was completed, and a case study with 9 leading members at the UN General Assembly in September 2023 was published.
- Transparency and disclosure is important. In partnership with ESG Book, WJI 2030 has diligently worked over 12 months building a reporting framework aligned with the new regulations and best practices in ESG Reporting. WJI 2030 and ESG Book identified key topics aligned with WJI 2030 commitments across dominant frameworks and standards, drafted a framework with a distribution of KPIs across three pillars, validated select KPIs with internal and external stakeholders, and developed an accountability mechanism for reporting governance. Moving forward, a testing period with members will be launched, enabling organisations to interact with the framework and trial a test disclosure on ESG Book.
As WJI 2030 acknowledges these milestones, they remain humble and are committed to support their members on the implementation of the minimum commitments. All the work that is being developed will ultimately become open source, for the wider industry and beyond.
Cyrille Vigneron, President & CEO, Cartier SA, “No one has the power to change everything alone. Together we have a chance. We must not be discouraged by current setbacks. It just means we need to work harder and keep moving forward.”
Marie-Claire Daveu, Chief Sustainability & Institutional Affairs Officer, Kering, “To succeed, it is vital that the entire supply chain, and your entire ecosystems are fully engaged. Our responsibility is not only to help our suppliers assess their impacts, but also to invest with them in doing so. Once more, the collective approach is key. WJI 2030 can help both on the strategic side and on the implementation of very concrete tools for immediate actions.”
Iris Van der Veken, Executive Director and Secretary General, WJI 2030 “As WJI 2030 navigates this journey, we look forward to continue to work with the wider industry on smart collaborations. The consumer deserves trust and integrity and only together can we deliver towards this promise. We thank our Board, Members, Partners, and Key Stakeholders for supporting us in empowering this change.”
