Sustainability Policy

Sustainability Policy

Sustainability is core to our culture at Everledger. Therefore, we engage in activities that will make our corporate practices more efficient, educate and give opportunities to our staff to become sustainability champions at home, and develop products with our customers that improve the lives of people and protect our planet.

Our Corporate Sustainability Policy works on two vectors: an internal programme, which aims at improving our practices across all Everledger offices and our people across the world, and product impact, which is delivered through the use of our technologies across all industries in which we operate.

1. Internal Sustainability Programme

We are proud of our enterprise-wide sustainability program that was launched in 2019 and is maturing each year. Phase One of the program aims at these key areas of focus: clean cloud energy, responsible travel, sustainable purchasing, green office, and corporate citizenship.

 

Clean Cloud Energy

We’re driving towards efficient and renewable cloud energy from all our cloud storage providers to address the carbon footprint used in our blockchain-based platform. We are working with our cloud providers to gather the necessary energy use data to report these details going forward. Where our cloud providers do not use renewable energy nor offset their non-renewable energy use, we are working with them to determine other options and timelines for doing so. 

Additionally, the blockchain protocol utilised by Everledger is energy efficient, as its technology avoids the energy-intensive process which are characteristic of Proof of Work consensus mechanisms such as Bitcoin or Ethereum.

 

Responsible Travel

Everledger takes our climate impact seriously. We work to make travel efficient through our regional representatives, enable part-time and full-time remote work across the world, and have been offsetting our CEO’s travel since the beginning of 2018 through all her flights that allow for automated offset.

Starting in 2019, we began measuring our team’s travel. We are expanding our measurement and offset of travel across the company. We will add an offset at point of sale of the travel where permitted by airlines. And for airlines that do not have offset options, we are looking into clear ways to ensure we contribute to long-term climate benefits for the future of our planet.

 

Sustainable Purchasing

For all corporate gear and various products we buy for merchandise and office suppliers, we apply simple but clear ethical purchasing criteria. Among them, themain considerations include: company values, product life cycle management, materials and production standards, quality and sourcing of materials, end-of-life recycling opportunities, carbon offsetting or renewable energy, and B Corp status or contribution of 1% for the planet.

Our employees can print business cards on material made from 100% cotton t-shirt offcuts so there is no use of virgin materials. And that is just the start – we will continue to find new and innovative ways to incorporate circular economy and sustainability into all purchases. 

 

Green Office

True to our Everledger digital ledger technology, we are a paperless company, using digital signing solutions where permitted. Paper production has a significant environmental impact and can overburden document-intensive business operations. By going digital with smart business solutions, we estimate that we annually save over 3,000kg of wood and 70,000 litres of water. We calculate that our green office policies save more than £950,000 and 44,500 hours of time each year – showing that sustainability practices really can help a business bottom line.

Recycling and minimal waste management at Everledger offices are all enforced. And in late 2019, we began employee-led pilots on recycling and zero waste management at remote locations. We intend for all of our workers to eventually participate in zero waste programs – whether at home offices or in our corporate headquarters.

In 2020, we launched energy reduction best practices for all our employees both at home and in our office settings. We employ and train our team to institute best practices such as unplugging all electronics when not in direct use, unsubscribing from irrelevant newsletters and sending links rather than attachments in emails, and using energy saver mode for our computers.

 

Corporate Citizenship

At Everledger, we offer a host of opportunities for our team members to continue to manage their work-life balance and have a meaningful impact on their communities. In 2019, we piloted a number of independent and regional volunteering programs and continue to actively pursue volunteering opportunities for employees to participate in that align with our corporate sustainability goals. We have also seen a number of employee-led community engagement initiatives delivered over the last year, most recently including efforts to fundraise for the Australian wildfires relief and two Italian hospitals in critical need of medical supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

2. Product Impact

Our product solutions are not only built with advanced technology, but also deep knowledge of industries, rooted in corporate citizenship principles. We work together with partners to increase their value – more responsibly, more sustainably and more efficiently.

While progress has been made, issues persist around conflict zone sourcing, worker exploitation and environmental degradation.

Our platform grants our partners more visibility and control over responsible and ethical sourcing throughout their supply chain. Supply chain transparency helps ensure fair pricing and better living standards for mining communities. Our Data Due Diligence Governance & Transparency and Privacy policies can be found separately. We prioritize specific products that drive sustainable goals that align with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and OECD Due Diligence. Below we highlight some ways these products support the intended impacts of the SDGs.

 

SDG 1: No poverty

By generating transparency throughout the supply chain, our technologies can improve living standards for mining communities. We engage multiple partners to support artisanal and small-scale production to the platform, enabling them to enter a legitimate market and be paid market rates.

 

SDG 5: Gender equality

In gemstones, together with Pact, ANZA Gems and Nineteen48, we are part of Moyo Gemstones, an ethical gemstone collaboration born in Tanzania, focused specifically on empowering women miners. 

 

SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth

Enabling transparent reporting on the ethical and responsible practices in the supply chain can prevent human rights abuses, supports workers rights, and helps communities to develop.

 

SDG 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Our platform uses blockchain, Near Field Communication (NFC) and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to surface the story of an object, from its manufacturing origin to the end consumer.

 

SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities

Responsible sourcing has become a core business function, often with compliance requirements. Collection and management of e-recycling and increasing the life of materials such as batteries, is at the core of creating sustainable communities and markets.

In diamonds and other manufacturing, the transparency promoted by our platform can help the diamond industry tackle social and environmental challenges in the supply chain. From fair working conditions and rights, to green production and carbon footprint.

 

SDG 12: Responsible production and consumption

Our technologies support the move to purchasing only responsibly sourced materials and driving towards a circular economy, by ensuring products are created with reuse of materials in mind.

In Diamonds, transparently reporting the information and documentation of the Kimberley Process and Responsible Jewellery Council information, our platform promotes the transparency that helps the diamond industry to report green production and carbon footprint. This allows jewelry buyers to make smart purchasing decisions based on responsible and ethical practices.

In gemstones, Pact and other Everledger partners work with communities to improve working conditions. Everledger can report on the types of responsible sourcing practices that are being applied across the supply chain.

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