Industry Leadership

Conducting business in an environmentally and socially responsible manner has long been an integral part of Tiffany & Co.'s commitment to our stakeholders. In 2012, Tiffany & Co. was listed in the FTSE4Good Index®. FTSE4Good® is a highly respected socially responsible investment index which selects companies based on their track record on environmental sustainability, human rights, countering bribery, supply chain labor standards and climate change.

In addition, Tiffany & Co. brings attention to issues that we believe are important to the jewelry industry and consumers. In 2009, Tiffany & Co. placed an advertisement in National Jeweler magazine to increase awareness in the jewelry industry about the proposed Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay, Alaska. Also, in the summer of 2009, Tiffany & Co. dedicated our store windows to an "Under the Sea" theme in order to demonstrate our commitment to, and increase awareness of, coral conservation.

Tiffany & Co. plays a leading role in working closely with the mining industry, jewelry industry associations (such as Jewelers of America) and concerned nongovernmental organizations (such as EARTHWORKS and Human Rights Watch) to encourage responsible mining practices.

In 2003, Tiffany & Co. helped lead a pioneering multi-stakeholder conference—including NGOs, retailers, investors, insurers and technical experts—to identify best practices across the entire jewelry supply chain. The resulting dialogue led to the publication of the Framework for Responsible Mining: A Guide to Evolving Standards. The Framework's goal was to advance productive debate—and, ultimately, action—by governments, retailers, civil society, the mining industry and others.

Tiffany & Co. was the first jeweler to embrace the objectives of EARTHWORKS' No Dirty Gold campaign in 2005, which established aspirational social, human rights and environmental standards for the extraction of gold that retail jewelers can use as they seek responsible mining sources.

Tiffany & Co. continues to co-host, and participate in, multi-stakeholder dialogues convened by NGOs on a variety of issues affecting our industry and beyond. Through these dialogues, Tiffany & Co. hopes to continue to lead the jewelry industry in issues of responsible sourcing.

Tiffany & Co. is a founding member of the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC). The RJC is an international nonprofit organization established to reinforce consumer confidence in the jewelry industry by advancing responsible business practices throughout the diamond and gold jewelry supply chain. The RJC developed the Principles and Code of Practices which outline responsible business practices to which all RJC members must adhere. In 2011, Tiffany & Co. received RJC Member Certification for our global operations, demonstrating that we operate in conformity with the RJC Principles and Code of Practices. To obtain a copy of the Tiffany & Co. RJC Code of Practices Policy, please email CSR@Tiffany.com.

Further, to develop globally recognized responsible mining standards, Tiffany & Co. is working with the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) to establish a voluntary system of environmental, human rights and social standards for mining operations. IRMA includes participants from NGOs, labor groups, communities affected by mining, the mining industry and downstream users of mined materials.

IRMA works to provide:

• Independent third-party verification.
• Fair and equitable distribution of benefits to affected communities while protecting their rights.
• The avoidance of, and effective responsiveness to, potential negative impacts to the environment, health, safety and culture.
• Enhancement of shareholder value.

Tiffany & Co. is hopeful that by working collaboratively, this diverse group of stakeholders will develop a consensus-based, third-party certification standard for responsible mining.

Tiffany & Co. publicly and actively opposes inappropriate mine development on environmentally and culturally sensitive lands. For example, in 2004, through a full-page advertisement in The Washington Post, Tiffany & Co. urged the United States Forest Service to deny a permit for the proposed Rock Creek Mine in the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness in Montana.

In the U.S., Tiffany & Co. supports the reform of the General Mining Law of 1872 and legislation to assist in cleaning up abandoned hard-rock mines. We agree with many in the environmental community, the mining industry and Congress that an overhaul of federal mining law is long overdue. Tiffany & Co. also understands that achieving mining law reform will require hard work, negotiation, compromise and creativity in a public, transparent process.

We believe that mining on our public lands should be a privilege and must be carefully measured against alternative uses, including recreation and conservation. Most importantly, we recognize that some public lands are simply not suitable for mining, and that their value for recreation and conservation is far greater than their value as a source of minerals.

If reforms are to succeed, we believe that taxpayers must be fairly compensated for minerals taken from public lands, protection of the environment must be enhanced and business certainty for companies and communities dependent on mining must be improved.

The toxic legacy of abandoned mines in the American West is also a matter of great concern to Tiffany & Co. Under current law, government entities, NGOs, private parties and other organizations may incur liability for voluntarily cleaning up mine-related pollution they did not cause. Tiffany & Co. supports protection of these "Good Samaritans" to encourage efforts to effectively deal with these mines and to establish a permanent source of funding for their cleanup.

The Tiffany & Co. Foundation was established in 2000 to strategically support the Company's core values through focused philanthropic giving. One of the Foundation's key grantmaking areas is Responsible Mining. As a part of this program, the Foundation supports the development of standards for the responsible mining of precious metals and gemstones at both an artisanal and large-scale level. The development of consensus-based third-party standards is a long-term process, but essential in moving the industry towards a responsible and sustainable future. Additionally, the Foundation engages with stakeholders to increase awareness about key issues of importance, such as abandoned mine reclamation.

Complementary to the Company’s sourcing practices, the Foundation supports nonprofit organizations working directly with artisanal mining communities around the world. Specifically, The Tiffany & Co. Foundation funds organizations, such as Diamond Development Initiative International, on improving standards and conditions for responsible artisanal and alluvial diamond mining.