Your gold jewellery could be going carbon neutral

The environmental cost of buying a piece of gold jewellery increased last year, according to a new report released by the World Gold Council this week Each tonne of gold produced last year was responsible for 32,689 tonnes of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, it found That figure factors in greenhouse gas emissions from the organisations producing gold, such as vehicles, furnaces, chemical processes used to extract gold as well as emissions at power plants generating electricity used by the companies producing end product.

The gold industry is not immune to market pressures, which are seeing buyers become increasingly environmentally and socially conscious, said Dr Ben Caldecott, director of the Oxford Sustainable Finance Programme and associate professor at the University of Oxford These objectives have prompted the World Gold Council to urge its members to consider going carbon neutral sooner rather than later Longer term changes the industry would need to achieve net zero emissions would include replacing gas-guzzling diesel vehicles with electric models to use in production and to transport the finished gold products.

The final 5% of carbon emissions created in gold production come from chemical reactions used in the manufacture of commercial gold. . Source