Signet Jewelers announced it has joined the United Nations Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, underscoring the Company’s purpose-driven growth strategy. With this commitment, Signet joins more than 12,000 member companies in more than 160 countries that are aligning their operations and strategies with universal principles on human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption, and taking strategic action towards broader societal goals such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals. For example, Signet believes SDG 5 – gender equality – is not only a fundamental human right but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world.
“Our core belief at Signet is that Love Inspires Love. Signet’s Purpose – Inspiring Love – infuses our work with meaning, and is a standard of responsibility to which we hold ourselves accountable. It extends beyond our walls to our industry and our stakeholders across the globe,” said Signet Jewelers CEO Virginia C. Drosos. “It’s with that deeply held belief in mind that we are proudly joining the UN Global Compact initiative as a way to further demonstrate that the actions of our company align with our purpose and values. Signet employees in every part of our business are inspired by the opportunity to be the change we want to see the world, and it is on their behalf that we step up in visible support of human and labor rights, sustainability, and anti-corruption practices.”
We are now accelerating our long-standing Corporate Social Responsibility strategy with Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives, including recent highlights:
- For the third consecutive year, the Bloomberg® Gender Equality Index included Signet, the only specialty retail jeweler to earn that distinction.
- Signet recently announced it is raising its minimum wage to $15/hour for all U.S. employees by 2022. It also provided Love Takes Care™ Appreciation Awards to full-time and part-time U.S. employees serving customers in stores as they reopened during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Signet joined the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Alliance.
- Signet deepened its commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion by adding two new Directors to its Board, increasing the Board’s representation of women and persons of color to 59% percent.
- Signet became Great Place to Work-Certified®, as a result of the company’s commitment to its employees.
“Joining the UN Global Compact further expresses our commitment to our multi-year strategy to drive business awareness and action in support of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030,” said Eugenia Ulasewicz, Chair of Signet’s Board-level Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability Committee. “I’m proud of Signet’s sustainability progress, such as with our renowned responsible sourcing practices which span more than two decades, and I look forward to helping expand our societal impact even further.”
The Company’s sustainability journey began before 2000, with more than two decades of Signet playing an instrumental role in helping establish international responsible sourcing trade associations, such as the World Diamond Council, the industry arm of the Kimberley Process, an ongoing commitment to removing conflict diamonds from the global supply chain. The Company is also a Founding and Certified Member, and current Chair of the Responsible Jewellery Council, while providing support to the Diamond Development Initiative, and Diamonds Do Good.
In 2011, Signet was named to the Organization for Economic Cooperative Development (OECD) Conflict Minerals Working Group. And Signet’s Responsible Sourcing Protocol has been in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights since 2011. With that work, Signet has led hundreds of suppliers in implementing the UN Guiding Principles for more than a decade, and in line with OECD Due Diligence Guidance since 2016.
