Gem Lab IGI Pledges to Become Carbon-Neutral

The New York office of the International Gemological Institute (IGI) is aiming to be the first carbon-neutral gemological laboratory by 2022.

"Our environment is an interdependent system where everyone has a role to play, and I am proud of the institute for stepping up and enacting real change," IGI North America president Avi Levy said Wednesday. "While we are pioneering the practice in our sector, we look forward to others joining us in our environmental stewardship."

IGI will work with third-party certifier and standards developer SCS Global Services to complete an audit of the New York lab's carbon emissions over the past year. It will use that to create a strategy and timeline for achieving carbon-neutral certification.

Following the assessment, IGI New York will commit to purchasing carbon offsets to mitigate its greenhouse-gas impact. It will also "retire" these offsets, meaning the credits will come off the market so they cannot be traded and no one else can claim to be responsible for reducing the emissions.

"For six months, IGI New York will be closely engaged with SCS to learn about our operations and how to effectively become a green location," Levy added. "Securing carbon offsets reinvests in the future or our community and our planet."

IGI operates 20 laboratories around the world, as well as eight education facilities.