Editor’s Note
This article highlights the growing demand for sustainable and ethical investment options, specifically in the gold market. It addresses the significant environmental and social challenges of conventional gold mining and points readers toward certified sustainable alternatives, as detailed in a recent issue of *Stiftung Warentest Finanzen*.
For those who are particularly environmentally conscious and ethically minded, these standards may also be applied to their investments. In many cases, gold would therefore be off-limits as an investment form. The extraction methods are too environmentally damaging, and the working conditions of miners are often too poor. However, there are exceptions: The magazine “Stiftung Warentest Finanzen” (Issue 5/2025) explains what one should know about purchasing gold that is certified as sustainable.
Such gold is typically not newly mined before processing but is only reprocessed from existing stocks. However, because the global demand for gold cannot be met by stocks alone, fresh gold is sometimes still added. In an ideal case, this is then sustainably mined.
This can be recognized, for example, by the Fairtrade seal, which is found particularly on gold bars. According to the magazine, gold bearing a Fairtrade logo comes from small mines in South America, where working conditions and all stages of the supply chain are regularly checked. For each gram of gold mined, the mine then receives a premium of two euros. Buyers of such bars must therefore expect a premium of 15 percent compared to standard commercial bars. Whether they will recoup this premium upon later sale is not guaranteed. In Germany, these bars can only be purchased from selected dealers; in Switzerland, they are available at the Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB).
Sustainable gold is also offered, for example, online. The Swiss refinery Valcambi, in cooperation with the German refinery ESG, also offers sustainable gold, bringing various sizes to the market under the brand name Auropelli Green Gold. Here too, inspectors scrutinize the production and distribution steps closely and base their assessments on strict guidelines for environmental protection and worker safety. This gold originates from the USA.
Buyers can also obtain gold that meets high ethical and ecological standards under the Fairmined label. It is awarded by the non-profit organization Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM). This gold serves primarily jewelers and goldsmiths as raw material.