A special session on the first day of the 2024 CIBJO Congress Congress, featuring a blue ribbon panel of major industry players, urged accelerated action by jewellery businesses and partnerships to drive forward on meeting sustainable development goals.

It is the first time that CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation, has put together universities and schools at the same table talking about the future.

CIBJO in principle does not express political opinions, although it is conscious that members of the industry are affected by geopolitical events, as well as statutes and regulations legislated by governments.

Meeting on the first day of the CIBJO Congress, CIBJO’s Sustainable Development Commission discussed a roadmap being drawn up to adopt formal ESG (economic, social and governance) principles across the various sectors of the jewellery industry.

“While the accelerated growth rates of the 2010s are almost certainly behind us, China continues to outpace most other developed markets – and, yes, I think it is correct in 2024 to refer to China as a developed market – rather than simply a developing market,” Dr Cavalieri said.

Consumer confidence, said Gaetano Cavalieri, President of CIBJO, is maintained by members of the industry complying with responsible business standards. And creating those standards, he added, are at the heart of the World Jewellery Confederation’s mission.

for the first time in the history of the three-day event, it will be broadcast live worldwide.

Prepared by the CIBJO Technology Committee, headed by Stéphane Fischler, the report reviews a momentous period in the introduction of new technologies into the jewellery industry, noting that artificial intelligence (AI) may soon be driving the most efficient ways of using data to optimize the various processes in our industry.

Prepared by the CIBJO Coral Commission, headed by Vincenzo Liverino, the report look at how the industry has relied on science both to ensure the sustainability of its own precious coral resources, as well as to help save non-precious reef corals that are under threat from global warming and ocean acidification.

Prepared by the CIBJO Ethics Commission, headed by Sara Yood, the report focuses entirely on the use of “green” terminology when marketing and advertising jewellery, and the risks and dangers incurred when it is inappropriately applied.