With fewer than eight weeks to go to the opening of the 2021 CIBJO Congress on November 1, 2021, the first of this year’s CIBJO commissions’ Special Reports has been released. Prepared by the CIBJO Marketing & Education Commission, headed by Jonathan Kendall, the report looks at the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the jewellery and gemstone industry, and how the way in which it has adapted will chart its course for the future.

“[W]e have all lived through what have certainly been some of the toughest times for humanity since World War II,” Mr. Kendall writes in his introduction to the report. “COVID has significantly impacted all of us and our ways of living. But as a society in general, and as a business community more specifically, we have learnt to adapt to the new normal. Video conferencing and non-face-to-face selling are now standardly used, leading to a massive rise in Internet sales and an ever more intense focus on social media marketing.

The report focuses extensively on environmental responsibility. “Already today we are witnessing the devastating impacts of increasingly unstable climates. The consequences of even more extreme temperature increases are difficult to contemplate,” Mr. Kendall writes.

“The world’s rapid response to what ultimately is a lesser long-term threat – COVID 19 – is indicative what we as members of humanity can achieve when we come together,” he continues. “It is clear that if we can keep the temperature-warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius, we can avoid some of the most serious outcomes. It is not too late to decarbonize and invest in a green future, but it is so important that we collectively make real changes now.”

CIBJO congresses serve as the official gathering place for the World Jewellery Confederation’s global membership, and are also the venue for the annual meetings of CIBJO’s sectoral commissions, where amendments can be introduced to the organisation’s definitive directories of international industry standards for diamonds, coloured stones, pearls, gem labs, precious metals, coral and responsible sourcing, known as the Blue Books.

The CIBJO Congress is also where the programme of World Jewellery Confederation Education Foundation (WJCEF), relating to responsible and sustainable activities in the industry and CIBJO’s ongoing cooperation with the United Nations and its development programme is reported upon.

To download a full copy of the CIBJO Market & Education Commission’s special report, PLEASE CLICK HERE.