The event on November 1, 2021, will serve as the official opening of the 2021 CIBJO Congress, which because of the ongoing global health crisis is being held for the first time in a virtual format. It will have two sessions, with the second beginning immediately after the first session has concluded. The first session will be the Opening Ceremony, and feature an address by the CIBJO President, Gaetano Cavalieri, followed by a keynote speech by Patrick Lötscher, Head of Watch Industry Standards Department at the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH. The second session will feature CIBJO's Responsible Sourcing Commission. Moderated by Philip Olden, the commission President, it will examine the role that the jewellery industry is able to play in advancing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, especially in countries and regions where jewellery's raw materials and components are mined, farmed and processed. 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.