The global alliance of Geographical Indications (GIs) is glad to celebrate today the 2020 World Intellectual Property Day, focused on efforts to create a green future. oriGIn and its members believe that sustainability, with its environmental, social and economic components, represents a crucial theme for the future of our planet. The COVID-19 pandemic made it even more urgent to provide concrete answers to sustainability issues, in a spirit of international collaboration.
“GIs offer a powerful intellectual property tool for products deeply rooted in a geographical area, with their natural features, tradition and culture. GIs create value for millions of producers, transformers and distributors around the world, serving meanwhile the interests of consumers in search unique qualities and authentic stories behind the products they wish to buy. Historically, long before the civil society started to question companies and brands concerning their impact on the environment and the social welfare of their employees and communities, GIs have been sensitive to issues such as climate, environmental degradation, gender equality and decent work”, says Massimo Vittori, Managing Director of oriGIn.
“As for the environment, which is the topic of this year World IP Day, GIs products cannot switch production elsewhere. Resources and natural capital in a given geographical area must be conserved for GIs to continue to exist and thrive in the long term. This is why GIs products, while adapting to consumer tastes, have been in existence for centuries. This sustainable approach seems even more pertinent during these unprecedented times, as it can strengthen our resilience to sanitary crisis. But GIs do not stop there and are in the position to respond as well to the social and economic challenges brought about by sustainability. The ability to generate and fairly distribute value for all relevant stakeholders along the value-chain, men and women whom keep alive a unique tradition, is a key factor for the success of a GI. For all these reasons, GIs play a crucial role in building a green future. oriGIn calls for collaboration among policy-makers at the global level to create an adequate regulatory framework and provide tools to help GIs contribute to a more sustainable world”, concludes Claude Vermot-Desroches, President of oriGIn.
