The Future of Materials Systems: Cooperation Opportunities in a Multipolar World
Geostrategic shifts, rapid technological change and mounting environmental pressures are placing increasing strain on the materials systems that underpin the next wave of industrial transformation. Stronger collaboration between countries and industries on materials is now essential to maintaining resilience, productivity and sustainability. Business leaders are clear on the stakes: more than 90% identify international cooperation on materials as critical to their long-term success.
Geostrategic shifts, rapid technological change and mounting environmental pressures are placing increasing strain on the materials systems that underpin the next wave of industrial transformation. Stronger collaboration between countries and industries on materials is now essential to maintaining resilience, productivity and sustainability. Business leaders are clear on the stakes: more than 90% identify international cooperation on materials as critical to their long-term success.
At the same time, a weakening multilateral system and a more fragmented, multipolar economy, with power spread across competing regional blocs, are making cooperation harder and creating a growing gap in how global materials are governed. Drawing on extensive consultations and a global business survey, this report sets out how cooperation on materials can remain effective under these conditions. It identifies three priorities for action:
- Shift towards agile, interest-based, results-orientated collaboration, including regional, sectoral and public-private “coalitions of the doing”.
- Adopt a lifecycle approach to materials, grounded in circular economy principles, to improve efficiency, reduce pressure on primary supply and align with environmental limits.
- Accelerate key system enablers: strengthen data transparency and traceability, improve interoperability of standards, and modernize trade and market systems to support resilient, circular value chains.
Further reading
All related content 
AI and circularity will be key to the future of materials in the AI age
AI offers a powerful opportunity to address the materials-intensive challenges of the climate transition, but its impact depends on being paired with a strong circular mandate.
Introducing enzymatic technology: The process reinventing materials production
Enzymatic technology that leverages nature's biological catalysts, enzymes, can help transform the manufacturing of everything from chemicals to textiles.
How AI can help in materials innovation – from discovery to design
By leveraging domain expertise and data-driven insights, AI-enabled platforms are poised to transform materials science to build a more sustainable future.