The Future of Materials Systems 2026

The performance of materials systems is highly constrained by the limited transparency and traceability of value chain data. Decision-makers need clarity on aspects such as the provenance of materials, their composition, environmental and social impacts, and the chain of custody. Without this, they will struggle to assess risks, manage trade-offs or build trust between value chain actors, significantly hindering coordinated action. Stakeholders consistently highlighted two priority challenges: –The absence of a shared, decision-ready picture of global flows of materials and their associated impacts, which limits effective policy design, investment planning and risk management. –The emergence of digital traceability mechanisms, particularly digital product passports (DPPs), without sufficient interoperability across jurisdictions and sectors; this risks fragmentation and duplication. Addressing these two challenges in parallel is important to build a coherent, trusted traceability architecture capable of supporting resilient, productive and sustainable materials systems.4.1 Data transparency and traceability Mapping global flows of materials and impact data A transparent, accurate and shared overview of global flows of materials and their associated environmental and social impacts is important for identifying emerging supply vulnerabilities, assessing cumulative environmental impacts, and coordinating timely and proportionate responses across borders and value chains. Several different attempts at building databases to track the flows of materials have emerged, including those developed by the UN International Resources Panel, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the International Energy Agency, the UN Statistics Division, World Mining Data, Eurostat, as well as private sector and academic initiatives. Despite the existence of these initiatives, accessing data related to the flows of materials and associated environmental impacts that is consistent and comparable across regions, sectors and materials categories remains complex and often costly. Underlying sources, definitions, methodologies and assumptions such as those used for greenhouse gas emission intensities or shares of secondary materials are frequently outdated or misaligned between datasets. As a result, decision-makers lack a trusted, interoperable evidence base to support coherent policy design, investment decisions and cross-border coordination. Concerns around commercial confidentiality and proprietary data also significantly limit visibility across global supply chains. This was highlighted in the global leaders’ survey, where 48% of leaders identified concerns around data sharing as a key obstacle to international cooperation.48% of leaders identified concerns around data sharing as a key obstacle to international cooperation. The Future of Materials Systems: Cooperation Opportunities in a Multipolar World 19