The Future of Materials Systems 2026

Examples of ongoing cooperation – the Global Circularity Protocol for Business (GCP) and ISO 59000 seriesBOX 5 The ISO 59000 series, first published in 2024, provides an internationally recognised foundation for the circular economy by establishing common principles, terminology and high-level guidance applicable across sectors and regions. Developed through a formal, consensus-based international standards process, the series offers governments, regulators and industry a shared technical reference point for integrating circular economy concepts into policy, management systems and business practices. Building on and complementing the ISO 59000 series, the Global Circularity Protocol for Business (GCP) provides practical, decision-useful guidance for measuring circularity at company and value-chain level. Developed by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and One Planet Network, in collaboration with businesses and technical experts, the GCP offers shared definitions, metrics and methodologies to assess material flows, circular strategies and performance. Together, the ISO 59000 series and the GCP illustrate how cooperation between international standards and business-led protocols can reinforce one another, supporting coherence between policy, reporting and investment decisions while enabling scalable, comparable circular economy implementation. Areas for further cooperation Identify principal gaps in international technical standards for key circular economy activities.PRIORITY ACTION Global leaders consulted for this report highlighted several areas where targeted international cooperation could help address gaps in the circular economy standards landscape. The first priority is to develop a shared understanding of where the absence or fragmentation of international technical standards is most constraining the scaling-up of circular economy value chains. This includes collaboratively mapping existing standards across sectors and lifecycle activities, identifying overlaps, gaps and inconsistencies, and assessing where greater alignment, consolidation or the development of new technical specifications would generate the greatest practical value. A second opportunity lies in better leveraging existing national and regional standards as building blocks for international convergence. In areas such as recycling and waste handling,23 refurbishment and remanufacturing,24 a range of technical standards already exists but they are applied unevenly across jurisdictions. Greater cooperation could help assess their comparability, identify elements suitable for broader adoption and support the emergence of shared international baselines without requiring full harmonization of national approaches. Finally, executives noted the importance of considering how emerging standards are being adopted in practice. This includes sharing experiences on incentives, implementation pathways and demonstration approaches that can support uptake across diverse business contexts, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises and actors in emerging economies. The first priority is to understand where the absence or fragmentation of international technical standards is most constraining the scaling-up of circular economy value chains. Trade and market systems are a critical, yet increasingly fragile, pillar of global materials cooperation. The multilateral trading system as it applies to materials is under growing strain. While the World Trade Organization (WTO) remains the central multilateral institution for global trade, its existing frameworks and processes have limited capacity to adapt rules or coordinate responses to intensifying geoeconomic competition over transition materials. In this context, governments are increasingly turning to resource-nationalistic trade measures, alongside bilateral or plurilateral preferential agreements and strategic alliances, to secure supply and support domestic industries. These dynamics are already having tangible impacts on business. Two-thirds of business leaders surveyed for this report identified inconsistent or protectionist trade policies as a systemic barrier, noting that the resulting patchwork of overlapping and sometimes conflicting rules reduces market predictability and complicates cross-border investment and operations.4.3 Trade and market cooperation Two-thirds of business leaders surveyed for this report identified inconsistent or protectionist trade policies as a systemic barrier. The Future of Materials Systems: Cooperation Opportunities in a Multipolar World 25