Growing environmental pressures compound these challenges. Resource extraction and use drive over half of global greenhouse gas emissions and more than 90% of biodiversity loss.7 Environmental degradation is, in return, disrupting supply-chains, as climate-driven extremes and water stress undermine mining, processing, logistics and manufacturing across production regions.8 Impacts on people, including unsafe working conditions and pollution, further weaken trust and undermine the social licence required for genuine societal transitions. Taken together, these pressures point to a materials landscape characterized by rising uncertainty, strategic competition and structural reconfiguration. The World Economic Forum’s Global Cooperation Barometer 2026 suggests that international cooperation is beginning to adapt to this wider context, with cooperation being increasingly reorganized around interest-based, issue-specific and regional arrangements as established multilateral pathways face growing constraints.9 For materials systems, this shift in approaches to international cooperation has mixed implications. On the one hand, more targeted forms of cooperation on different elements of the system can enable faster alignment around shared priorities and practical challenges. On the other, greater fragmentation across cooperation forums and regions can contribute to uneven participation, regulatory misalignment or duplication and reduced predictability.The International Energy Agency has warned that copper supply could fall short of projected demand by ~30% by 2035 without significant new investment. The Forum surveyed 150 global executives across six regions, 12 countries and 15 different industries to inform this white paper. A clear majority reported escalating challenges related to maintaining three key dimensions of the materials supply chain: accessibility, productivity and sustainability. As a result, materials have become a strategic business priority. This survey reveals a sharp shift in perceptions over time. For instance, three years ago, just 44% of leaders polled for this report considered challenges to the sustainability of materials to be significant for their industry. Today, the figure is around 66%, rising to an expected 78% within the next three years (see Figure 3). A similar upward trajectory is evident for the productivity and accessibility of materials, indicating that pressures are intensifying simultaneously across all three dimensions rather than in isolation.1.2 Cooperation on materials rises to top of business agendas The Future of Materials Systems: Cooperation Opportunities in a Multipolar World 8

The Future of Materials Systems 2026