Transitioning Materials Systems

About

The Transitioning Material Systems initiative brings together global leaders to strengthen the resilience and improve the sustainability of material value chains  by generating insights, strengthening public-private cooperation, and accelerating innovation across priority value chains. 

Bringing together global leaders

Materials are the backbone of modern economies, powering digital infrastructure, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing. Today, material supply chains are increasingly strained by the concentration of mining, processing, and manufacturing in a small number of countries, along, environmental impacts, geopolitical tensions, and limited circularity, putting growth, resilience, and innovation at risk.


The Transitioning Materials Systems initiative accelerates the shift toward resilient, sustainable, and productive material value chains by mobilizing global leadership and driving coordinated, cross-sector action.

Targeted action across regions 
and industries

Without coordinated action, mounting pressures across material value chains will drive higher costs, supply disruptions, and missed opportunities for innovation and sustainability. 

The Transitioning Material Systems initiative mobilizes trusted, multisector collaboration to strengthen materials value chains' resilience, sustainability and productivity. 

Outcomes

  1. Strengthening supply chains resilience by identifying risks and vulnerabilities in material dependent value chains and building pathways for sustainability and resilience.
  2. Advancing innovation by mitigating risks and catalysing the scale-up of emerging technologies and innovations that accelerate system-wide transformation
  3. Foster adaptive and interest-based coalitions, to enhance the resilience, sustainability, and productivity of materials systems by uncovering key systemic challenges and cooperation pathways.

An initiative of the Centre for Energy and Materials

Driving initiatives and coalitions to ensure that the energy transition is sustainable, secure, and equitable.

Transitioning Materials Systems

A World Economic Forum Initiative
© 2026 All rights reserved
Privacy Policy & Terms of Service