# Collaboration for Enhanced Materials Systems

Identifying actionable pathways to strengthen international collaboration on materials in a multi-polar world.


## Facing the rising pressures on global materials systems

Global material use is projected to rise by 60% by 2060 compared with 2020 levels, intensifying pressures on the environment, societies and economies. At the same time, growing geo-economic competition, shifting trade dynamics, rapid technological change and the accelerating impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss are making the management of materials along value chains increasingly difficult.The workstream brings together insights from governments, businesses, researchers, and civil society to identify collaboration pathways for strengthening materials systems that underpin today’s societal transitions, ensuring they remain stable, sustainable and equitable.


# Discover our latest White Paper

The Future of Materials Systems: Cooperation Opportunities in a Multipolar World

[Explore](https://www.weforum.org/publications/the-future-of-materials-systems-cooperation-opportunities-in-a-multipolar-world/)


## Our Insights


### Why traceability matters for materials supply chain resilienceExpert Blog         |  2 April 2026

Transparency remains limited when it comes to where many materials originate, how they move through global supply chains and what issues can affect them along the way. Strengthening materials systems will depend on combining system-level transparency on global materials flows with digital product passports that enable traceability.

[Explore](https://www.weforum.org/stories/2026/04/traceability-materials-supply-chain-resilience/)


### Stronger materials supply chains require a new form of global cooperationExpert Blog         |  31 March 2026

Materials supply chains are deeply interconnected, with extraction, processing, manufacturing, use and recovery spanning many countries. They also face growing systemic risks, including geopolitical tensions, surging demand and intensifying climate and nature risks. Business-level strategies can't address these issues alone but new forms of international cooperation can help to build resilience.

[Explore](https://www.weforum.org/stories/2026/03/materials-supply-chains-collaboration/)


### Materials: Is this the new frontier for international collaboration?Expert Blog         |  15 December 2025

Material systems can be made more resilient and sustainable through international collaboration initiatives. The challenge now is scaling and connecting them. Ahead of the Annual Meeting in Davos, six experts consider how international cooperation can help address the challenge of balancing material accessibility, productivity and sustainability in the material systems that underpin the global economy.

[Explore](https://www.weforum.org/stories/2025/12/materials-is-this-the-new-frontier-for-international-collaboration/)


### Want to know more?

Join the group of experts and shape the agenda on global materials collaboration

[Get involved](https://initiatives.weforum.org/api/communities/v1/public/initiatives/site/page-redirect?url=https://initiatives.weforum.org/material-transitions/&page_id=99d786d9-6c80-4f32-8b38-1bfecc219e76)