InTent Signals 2026: The HiddenInfrastructure ofMarkets & Cooperation

8 min. read

As reflected in the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2026, the global agenda entering the year is shaped by short-term, high-intensity risks. Geopolitical tensions, economic volatility and security fragmentation dominate the short-term agenda, the deeper foundations of markets and cooperation are quietly under strain. Trust, nature, standards, incentives and governance architecture — the invisible infrastructure that enables transactions, coordination and collective action — are all experiencing pressure.

Yet beneath the headlines, structural shifts are underway. The following five Signals reflect patterns emerging across the convenings InTent organised in Davos. They are observations from the ground of infrastructure being rewired.

Signal #1 — Trust as the Infrastructure of Cooperation

Trust is not a soft value — it is the foundation on which markets, institutions and supply chains operate. Its erosion, accelerated by misinformation and political volatility, raises transaction costs and makes collective action harder. It is rebuilt not through rhetoric, but through accountability, transparency and consistent behaviour.

Read InTent’s op-ed on Trust

Signal #2 — Nature as Economic and Security Infrastructure

Forests, soils and coastal ecosystems are not environmental amenities. They are infrastructure — regulating rainfall, water retention and flood risk. As ecosystem degradation increasingly transmits into supply chains, insurance systems and public finances, conservation is being reframed as a long-duration resilience investment, not a moral imperative.

Signal #3 — Markets Follow Rules — and the Rules are Being Rewritten

Market behaviour reflects the institutional architecture around it. Trillions in public subsidies still flow toward environmentally harmful activities, putting regenerative businesses at a structural disadvantage. The rules are being rewritten — through procurement frameworks, regulatory stress-testing and governance reform. Businesses that engage in rule design now, rather than react later, will be better positioned.

Read InTent’s report on Building the Business Case for Land Restoration

Signal #4 — Measurement Builds Conditions for Scale

You can’t coordinate what you can’t measure. Shared standards — from pharmaceutical lifecycle emissions to forest finance thresholds — create the common language that enables competitors to collaborate on methodology while competing on performance. Broader frameworks that go beyond carbon to include water, biodiversity and social dimensions reduce unintended trade-offs.

Signal #5 — Coalitions are Rewiring Multilateralism

As traditional multilateral structures face pressure, new forms of cooperation are emerging — financial coalitions integrating nature risk, business councils engaging directly with UN processes, public-private vehicles mobilising long-term capital for ecosystem protection. Multilateralism is not disappearing. It is being rewired through practice.

These five signals are not predictions. They are patterns observed from the ground — in boardrooms, negotiating tables and finance structures — by actors who are already building the scaffolding for action.