BRUSSELS, July 10, 2026 — Chief executives and senior leaders from some of the world’s largest cooperative and mutual enterprises have pledged to work towards expanding the global cooperative economy to US$ 5 trillion in annual turnover following the inaugural Cooperative and Mutuals 50 [CM50] Leaders’ Summit held in Brussels.
The two-day summit convened in Brussels, Belgium, by the International Cooperative Alliance [ICA] in late June, brought together 80 chief executives and business leaders from 28 countries across five continents. Collectively, the participating organisations represent an estimated US$ 500 billion in annual turnover.
The CM50 initiative, launched during the 2025 World Social Summit in Doha, Qatar, seeks to strengthen collaboration among the world’s largest cooperative and mutual businesses and position the sector as a key contributor to a more inclusive, resilient and sustainable global economy.
Participants adopted five strategic commitments designed to strengthen cooperation across the movement and accelerate innovation. These include establishing a cooperative digital marketplace serving 150,000 enterprises, developing a shared digital infrastructure known as the “Cloud Coop” for at least 100,000 enterprises, promoting healthy and sustainable diets for 500 million people, training 4,000 future cooperative leaders through a global academic network, and mobilising cooperative resources to support reconstruction efforts in communities affected by major crises.
ICA Director and CM50 Co-chair Jeroen Douglas described the summit as an important milestone for the global cooperative movement.
“This is a powerful new chapter for the global cooperative movement. The energy in the room proved that when cooperative leaders unite, we don’t just discuss the future – we build it. We are the architects of the new global economy,” Douglas said.
His fellow Co-chair, Shaun Tarbuck, said the initiative would enable cooperative and mutual businesses to collaborate more closely across capital markets, digital technologies and food systems while strengthening the communities they serve.
Delegates also shared examples of cooperative innovation from different regions. These included dairy cooperative expansion by Amul in India, premium organic coffee exports by the Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union in Ethiopia, community-financed renewable energy projects in Germany, and large-scale member-owned agricultural trade infrastructure developed by Coopercitrus in Brazil.
Economic and technological change featured prominently during the summit discussions.
Opening keynote speaker Alessandra Stråberg, Chief Economist at Länsförsäkringar, said cooperatives must adapt to an increasingly complex global environment marked by geopolitical tensions, climate change, demographic shifts and rapid advances in artificial intelligence.
She urged cooperative businesses to focus on areas within their control and continue pursuing growth as a means of strengthening resilience.
Closing the summit, Kristof De Spiegeleer, Chief Executive Officer of OurWorld and Chief Technology Officer of CM50, said artificial intelligence presents both opportunities and challenges for the cooperative movement. He called on cooperatives to prioritise data ownership, digital sovereignty and the development of collective intelligence to ensure they remain competitive in the emerging digital economy.
Summit organisers said the technologies, digital platforms and collaborative initiatives developed under CM50 are intended to benefit cooperative enterprises of all sizes as the programme expands globally.
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