Cities: Possibilities 2025 – Singapore

‍8:30 | Registration

9:30 | Opening remarks

Speaker

   Jessica Cheam
‍   Founder and CEO, Eco-Business

9:45 | Keynote address

Speaker

   Robert Opp
   Chief Digital Officer, United Nations Development Programme

10:00 | Opening plenary — Innovative financing and cities: de-risking investments for urban sustainability

Rapid urbanisation is reshaping Asia, presenting both an urgent challenge and strategic opportunity for sustainable development. Yet delivering climate-resilient, inclusive cities at scale demands trillions in annual investment that most economies still struggle to access. High perceived risks, fragmented regulatory environments, and uncertain returns continue to deter the mobilisation of finance, leaving vital urban infrastructure and services underfunded.

Strategic financial innovation and policy mechanisms can help bridge this gap. Across Asia, innovative approaches are charting the way forward: Singapore’s FAST-P platform blends concessional and commercial capital to de-risk and finance decarbonization and climate adaptation projects. In India, municipal green bonds are powering climate-resilient urban development. Indonesia’s SDG-linked sukuk have mobilised billions for sustainable infrastructure, from flood-resistant housing to low-carbon mobility.

But finance alone is not enough. Unlocking the full promise of urban growth hinges on the right enabling conditions: coherent policy, clear and consistent regulation, transparent metrics and deep stakeholder engagement is critical to anchor long-term investments and public support.

This session brings together financial leaders, urban planners, and developers to explore practical, actionable strategies for transforming Asia’s cities into engines of bankable, inclusive, and sustainable growth.

Speakers

   Vinamra Srivastava
   Chief Sustainability & Sustainable Investments Officer, CapitaLand Investment

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   Prof Dr Cheong Koon Hean
   Chair, Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities and Professor of Practice, Singapore University of Technology and Design

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   Andre Bald
   Lead Urban Specialist, The World Bank

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Moderator

   Jessica Cheam
   Founder and CEO, Eco-Business

‍11:00 | Plenary 2 — Sustainable tourism for resilient cities

Tourism is a major driver of global emissions and biodiversity loss, placing immense pressure on urban environments which must balance between economic growth and resource constraints.  

But if designed sustainably, tourism can be a powerful catalyst for inclusive urban growth and a springboard for innovation.  

Singapore’s Changi Airport is a model for nature-positive urban infrastructure, integrating biodiversity corridors and green spaces to spur tourist visits while restoring urban resilience. In Thailand, community-based tourism initiatives empower residents to co-manage tourism assets, ensuring that sustainable mobility, conservation and cultural benefits sit at the heart of urban communities.

What policy levers, financing structures and cross-sector partnerships are needed to enable cities across Asia to replicate, scale and systemise these successes? How do we rethink governance and infrastructure to manage tourism’s economic, environmental and social trade-offs?

This session convenes leading experts in the space to discuss bold strategies for positioning tourism as an engine for thriving, equitable and climate-positive urban centres.

Speakers

   Brian CK Ho
   Vice President, Sustainability, Resorts World Sentosa

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   Eric Ricaurte
   Founder and CEO, Greenview

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   Dr. Jackie Lei Tin Ong
   Sustainability Tourism Scholar
  

Moderator

   Meaghan See 
   Chief Commercial Officer, Eco-Business
  

11:45 | Cities: Insights

Speaker

   Shirin Keshvani
   Chief of Staff, Eco-Business

12:00 | Networking lunch

13:15 | Redesigning sustainability roles for a resilient future: Aligning business, talent, and purpose

Speaker

   Phua Pek Lin
   Senior Manager, Sustainability Office, Manufacturing & Connectivity Division, Workforce Singapore
  

13:45 | Breakout session – Beneath the surface: water stress and temperature extremes in data centres

Data centres (DCs) that use water-based cooling consume significant amounts of water. As companies build DCs to meet rising AI demand, water stress and temperature extremes are evolving considerations when choosing the location for these assets. Based on S&P Global Sustainable1 Physical Risk and S&P 451 DCKB datasets, our analysis shows that 43 per cent of DCs globally are operating in areas of high-water stress in the current decade. Some regions with substantial DC growth prospects are already experiencing high water stress. In India and Australia, for example, 60 per cent to 80 per cent of their operating DCs are projected to face high water stress this decade.  

In this breakout session, S&P Global Sustainable1 will look at quantifying the financial impacts of climate-related physical risk hazards such as water stress, temperature extremes and flooding using DCs as a case study and how to embed these risks into global decision-making, helping investors and corporations lead their organisations confidently to a more resilient future.

Speakers

   Cheryl Tay
   Sustainable1 Sales Director, ASEAN, S&P Global

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   Ho Jun Hui
   Business Development Manager, ASEAN, S&P Global

13:45 | Breakout session – Water-positive cities: from resiliency to coastal protection

Cities across Asia are on the frontlines of climate change, facing rising sea levels and soaring temperatures that threaten livelihoods, urban infrastructure, and access to clean water.

By 2050, as many as 685 million urban residents worldwide could see a decline in freshwater availability, according to the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group. Traditional mitigation efforts are falling short, and the cost of adaptation in developing countries—already reaching hundreds of billions—could double within the next 25 years.

To build resilience, cities must move beyond managing scarcity toward becoming water-positive—restoring watersheds, capturing rainfall and regenerating their natural systems. This shift transforms vulnerability into an opportunity for economic growth, ecological renewal, and climate security.

Cities across the region are already pioneering such approaches. Singapore’s ‘Four National Taps’ water management and diversification strategy has been globally recognised for its efficiency and resilience. China’s modular, decentralised water treatment systems for the cornerstone of the country’s climate resilience strategy.

This session gathers leading experts and practitioners to explore the governance models, nature-based designs and financing mechanisms that can accelerate Asia’s transition to water-positive cities. How can urban systems better protect coasts and mitigate flood risks? And how can local communities—especially the most vulnerable—be meaningfully involved in co-designing solutions that ensure water security for all?

Speakers

   Pritha Hariram
   Head of APAC, Water Infrastructure and Climate Adaptation, Ramboll

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   Mark Fletcher
   Head of Zurich Resilience Solutions, APAC

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Michael Zhao
 Associate, China Water Business leader, ARUP

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Moderator

   Jessica Cheam
   Founder and CEO, Eco-Business

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‍14:30 | Plenary 3 – Innovations for a resilient, circular economy

At 800 million tonnes per year, Asia is the largest waste-producing continent in the globe as rapid urbanisation and consumption outpace waste management capacity.

From increasing emissions to littering oceans, the waste crisis is emerging as the foremost threat for urban sustainability in the region.  

Breakthroughs in smart waste tech and closed-loop, circular systems provide Asian cities the opportunity to turn this crisis into an opportunity – slashing emissions, creating new jobs and recovering valuable resources from what would otherwise end up at landfill.

From Japan’s circular cities to harnessing artificial intelligence for smarter and cost-efficient waste management solutions across cities in India, technology is a powerful enabler for cleaner and more resilient cities.

The challenge is building regulatory and policy mechanisms to spur long-term investment into urban innovation while ensuring scalability. Critically, solutions will need to ensure informal workers benefit from these tech-driven systems rather than being displaced by them.  

This session convenes key urban stakeholders to determine pathways to design inclusive, tech-powered and zero-waste cities.

Speakers

   Prashant Singh
   Co-Founder & CEO, Blue Planet Environmental Solutions

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   Matt Stanelos
   Country Representative Singapore, Veolia Southeast Asia

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   Regula Schegg
   Founding Partner and Chief Financial & Compliance Officer, Circulate Capital
  

Moderator

   Rémi Cesaro
   Founder and Executive Director, Zero Waste City

15:15 | Closing plenary – Building smart and resilient cities in a fragmented world

Asian cities are facing unprecedented challenges as geopolitical tensions continue to intensify and reshape global trade flows. While economic rivalries and increasing protectionism threaten to slow cross-border collaboration, cities across Asia Pacific continue to advance progress on building smart and resilient urban networks.

From the ASEAN Smart Cities Network to the C40 Cities Finance Facility to harness tech-driven sustainability solutions and spur investment in urban climate resilience projects, Asia is poised to lead the way on urban sustainability.

The next course of action will be building strong, collaborative governance mechanisms around these smart and regional initiatives, especially in era of increased global fragmentation and uncertainties, and channelling long-term financial flows.

Liveability and social equity will also need to be prioritised to ensure the benefits of these smart and resilient cities reaches all strata of society.  

This session convenes key decision-makers across government, finance and industry to chart collaborative pathways for urban resilience in an era of heightened divisions.

Speakers

   Carla Gomez Briones
   Officer-in-Charge (Acting Head), Global Centre for Technology, Innovation and Sustainable Development, United Nations Development Programme

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   Chun Yin Mak
   Global Senior Vice President, Univers

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   Karishma Kashyap
   Associate Director, Cities, States & Regions, APAC, CDP

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Moderator

   Dinesh Naidu
   Director of Knowledge, Chandler Institute of Governance

16:00 | Closing keynote

Speaker

   Rasmus Grand Bjørnø
   Deputy Head of Mission and Counsellor, Royal Danish Embassy, Singapore

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16:15 | Closing remarks

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16:30 | Networking cocktails