Cities: Possibilities 2024 spotlights public-private finance partnerships and stronger governance models for climate-resilient cities

Singapore, 28 October – In the run up to the United Nations global climate change negotiations (COP29) taking place in Azerbaijan in less than two weeks, urban planning experts, financiers and climate scientists at the 2024 edition of Cities: Possibilities in Singapore on Monday called for stronger governance and partnership models that can help to speed up and scale funding to build more climate-resilient and regenerative cities.  

The thought leadership forum, hosted by Eco-Business since 2016, was hosted in partnership with Asia’s leading diversified real estate company CapitaLand Group this year. Deep diving into the latest trends in sustainable cities, the forum underlined emerging sustainable investment trends that are shaping the real estate sector and featured successful case studies where climate finance has been mobilised for impactful and innovative adaptation and mitigation initiatives for the built environment. 

At the forum, CapitaLand launched the fourth edition of its CapitaLand Sustainability X Challenge (CSXC), a global sustainability-focused innovation challenge for real-world applications for urban development.  

Jonathan Yap, Chief Executive Officer of CapitaLand Development, in his opening speech, shared that over 1,300 entries across 79 countries have been received over the years, with at least 30 proposed solutions being piloted globally. The real estate group also reaffirmed its commitment to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions and to continue to reduce Scope 3 value chain emissions.  

Yap said: “CapitaLand is pleased to partner Eco-Business to drive the exchange of innovative ideas for sustainable solutions and impactful change. Sustainability is at the heart of what we do, and we take a holistic approach in championing it. This ranges from engaging the global community through the CapitaLand Sustainability X Challenge (CSXC), to ensuring our entire business chain from development to post-completion asset management is guided by robust sustainability frameworks. As a leading global real asset manager and developer of choice in Asia, we will continue to play an active role in shaping a more sustainable built environment and community.” 

CSXC is open for submissions until 13 January 2025. More details can be viewed here. 

Cities: Possibilities 2024 featured experts and leaders from the building, finance, and infrastructure sectors, as well as policymakers, academics and civic society to discuss the latest developments in creating sustainable cities and communities.  

Prashant Kapoor, Chief Industry Specialist, Green Buildings and Cities, International Finance Corporation (IFC) Climate Business Group, Climate Change, in a keynote address, emphasised how it is urgent for the public and private sectors to collaborate and scale financing.  

He shared about effective tools and platforms that can help cities come up with concrete long-term action plans and work out their priorities for urban rejuvenation and adaptation. “Many green buildings don’t make a green city. Just having a city aware of what its problems are and the actions that need to be taken is not enough. We need political will, and we need to mobilise finance and technology, while getting the citizens behind these initiatives,” Kapoor said. 

The forum also spotlighted how states and governments need to collectively work harder to implement greenhouse gas emission cuts they have committed to.  

According to a recent United Nations report issued last week, failure to strengthen and start delivering immediately on commitments made under the Paris Agreement on climate change will put the world on track for a global temperature increase of between 2.6 and 3.1 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.  

Jessica Cheam, Founder and Managing director of Eco-Business, said that despite progress made to cut carbon emissions in the built environment sector, the challenges that cities still face are sobering as they contribute a staggering 70 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions. 

“Yet cities also serve as invaluable testing grounds for innovations that can be refined and scaled. While the interconnectedness of urban systems means that city-level initiatives must align with international climate goals, climate action must be localised. It is at the city level where our global goals are implemented.”  

Cheam said Eco-Business is delighted to partner with CapitaLand in hosting this year’s Cities: Possibilities forum. “With our partnership, we are able to convene a wide range of distinguished experts and key decision makers who can share the best case studies around the world and deep dive into discussions ranging from climate-focused infrastructure to opportunities and risks in the built environment sector, as well as sustainable investment trends in real estate.”  

“With almost US$30 trillion needed by this decade’s end to decarbonise cities, businesses and policymakers must urgently come together to back responsible investments and push for forward-looking policies to unlock climate finance,” she said.  

The forum’s opening plenary, titled “Climate-focused infrastructure: The new frontier for green financing,” discussed financing models and partnerships that could help Asia’s cities adapt to urgent climate risks.  

This was followed by a plenary titled “Opportunities and risks of decarbonisation in the built environment” to discuss the key decarbonisation opportunities businesses can leverage and the short- and long-term challenges to navigate. 

Vinamra Srivastava, Chief Sustainability & Sustainable Investments Officer, CapitaLand Investment, then shared details of CapitaLand Investment’s 2030 Sustainability Master Plan (SMP), which outlines ambitious goals and initiatives aimed at integrating sustainability into its operations. 

“CLI’s refreshed 2030 SMP is our roadmap towards achieving our ambitious sustainability targets, validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). We strengthened the ESG pillars, driven by three key themes. We will build portfolio resilience and resource efficiency, enable thriving and future-adaptive communities, and steward responsible business conduct and governance,” Srivastava said.  

“CapitaLand Investment is committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and reducing Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by 46 per cent by 2030. This includes an increased target for using renewable energy from 35 per cent to 45 per cent by 2030 and a new target to reduce waste intensity in day-to-day operations by 20 per cent. We introduced new social targets focused on social impact, human capital development, and employee wellness, including having at least 40 per cent female representation in senior management and an increased focus on governance.”  

The forum saw two breakout plenary sessions. One session, titled “Sustainability trends – what investors want”, discussed the key trends driving sustainable real estate investments, and how investors can fortify their investments amid climate risks. 

Another session, titled “Why (green) buildings matter: A stakeholder perspective”, discussed the emerging trends in real estate development, and their impact on stakeholders. 

The forum’s closing plenary delved into the topic of regenerative cities and the long-term value of shifting from sustainable to regenerative models of city planning.  

In his closing remarks, the Ambassador of Sweden to Singapore Anders Sjöberg called for increased regulation as well as collaboration within the public sector. He also noted that capital will be key to financing the technologies needed to decarbonise cities.  

“We need to have good policies that give guidance and directions. Equally important, I would say it’s not just the awareness among the general public, but the strong buy-in and the trust between policymakers and government officials. We also need money to finance all these [efforts] and we need to be knowledgeable with city planning, but many of these things go quite slow as it involves structures that are close to each other. We need to try new things [with] new technologies.” 

Some 200 delegates gathered at Catapult in Singapore for Cities: Possibilities – A CapitaLand Sustainability Edition, while more than 150 participants joined the event virtually. The forum was livestreamed on social media platforms.  

For more information, please visit the Cities: Possibilities – A CapitaLand Sustainability Edition website at https://www.citiespossibilities.com/ 

For high-resolution photos from the event, please visit this page.  

– Ends – 

– Annex – 

Plenaries include:  

• Opening speech by CapitaLand Group CEO
• Special keynote address by Chief Industry Specialist, Green Buildings and Cities, IFC Climate Business Group, Climate Change
• Climate-focused infrastructure: The new frontier for green financing
• Opportunities & risks of decarbonisation in the built environment
• CLI sustainability strategy – the way forward
• Fireside chat: Navigating sustainability in an uncertain environment
• Breakout plenary: Sustainability trends – what investors want
• Breakout plenary: Why (green) buildings matter: A stakeholder perspective
• Closing plenary: Building the future – Regenerative cities  

Key speakers include: 

• Chee Koon Lee, Group Chief Executive Officer of CapitaLand Investment; 
• Jonathan Yap, Chief Executive Officer of CapitaLand Development;
• Vinamra Srivastava, Chief Sustainability & Sustainable Investments Officer, CapitaLand Investment;
• Dr Winston Chow, Co-Chair, Working Group II, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Professor of Urban Climate, Singapore Management University; 
• Prashant Kapoor, Chief Industry Specialist, Green Buildings and Cities, IFC Climate Business Group, Climate Change;
• Victoria Rigby Delmon, Regional Pre-Investment Head, Infrastructure, Asia Pacific, International Finance Corporation; 
• Yvonne Huang, Lead Representative, Asia, GRESB; 
• Jasper Wong, Head of Real Estate & Hospitality and Construction & Infrastructure, Sector Solutions Group, UOB;
• Thomas Baudlot, Chief Executive Officer, ENGIE South East Asia; 
• Emily Chew, Head of Sustainability, GIC;
• Professor Khoo Teng Chye, Director, NUS Cities and Practice Professor with the College of Design and Engineering, National University of Singapore;
• Heidi Yip, Head of Sustainable Transition Solutions for Southeast Asia, BlackRock;
• Franziska Zimmermann, Director for Sustainability & Climate Change Strategy at Temasek;
• Ada Choi, Head of Research, Asia Pacific, CBRE;
• Corrine Png, Regional Head of Equities Research and Stewardship, AIA Investment Management; 
• Sarah Winbur, Senior Portfolio Manager Real Estate, APG Asset Management;
• Maria Atkinson, Chairperson of the Board, Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction;
• Henri de Branche, Executive Director​, APAC Head of Sustainable Solutions, J.P. Morgan;
• Paul Sloman, Global Leader – Property, Science, Industry, Technology & Social Infrastructure, Arup;
• Dr Hossein Rezai-Jorabi, Global Design Director, Ramboll 
• Diana Torres, Regional Governance Advisor, UNDP Asia and the Pacific;
• Andy Hodgson, Global Advisory Services Lead, Arup;
• Giovanni Cossu, Head of Sustainability, CapitaLand Development;
• Anders Sjöberg, Ambassador of Sweden to Singapore; 
• Jessica Cheam, Founder and Managing Director, Eco-Business; and
• Meaghan See, Director of Partnerships, Eco-Business.  

Notes to Editors:   

For enquiries or photos, please contact:  

Wai Mun Ng, Eco-Business 
waimun.ng@eco-business.com 

About Cities: Possibilities   

Cities: Possibilities is a premiere sustainable cities event organised by Eco-Business that convenes high-level decision makers from the building, finance, and infrastructure sectors, policymakers, academics and civil society to discuss the latest developments in advancing Sustainable Development Goal 11 – creating sustainable cities and communities.​  

About Eco-Business     

Established in 2009, Eco-Business is Asia Pacific’s leading media organisation on sustainable development. Its independent journalism unit publishes high quality, trusted news and views that advance dialogue and enable measurable impact on a wide range of sustainable development and responsible business issues. Eco-Business is headquartered in Singapore, with a presence in Beijing, Hong Kong, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, New York and correspondents across major cities in Asia Pacific. Visit  www.eco-business.com.  

About CapitaLand Group (www.capitaland.com) 

CapitaLand Group (CapitaLand) is one of Asia’s largest diversified real estate groups. Headquartered in Singapore, CapitaLand’s portfolio focuses on real estate investment management and real estate development, and spans across more than 260 cities in over 40 countries. 

Within its ecosystem, CapitaLand has developed an integrated suite of investment management and operating capabilities that supports its real estate businesses and platforms in building core competencies across the real estate value chain.  With this full stack of capabilities, CapitaLand can optimise the strategies of its listed real estate investment management business CapitaLand Investment, and its privately held property development arm CapitaLand Development; to drive competitive advantage for its businesses.  

CapitaLand places sustainability at the core of what it does.  As a responsible real estate company, CapitaLand contributes to the environmental and social well-being of the communities where it operates, as it delivers long-term economic value to its stakeholders.