Panel 1: Policy and political dilemmas: Balancing sustainability and rising urbanisation

Main Stage

Panel 1: Policy and political dilemmas: Balancing sustainability and rising urbanisation

BrightCove Video :

Banner :

Description :

By 2050, around three quarters of the global population is expected to live in cities – but much of the necessary infrastructure to accommodate this has yet been built.  City planners worldwide therefore need to rapidly scale up infrastructure to cater for this rising urban population, who will require ready and affordable access to food, energy, water, transport and housing, among other services.

Achieving this will not be easy. Most infrastructure projects take 10 to 15 years to develop, while many cities will double in size within the next decade alone. Depending on their stage of growth, cities also grapple with challenges such as unemployment, an ageing population, congestion, pollution, resource scarcity and rising inequality. Growing global concerns on climate change have also put increasing pressure on political leaders to restrict their country’s carbon emissions and to transition to a low-carbon economy. This December, the world’s governments are expected to ink a global treaty to legally curb greenhouse gas emissions at the UN climate change summit in Paris.

Against these global trends, sustainable urbanisation is increasingly seen as an imperative – a development paradigm that is not only economically productive, but also environmentally sustainable, socially cohesive, and resilient to climate change and other disasters. How will policymakers achieve this?  How will they balance the tension between pursuing growth and ensuring sustainable urban development? Are governments capitalising on low-carbon, green growth models to create new economic opportunities? This opening dialogue will discuss policy dilemmas faced by city leaders, and how they resolve these to build sustainable cities.

Speakers :

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan

Minister of the Environment and Water Resources

Singapore
Prof. Jan Peter Balkenende

Formal Prime Minister, Netherlands

Partner, EY
Hon. Felipe Calderón

Chairman

Global Commission on the Economy and Climate & Sustainable Human Development Foundation
Xu Xianping

Former Vice Chairman, National Development and Reform Commission; Specially-appointed Professor, Guanghua School of Management, Peking University

Member, 12th National Committee of CPPCC
Moderator :

Dr. Andrew Steer

President and Chief Executive Officer

World Resources Institute