Advancing Practical Climate Action Through Global City Collaboration with C40

I. Executive Climate Leadership Dialogue: Connecting political leadership with mission-aligned partners, 13 June

The Executive Climate Leadership Dialogue convened senior political and climate leaders, including Singapore’s Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth & Ministry of Trade and Industry and Mayor, South West District, Low Yen Ling; C40 Co-Chair and Mayor of Freetown Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr; former Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, C40 Executive Director Mark Watts and other city leaders for keynote addresses and closed-door roundtable discussions on advancing practical climate action.

Designed as a high-trust strategic exchange, the Dialogue focused on how cities can move from climate commitments to implementation and overcome barriers to delivery, with roundtable discussions covering topics such as:

• Singapore's experience in climate resilience, energy independence and urban planning

• How Southeast Asian cities can leverage multi-level partnerships to accelerate scalable and inclusive climate action; and

• How cities can strengthen access to climate finance.

These topics elicited candid exchanges on shared challenges and practical approaches to implementation.

On the whole, the Dialogue enabled concrete collaboration opportunities between participating cities and partners, with C40 mayors subsequently referencing themes and potential areas of collaboration from the session throughout WCS 2026. The Dialogue also strengthened relationships among participating organisations and city leaders, generated interest in further collaboration on shared urban climate priorities, and highlighted opportunities for continued knowledge exchange and partnership.

Participants also embarked on a tour of the Dialogue event, Temasek Shophouse, which fuelled interest amongst the city leaders, who viewed the initiative as a potential model that could be adapted and replicated in their own cities.

II. C40 Cities Mayoral Convening: Mainstreaming Nature-Based Solutions for Urban Heat, 15 June

A WCS 2026 associated event, the C40 Cities Mayoral Convening, opened by Senior Minister of State, Ministry of National Development and Ministry of Transport, Sun Xueling, provided a platform for mayors and city leaders from around the world to exchange experiences and discuss practical approaches to climate action, with a focus on mainstreaming nature-based solutions to address urban heat.

The convening highlighted the need to integrate green and blue infrastructure as core urban infrastructure, strengthen city-level climate financing and governance, and build public support for resilient and inclusive climate adaptation. Discussions also emphasised the importance of leveraging climate data to guide urban planning, embedding nature-based solutions into development standards, and strengthening collaboration between local and national governments to accelerate implementation.

The convening also strengthened relationships between ASEAN cities and global peers, supporting Singapore's preparations for its ASEAN Chairmanship in 2027. Participating city leaders reaffirmed their commitment to sharing practical experiences and scaling successful urban climate solutions through continued collaboration within the C40 network and other international city platforms.

III. C40 Housing Meets Climate: Solutions for Cities sessions, 16 June 2026

As part of WCS 2026’s Resilient & Regenerative Cities Track, C40’s “Housing Meets Climate: Solutions for Cities” session explored how cities can address the housing and climate crises together, recognising that decisions on where and how cities build, retrofit and regulate housing have significant implications for emissions, resilience, affordability and quality of life. The session brought together city leaders and industry experts to exchange practical approaches to delivering climate-resilient and inclusive housing.

Discussions highlighted the importance of compact, mixed-use and transit-oriented development, alongside the use of public land ownership, planning regulations and innovative financing mechanisms to deliver affordable and climate-resilient housing. Speakers also emphasised the need to maximise existing urban assets through retrofitting, adaptive reuse and neighbourhood regeneration, while ensuring community engagement and equitable outcomes throughout the transition.

The session reinforced the importance of integrated long-term planning, strong public-private partnerships and collaboration across governments to deliver sustainable housing at scale. It also showcased Singapore's long-term urban planning approach, town-scale housing development and large-scale upgrading programmes as practical examples of balancing liveability, affordability and climate resilience.

Conclusion

C40 Cities and the Centre for Liveable Cities have had a long-standing relationship and we look forward to future collaboration. 

Contributed by Kikuzawa Yuichi, Assistant Director, Research