A very good morning to all of you!

It is a pleasure to join this Parallel Forum on a Refined Governance Paradigm for Sustainable Urban Development.

Today, cities are home to more than half of the world's population, consume close to four fifths of global energy, and generate over 60 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.

With urbanization continuing to accelerate, how cities are managed in the face of pressures from a changing climate, demographic shifts, and a rapidly digitalizing economy will determine the world’s ability to realize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and safeguard the future of people and planet.

This is why the theme of today's forum is so important. 

Cities making progress on the SDGs tend to share a common feature: they continue to refine the way they govern – using data to understand needs, responding promptly to residents, and adjusting course when circumstances change.

UNDP's work in over 170 countries and territories around the world, has involved helping cities to strengthen these capabilities, including through projects supporting public complaint mechanisms.

For example, in Bangladesh, the national 333 helpline, developed under the UNDP-supported Aspire to Innovate program, has handled more than 98 million calls and is linked to the national Grievance Redress System, so that a call from a remote village is tracked in the same way as an online submission.

And in Viet Nam, the Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index, which UNDP has supported since 2009, surveys nearly 19,000 randomly selected citizens each year on their experience engaging with local government across all 63 provinces, and provincial authorities use the results to adjust their action plans.

These systems demonstrate several important principles including broad accessibility, traceable responses, and using data to inform planning – principles that can also be seen in Beijing’s own 12345 hotline, which you will all be familiar with.

Taken together, the concerns raised through these channels can provide valuable signals of wider urban challenges – helping cities identify recurring patterns, understand where pressures are emerging, and shape more systemic responses.

UNDP is committed to supporting cities with this process and working with partners to develop and test new approaches that translate local insights into sustainable interventions that can strengthen urban governance.

In China, much of this work is happening in our growing network of SDG Innovation Labs, each designed around a specific development challenge, bringing together government, academia and other partners to explore practical solutions that can be adapted and scaled.

Our latest lab was just recently launched here in Beijing in July together with CICETE, the Beijing Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, and Daxing District, focused on making digital transformation work for all residents. 

Ultimately, when urban governance is responsive, adaptive, and focused on people’s needs, it can be a powerful driver of sustainable development. 

Beijing itself has shown this through its transformation in recent years:

• The city's annual average PM2.5 concentration has been reduced by 70% since 2013 – one of the fastest improvements in air quality recorded by a major city.
• Along the Liangma River where the UN Compound and the UNDP Office is located, regeneration since 2019 has combined ecological restoration with new public space, resident participation, and renewed local commerce. 
• And in Dongcheng District, the renewal of hutong neighborhoods has sought to protect cultural heritage while improving environmental conditions and daily living standards for local residents.

As China begins its 15th Five-Year Plan period, UNDP stands ready to work with Beijing and other cities around the country on their sustainable development priorities and to help them share their experiences with cities across the region and globally through South-South cooperation.

I want to thank the organizers for their invitation to speak at this important event, and I very much look forward to the exchanges during the session ahead.

Together, let us join hands to deliver a greener, more inclusive, and sustainable urban future for all.

Thank you!