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About ‘Circular Pathways for Cities’:

Cities concentrate the majority of global resource consumption, waste generation, and greenhouse gas emissions, while also driving economic growth, innovation, and service delivery. As urbanisation accelerates, the limits of linear models are becoming more visible across social, economic, and environmental systems. Transitioning to circular models that redesign resource use, value creation, and service delivery across urban systems is increasingly necessary to reconcile economic growth with sustainability.

Featuring examples from the ground, four keynote presentations and a panel discussion, this session examines how circular economy principles are being embedded in practice across policy design, digital innovation, resource and water systems, and investment. Drawing on UNDP’s Regional Strategic Framework for Circular Economy, it presents concrete approaches to moving cities beyond isolated pilots toward integrated, systemic transitions, and explores the governance, financing, and data conditions that enable this shift.

Opening Remarks:

• Sushma Kharakwal (Mayor of Lucknow)

Sushma Kharkwal, Mayor of Lucknow since May 2023, is a seasoned BJP leader with over three decades of public service. Known for her grassroots connect and long association with former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, she has held multiple leadership roles within the party. A strong advocate for urban development, she focuses on citizen-centric governance, smart city initiatives, and sustainable city planning. Her commitment to public welfare, resilience through personal challenges, and dedication to organized civic growth define her leadership.

Keynote Presentations:

• Louisa Nora (Innovation Community Specialist, UNDP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific) on “Digital by Design” for Circular Transitions: Stories from Chennai and Baguio

Digital technologies are often treated as an add-on to circular economy programmes, where they risk scaling the wrong model or have little effect. This presentation builds on a digital by design approach, which maps out a range of possibilities for circular transitions to accelerate (from policy to finance, material innovation to movement building) and proposes where technology can make a difference. Using examples from the cities of Chennai (India) and Baguio (Philippines), it shows how digital tools can help make invisible resource systems legible, align fragmented efforts, and support more informed decisions.  

• Pierre Ng (Director, Sustainability Division, National Environment Agency) on Towards a Circular Economy: Solid Waste Management Strategies

This presentation explores Singapore’s approach to resource circularity and sustainable waste management, tracing the key driving forces behind the nation’s sustainability agenda – from the Resource Sustainability Act, Zero Waste Masterplan, Singapore Green Plan 2030. It also highlights complementary efforts in research and development, community engagement, industry partnerships, and regional circularity.

• Jihye Lee (Researcher and Module Coordinator of the Sea-City Interface module, Future Cities Laboratory Global, Singapore-ETH Centre) on Co-creating Water Sensitive Communities: Community Co-stewardship as a System Enabler for Urban Water Circularity

As cities scale up Nature-based Solutions for climate change adaptation, urban water circularity cannot be achieved through governance, financing, and infrastructure alone. Unlike conventional grey infrastructure, blue-green infrastructure is a living system that depends on continuous quality maintenance to deliver its expected co-benefits, making the role and participation of urban communities central to whether these systems work in practice. Yet the role of communities alongside governance and financing remains one of the most undervalued dimensions in urban water policy and investment. Across Singapore, Seoul, and Zurich, the question is what it actually takes to build water sensitive communities and make urban water circularity possible at scale.

• Dr. Adeline Sham (Associate Director, Climate & Liveability, Temasek Foundation) on Financing and Scaling Circular Economy Solutions in Asia

Asia faces mounting waste and circularity challenges, yet promising solutions often struggle to cross the “valley of death” between proven technology and commercial scale. This presentation discusses the challenges, the gaps in financing, and how philanthropic capital can be leveraged to support innovations towards adoption, commercialisation, and delivery of impact at scale.

Moderator:

• David Fogarty (CEO, UN Global Compact Network Singapore)

David Fogarty is CEO and Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact Network, Singapore (UNGCNS). A sustainability leader with 25+ years of strategic experience, he spent 14 years in Singapore, Southeast Asia, Australia, and the UK. David is a Fellow of RICS and member of ISSP and ISEP as a Registered Environmental Practitioner. He serves on multiple industry bodies including Urban Land Institute Sustainability Committee, APREA Singapore Board and ULI Sustainability Committee.His credentials include an MBA from Southern Cross University, Harvard's Certificate of Management Excellence, and Cambridge's Business Sustainability Management program. David has obtained multiple certifications such as Green Star Associate/Green Mark Associate/WiredScore AO/SmartScore AP/ActiveScore AP/TRUE Advisor/Edge Expert/LEED Associate/GRESB AP and Certified Carbon Management Leader (CCML)/Edge Expert.

This event is brought to you by the UNDP Global Centre for Technology, Innovation and Sustainable Development, in partnership with the Centre for Liveable Cities Singapore, and with the support of the UN Global Compact Network Singapore.