Professor Cheong Koon Hean was invited to attend COP 29 at Baku Azerbaijan to deliver a statement at the High-Level Opening on the Multilevel Climate Action of the Ministerial Meeting on Urbanisation and Climate Change. This event was co-hosted by the COP29 Presidency, the UN-Habitat, the State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SCUPA) and the UN Climate Change High Champion with the support of Bloomberg Philanthropies. The event was attended by Ministers of Housing, Urban Development, Environment and climate change, together with some over 60 member states, 200+ local leaders and 1000+ participants to discuss i) how to align subnational and national efforts to meet the Paris Agreement goals and SDGs; ii) what multisectoral and multilevel actions are necessary to scale up climate action in and with cities and regions; iii) take stock of progress on CHAMP and other urban initiatives and identify how to consolidate efforts in the lead up to COP30.
Professor Cheong also delivered the keynote address at the Opening of the Singapore Pavilion Cities Day discussions which took place on 20 and 21 Nov 2024. Three major topics centred around the concept of regeneration were discussed, covering “Low Carbon Cities of the Future”, “Resource Circularity and Resource Resiliency” and “Towards a City In Nature”.
COP29 Singapore Pavilion with Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment
During the visit to Baku, Professor Cheong also met with Mr Eldar Azizov, Head of Baku City Executive Power (Mayor of Baku) as well as Mr. Anar Guliyev, Chairman of the State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture of the Republic of Azerbaijan. They had a good mutual exchange of views on the plans and initiatives of the City of Baku and Azerbaijan.
With Mr Eldar Azizov, Head of Baku City Executive Power (Mayor of Baku)
With Mr. Anar Guliyev, Chairman of the State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture of the Republic of Azerbaijan at COP29