On 27th November 2025, Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities (LKYCIC) convened a regional workshop bringing together urban researchers, policymakers, and emerging city leaders from across Southeast Asia to co-develop new approaches to tackle the amplifying effects of climate change on existing urban issues currently faced by the region’s rapidly growing cities.

The workshop was held just ahead of the public release of the Southeast Asia Climate Outlook Survey (2020–2024), a major five-year landmark study jointly produced with ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute and LKYCIC. The Report highlights regional concerns over climate risk, energy security, equity, and political trust—issues that closely intersect with the workshop’s focus on urban resilience and citizen wellbeing.

27 November 2025 – CUST-SEA 2025 Workshop

The regional workshop, titled “Collaborative Urban Sustainability Transition in Southeast Asia: Bridging Research, Policy, and Action for Inclusive Sustainability” (CUST-SEA 2025) brought together participants from Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, the Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam. The workshop was organised as part of LKYCIC’s programmes on Urban Environmental Sustainability and Cities and Urban Science.

Together with Singapore-based climate and health experts, workshop participants identified shared urban challenges, compared country contexts, and explored opportunities to deepen collaborations on urban environment sustainability research in Southeast Asia.

To anchor discussions, leading researchers from Singapore’s heat and urban resilience ecosystem presented their work on thermal physiology, heat and wind inequality across housing types in Singapore, and microclimate modelling. Speakers included:

  • Ms Pearl Tan (Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore), on the dangers of rising heat stress, and the innovative, multidisciplinary strategies to build heat resilience at an individual and societal level.
  • Assistant Professor Nathan Peng (Singapore Management University), on the relationship between heat and inequality, and wealth inequality in Singapore
  • Professor Marie Harder (Fudan University) on Group Shared Values Crystallisation Approaches.
  • Associate Professor Yuan Chao (National University of Singapore), on microclimate simulation to model the effects of anthropogenic heat, air pollution and other environmental factors.

These sessions offered participants a grounding in the scientific and policy frontiers that shape how cities understand and respond to intensifying heat and climate change.

Representatives from across Southeast Asia also shared snapshots of their cities’ most pressing urban challenges, from informal settlements in Phnom Penh to flood-prone districts in Manila to rapid new town development in Indonesia. Laos and Vietnam faced similar issues, including widespread congestion and urban liveability concerns. Participants assessed how climate change interacts with housing, mobility, informality, food security, and local governance, mapping out diverse but interconnected “wicked problems” faced across the region.

Through structured co-creation exercises, they identified potential cross-country research themes including worker health, wellbeing, and labour productivity under rising temperatures; urban liveability; and the influence of social equity on mechanisms of impact that climate change has on different communities. The workshop identified areas for comparative case studies, measurement strategies, and partnership models involving universities, public agencies, and community groups across Southeast Asia.

Learn more about our programmes on Urban Environmental Sustainability and Cities and Urban Science.

28 November 2025 – Launch of Southeast Asia Climate Outlook Survey (2020–2024)

The Southeast Asia Climate Outlook Survey (2020–2024) report was launched on 28 November 2025. This report was jointly produced with ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute and LKYCIC.

Drawing on 7,654 responses from Southeast Asia Climate Outlook surveys conducted between 2020 to 2024 by ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, this report identifies six major regional trends:

  • A widening perception gap driven by the use of traditional versus digital media;
  • Growing public hesitancy towards immediate coal phase-out due to energy security and cost of living concerns;
  • A persistent divide between lifestyle-oriented climate actions and political or civic advocacy;
  • Socio-economic disparities in support for policies such as carbon taxes and fossil fuel-subsidy reforms;
  • A deepening rural–urban divide in food insecurity as climate impacts intensify; and
  • Evolving expectations of climate leadership and external partnerships within and beyond ASEAN.

The event opened with welcome remarks from Mr Choi Shing Kwok, Director and Chief Executive Officer of ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, followed by an opening address by Prof Cheong Koon Hean. The subsequent fireside chat and Q&A session with Dr Puthucheary, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment, moderated by Mr Choi, centred on the question of “Is Southeast Asia getting up to speed on its climate ambitions?” where he discussed key barriers to climate change action in Southeast Asia.

Highlighting the strategic role of cities in climate action, Professor Cheong Koon Hean, Chair of LKYCIC, shared:

“Cities across Southeast Asia are confronting the impacts of climate change head-on. Understanding how residents perceive these risks and weigh policy options is crucial. The findings show that while the public recognises the urgency of climate action, concerns over affordability, reliability, and equity persist. Policymakers must therefore strengthen trust and engagement to ensure climate transitions are fair and widely supported.”

Dr Samuel Chng (LKYCIC) and Ms Melinda Martinus (ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute) jointly shared the report’s findings followed by a panel discussion moderated by Ms Sharon Seah (ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute) with Professor Mely Caballero-Anthony (Nanyang Technological University), Ms Paramita Mohamed (Communication for Change), and Dr Harvey Neo (LKYCIC) who further discussed the survey results, explanatory factors, and wider implications.

As policymakers consider how to design credible, inclusive, and widely supported climate strategies, the report’s findings serve as a useful diagnostic tool for understanding where action and resources need to be most urgently directed.

Download the full report here.

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