---
title: Mobilising Green Finance to Develop Smart and Sustainable Cities
description: Discover how cities can tackle climate challenges through green finance. Learn from experts on sustainable urban strategies and the rise of green investments in Southeast Asia.
---

[SFF 2024 Session Recordings ](https://39936595.hs-sites.com/sff-2024-session-recordings)

# [Mobilising Green Finance to Develop Smart and Sustainable Cities](https://39936595.hs-sites.com/sff-2024-session-recordings/sff-2024-videos/mobilising-green-finance-to-develop-smart-and-sustainable-cities)

 Written by [Singapore FinTech Festival](https://39936595.hs-sites.com/sff-2024-session-recordings/author/singapore-fintech-festival) | Nov 18, 2024 5:00:00 AM

 

 Delivered at the Singapore FinTech Festival, a dynamic panel discussion delved into innovative strategies for decarbonising urban environments, emphasising the intersection of sustainability, data digitization, and green finance. 

**Key Highlights **

**1. Strategies for Decarbonising Urban Environments **

**Joanna Yeo of Arukah Capital: **

**The Power of Data: **

- Reliable, high-frequency data is critical for ensuring transparency and accuracy in carbon credit markets and sustainability initiatives. 
- Leveraging digital measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) systems can unlock access to green finance, reducing administrative costs by up to 90%. 

**Automation and Green Reporting: **

- Automating green bond reporting processes can address inefficiencies and scale green financing. 
- Example: HSBC’s study estimated that digitising green bond administration could bring down costs significantly, from $6.5 million to $700,000 for a 20-year green bond. 

Urban Impact Solutions:

Transitioning waste-to-energy projects into urban contexts, such as using biochar in concrete and creating scalable solutions for agriculture and urban waste.   
 

2. The Role of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) 

 

Greg Mittman of HySights: 

**PPP as a Catalyst for Climate Innovation: **

- PPPs can make the uneconomic viable by pairing public capital with private discipline. 
- Telecom serves as a blueprint for energy and urban decarbonisation projects, with similarities in infrastructure and network evolution (e.g., from centralised to distributed systems). 

**Expanding Infrastructure Boundaries: **

- Recasting public-private property rights to facilitate IoT infrastructure for sustainability. 
    - Example: Deploying sensors across public spaces to monitor emissions and urban activity while ensuring connectivity and power availability. 

**3. The Need for a Climate Innovation Playbook **

**City-Specific Challenges: **

- Smaller cities often lack the expertise, capital, or resources to implement sustainable solutions effectively.

Proposed Solutions: 

- Develop a climate innovation playbook—a step-by-step guide for cities to identify, fund, and implement sustainability projects. 
- Harness data-driven insights to create scalable templates that can be adapted to different urban environments. 

     
**Discussion Themes **

**Sustainability and Green Finance: **

-  Combining data digitisation with green financing to streamline administrative costs and enable faster decision-making.
- Encouraging data sharing among stakeholders to improve transparency and compliance with sustainability goals. 

Innovation in the Built Environment: 

- Transitioning the construction industry to adopt biochar-based concrete and other low-carbon materials.
- Incorporating energy-efficient technologies to address operational carbon emissions, which account for 50% of emissions in urban buildings. 

Sensors and IoT for Urban Decarbonisation:

- Leveraging IoT technologies for real-time monitoring of emissions and energy use.
- Deploying distributed networks and intelligent systems inspired by telecom's transformation into energy and climate systems. 

 

**Vision for Sustainable Cities **

Decarbonising Urban Spaces: 

- Collaboration is Key: PPPs provide a structured framework for cities to access public and private funding for green infrastructure. 
- Harnessing Data: High-quality, verifiable data enables precise measurements, improved reporting, and scalability in sustainability projects. 

**A Roadmap for Cities: **

- Develop modular, replicable frameworks that cities can adapt based on their unique needs and capacities. 
- Focus on integrating innovation in finance, governance, and technology to create sustainable urban ecosystems. 

Conclusion    
This session underscored the transformative potential of green finance, data automation, and public-private partnerships in achieving sustainability goals. By leveraging insights from telecom and other industries, urban environments can pioneer scalable, impactful solutions for a greener future. 

 

Speakers:

- Greg Mittman, Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer, HySights
- Joanna Yeo, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Arukah Capital

 

Moderator:

- Prof. Shreekant Gupta, Executive Education Senior Fellow, LKY School of Public Policy

 

[View full post](https://39936595.hs-sites.com/sff-2024-session-recordings/sff-2024-videos/mobilising-green-finance-to-develop-smart-and-sustainable-cities)

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