Day 1: 4 November 2025, Tuesday
09:30-10:30 Opening Session
Moderator: Dr. Johan Stander, Senior Director, Services Department, World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
• Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury, Chairman of Global Forum on Human Settlements, Former UN UnderSecretary-General and High Representative
• Professor Celeste Saulo, Secretary-General, World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
• Mr. Choudhury Rudra Charan Mohanty, Environment Programme Coordinator, United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD)- DSDG/UN DESA
• Mr. Charles Karangwa, Director, Nature-based Solution, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
• Mr. Frank D’hondt, Secretary General, International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP)
• Observance of GFHS’s 20th Anniversary and World Cities Day & Group Photo
10:50-11:50 Keynote Statement : Advance local innovation and collaboration for a resilient and sustainable urban future
Moderator: Mr. Haifeng Lyu, Co-founder & Secretary General, Global Forum on Human Settlements
Speakers:
• Mr. Dmitry Mariyasin, Deputy Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
• Mr. Nikhil Seth, Rector, SDG Management School (SDGMS), former UN Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Director of United Nations Institute for Training and Research
• Dr. Serge Salat, President, Urban Morphology and Complex Systems Institute, Paris, France, Senior Advisor to the UN and World Bank, Leading Expert of International Green Model City Standards 3.0
• Mr. Leng Fei, Director, Chaoyang District Ecology and Environment Bureau, Beijing, China
11:50-12:50 High-level Dialogue : Invigorate innovation and leadership towards greener and smarter cities
Moderator: Dr. Arab Hoballah, Senior Sustainability Expert, former Chief, Sustainable Consumption and Production, UNEP
Panelists:
• Ms. Loretta Hieber Girardet, Chief of Risk Knowledge, Monitoring and Capacity Development at United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR)
• Dato' Ir. Rajendran P. Anthony, Mayor, Penang Island, Malaysia
• Mr. Teo Eng Cheong, Chief Executive Officer, SinoSingapore Tianjin Eco-City Investment and Development Co., Ltd.
• Ms. Orsolya Barsi, Head of Department for Climate and Environmental Affairs, Municipality of Budapest, Hungary
• Mr. Mohammed Ahmed Alrayees, Director of Waste Strategy and Projects Department, Dubai Municipality, UAE
• Ms. Anh Thu Duong, Co-Director, Policy and Partnerships, Global Cities Hub
14:20-15:40 Parallel Session 1A :Increase climate resilience through integrated urban heat and water resource management
Moderator: Ms. Anh Thu Duong, Co-Director, Policy and Partnerships, Global Cities Hub
Speakers:
• Dr. Johan Stander, Senior Director, Services Department, World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
• Ms. Orsolya Barsi, Head of Department for Climate and Environmental Affairs, Municipality of Budapest, Hungary
• Mr. Sebastian Grey, Scientific Officer for Agrometeorology at the World Meteorological Organization
• Ms. Nadia Verjee, Executive Director at Expo City Dubai, UAE
• Mr. Ronald Jackson, Head, Disaster Risk Reduction & Recovery for Building Resilience, Crisis Bureau, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
14:20-15:40 Parallel Session 1B :Coastal cities as source and solution: shifting the plastics pollution paradigm
Moderator: Dr. Andràs Szorényi, Senior Policy Advisor, Global Cities Hub (GCH)
Speakers:
• Mr. Régis Farret, Counsellor for Sustainable Development, Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations
• Ms. Antonella Vassallo, Managing Director, International Ocean Institute Headquarters
• Mr. Graham Alabaster, Head of UN-Habitat Geneva Office
• Mr. Gabriel Boichat Sancho, Head of the Delegation of Catalonia to Switzerland, Member of the Local and Subnational Governments Coalition
• Dato' Ir. Rajendran P. Anthony, Mayor, Penang Island, Malaysia
16:00-17:30 Parallel Session 2A : Future-proof carbon-neutral cities and human settlements
Moderator: Mr. Choudhury Rudra Charan Mohanty, Environment Programme Coordinator, United Nations Centre
for Regional Development (UNCRD)- DSDG/UN DESA
Speakers:
• Dr. Frank Wolter, Professor for Automotive and Mobility Management, SRH University of Applied Sciences, Berlin, Germany
• Mr. Xing Peng, Deputy Chief of Xiangcheng District People's Government, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China
• Dr. Zhai Shengqiang, Founder & CEO of Huanzhi (Shenzhen) Green Development Co., Ltd
• Mr. Stéphane Pouffary, Chief Executive Officer and Honorary President, ENERGIES 2050, France
• Mr. Chen Xingcen, General Manager, Abo Building Materials (Kunshan) Co., Ltd
• Mr. Liu Hanzheng, Executive Director, Hebei Huazhong Real Estate Development Co., Ltd
Commentator:
• Ms. Li Shan, Group Chief Designer & General Manager of Planning and Design Center, Shenzhen Coast Investment
Group Co., Ltd.
• Prof. Dr. Maneeratana Sawasdiwat Na Ayutthaya, Member of Royal Society of Thailand, Director of ASEAN MTI
• Ms. Wang Miao, Secretary-General, Sustainable Urban Development Committee, Construction Industry Branch, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT)
16:00-17:30 Parallel Session 2B : Nature-based solutions for livability and climate adaptation
Moderator: Mr. Charles Karangwa, Director, Nature-based Solution, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
Speakers:
• Dr. Robert McDonald, Lead Scientist for Nature-Based Solutions at The Nature Conservancy
• Ms. Liesbeth Casier, Lead, Public Procurement and Sustainable Infrastructure Policy & Coordinator, NBI Global Resource Centre, International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)
• Mr. Isaltino Afonso Morais, Mayor, Oeiras, Portugal
• Ms. Yang Liuyan, Deputy Director, Forestry Bureau, Kaizhou District, City of Chongqing, China
• Ms. Tabea Stöckel, Nature and Climate Adaptation Lead, Global Infrastructure Basel Foundation (GIB)
• Ms. Jessie Press-Williams, Senior Analyst at Climate Policy Initiative (CPI)
Day 2: 5 November 2025, Wednesday
09:30-10:30 Summary and Recommendation
Moderator: Mr. Haifeng Lyu, Co-founder & Secretary General, Global Forum on Human Settlements
Speakers:
• Mr. Iñaqui Carnicero, Secretary General of Urban Agenda, Housing and Architecture at the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda, Spain
• Dr. Awni Behnam, former United Nations Assistant Secretary General, Hon. President, International Ocean Institute, Affiliate Professor, University of Malta
• Summaries from parallel session moderators
• Release the Geneva Declaration
11:00-12:30 New Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements Awards Ceremony 2025
