Lecture: Decarbonising Urban Futures

Decarbonisation has emerged as a central organising principle of contemporary climate governance. It refers not merely to the technical reduction of carbon emissions, but to a broader socio-economic transformation that aligns production, consumption, and infrastructure with climate mitigation imperatives. Globally, buildings are responsible for approximately 37% of global energy-related carbon emissions. In Singapore, the built environment contributes 20% of national emissions—this includes both ‘embodied carbon’ from material production and transportation, and operational carbon generated throughout a building's use. As urbanisation continues, emissions are anticipated to rise substantially, which will intensify the challenge of achieving net-zero emissions within the built environment. Beginning with Associate Professor Matthew Dearth, he will highlight solutions to decarbonise the building sector and current obstacles that prevent firms from adopting them. Alakesh Dutta presents research investigating the potential for high-rise building typologies to evolve into low-carbon models in the future. Often associated with higher emissions today, the high-rise typology remains indispensable in high-density cities such as Singapore. This lecture will be moderated by Professor Thomas Schroepfer.

Tuesday Lecture

31 March 2026, 6:30pm – 8:30pm

The Hall, NTU CCA, Blk 6 Lock Road, #01-10 Gillman Barracks, Singapore 108934

Image credit: PARKROYAL Collection Pickering, Singapore, aerial view. Image by Eurthe. Courtesy of WOHA Architects, Singapore

The Climate Transformation: Sustainable Societies Series is organised by members of the Climate Transformation Programme (CTP) Cross-Cutting Theme 1: Sustainable Societies research team, Principal Investigator Professor Ute Meta Bauer, research fellow Joshua Gebert, research associate Ng Mei Jia and research assistant Angela Ricasio Hoten.

Sustainable Societies

Principal Investigator, Professor Ute Meta Bauer (NTU ADM)

Principal Investigator, Associate Professor Laura Miotto (NTU ADM)

Principal Investigator, Professor Dr Thomas Schroepfer (SUTD)

This Lecture Series is supported by the Singapore Ministry of Education Academic Research Fund Tier 3 grant [MOE-MOET32022-0006] for the Climate Transformation Programme.

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Speakers

Matthew Dearth is an Associate Professor of Finance (Practice) and Co-Director of the Centre for Sustainable Finance at the Nanyang Business School, NTU. Before transitioning to academia full time, Dr. Dearth was Managing Director at Silvercrest Asset Management (Singapore). Earlier, his 30+ years of finance industry experience included leadership roles at Marshall Wace, Goldman Sachs, and Booz Allen & Hamilton. He recently published Sustainable Finance for Returns and Impact (Wiley, 2026) and co-organised the 2025 NTU Decarbonisation Forum on the challenges of decarbonising the building and textiles industries. He received his PhD (General Management) from Singapore Management University, MBA from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and BS (Operations Research) from Princeton University.

Alakesh Dutta is a research associate and PHD student at the Department of Architecture at the National University of Singapore. He also has over 11 years of industry experience working as an architect in Singapore and India. His projects include the NUS SDE4 Net-Zero Energy Building, Urban Farming projects such as the Vertical Fish Farm in Singapore, Integrated Industrial Master Plans, such as the Jurong Innovation District, and urban design projects, such as the Orchard Road rejuvenation plan.

Moderator

Thomas Schroepfer is Full Professor and Founding Programme Director of Architecture and Sustainable Design, Singapore University of Technology and Design, and Director of the Future Cities Laboratory Global at the Singapore-ETH Centre. He is also Co-Principal Investigator under Cross-Cutting Theme 3: Sustainable Societies, on the Climate Transformation Programme. His research explores the integration of advanced technologies, environmental performance strategies, and new architectural typologies to enhance urban resilience, liveability, and sustainability.

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About the Climate Transformation: Sustainable Societies Lecture Series

The series returns for its second cycle in the Academic Year 2025-26. Each session features researchers from the Climate Transformation Programme, alongside contributors from other academic fields, as well as artists, architects and advocates. In this second iteration, the lecture series is framed with policy relevance in mind, with respondents from various government agencies, non-governmental organisations, and other relevant industries offering immediate commentary.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore, Block 6 Lock Road #01-09/10, Queenstown, Singapore

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