After graduating from University of Tokyo, Takejiro Sueyoshi joined the Mitsubishi Bank (MUFG Bank, Ltd.) in 1967 and worked for the bank until 1998. During his years with Nikko Asset Management as Deputy President, he was appointed as a member of the UNEP FI Steering Committee. In addition to the involvement in the UNEP FI activities in the Asia Pacific Region, he is giving many educational speeches about environmental problems and CSR/SRI in various government councils, seminars, universities and TV programs. Former member of the Council for Japan’s Prime Minister on Climate Change Policy and a Trustee member of Carbon Disclosure Project. Currently Vice-Chair of Executive Board of Renewable Energy Institute and Chairperson of WWF Japan.
His publications include “Ondanka Kogi　(A lecture on Global Warming)” (Toyo Keizai), “Yugai Rensa (Chain of Harmfulness)” (Gentousha), “Green New Deal” (Editor,Kankyou Shinbun), “Saishin CSR Jijyo( The Newest Book on CSR)”(Hokuseido)

Nigar Arpadarai is an independent Member of Parliament for Azerbaijan, representing one of the central constituencies of Baku city since 2020. She was elected to parliament after 15 years of professional experience in international organizations, sports and telecommunications.
Prior to becoming a Member of Parliament, Ms. Arpadarai was the Director of the Marketing and Communications Department and the official spokesperson of the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix since its inception in 2016. She holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in law and international relations from Baku State University.

Podesta served as counselor to President Barack Obama, where he was responsible for coordinating the administration’s climate policy and initiatives. In 2008, he served as co-chair of President Obama’s transition team. He was a member of the U.N. Secretary General’s High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda. Podesta previously served as White House chief of staff to President William J. Clinton. He chaired Hillary Clinton’s campaign for president in 2016. Prior to taking the current role, Podesta served as the founder and chair of the Board of Directors for the Center for American Progress. Podesta also chaired the board of ClimateWorks Foundation and served on the Board of the Climate Jobs National Resource Center. It was announced recently that Podesta will succeed Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry as Senior Advisor for International Climate Policy.

The Special Adviser ensures delivery of the Secretary-General’s priorities on climate change. This includes mobilizing and securing enhanced international climate ambition to achieve the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals. The Special Advisor also the coordinates UN System’s climate activities on behalf of the Secretary-General.

Prior to his appointment, Selwin Hart served as the Executive Director for the Caribbean region on the Board of the Inter-American Development Bank. From 2016 to 2018, Hart was the Ambassador to the United States and Permanent Representative at Organization of American States for Barbados. Before that, he was Director of Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon’s Climate Change Support Team, leading delivery of the 2014 Climate Summit and the Secretary-General’s engagements on climate leading to the adoption and signing of the Paris Agreement.

Throughout his career, Hart has served in several climate action leadership positions, including as a Climate Adviser for the Caribbean Development Bank, Chief Climate Change Negotiator for Barbados, as well as the Coordinator and Lead Negotiator on Finance for the Alliance of Small Island Developing States, a coalition of 43 islands and low-lying coastal States in the Caribbean, Pacific, Africa, Indian Ocean and South China Sea. He was a member of the Kyoto Protocol Adaptation Fund Board from 2009 to 2010 and was elected by the United Nations General Assembly to serve as Vice-Chair of the Second Committee of the United Nations General Assembly (Economic and Financial) during its sixtieth Session.

Masafumi Hikima currently has the dual responsibility of Professor at Sophia University on one hand and Executive Director of Finance on the other.
After working for　Mitsubishi UFJ Bank　for several years, he joined Nikko Asset Management Co. Ltd. in 1985 and has experienced a broad range of asset management businesses for roughly 40 years, ranging from research, strategist to portfolio management. In 1997, he was assigned as the Asia-Pacific Regional Representative Investment Adviser for the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund. In 1999, he took the initiative to launch the first SRI Fund in Japan and his leadership role in sustainable investing is ongoing since then. In later years, he served as the President & CEO of both Japanese and global asset management firms (Nikko Asset Management Co., Ltd. in 2002 and AllianceBernstein Japan Ltd. in 2005). While teaching investment analysis at Sophia now, he also strives to introduce the mission-driven investment approach to integrate the climate change and other sustainability factors in the management of endowment funds.

Ollie Wilson is the Head of RE100 and Energy Operations at Climate Group, looking after the running of the RE100 campaign. His role is focused on setting and ensuring the delivery of RE100’s five year strategy through to 2026. Ollie has been with Climate Group for three and half years and is based in London. Prior to Climate Group, Ollie has worked at a range of different CSOs and social enterprises on climate campaigns. This includes WWF and Friends of the Earth, where he lead campaigns on EVs, energy efficiency and net zero targets.

From 1989 to 1993, Hiroko Kuniya was assigned as an anchor of “World News” on NHK BS. She hosted “Close-up Gendai”, a daily current affairs program on NHK-TV from 1993 to 2016. She is a Trustee of Tokyo University of the Arts, Specially Appointed Professor of Keio University Graduate School, FAO National Goodwill Ambassador for Japan and worked as a journalist covering topics related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Awarded Broadcast Woman Prize in 1998, Kan KIKUCHI Award in 2002, Japan National Press Club Prize in 2011 and Galaxy Special Prize in 2016. She graduated from Brown University, US.

Jens Orfelt is an EVP and the regional president for offshore development with RWE Renewables in the Asia Pacific region and a member of the company’s global leadership team. He carries with him 15+ years of industry relevant experience, herein the past 6 years in the Asia Pacific region. Throughout his career he has worked within all cycles of the offshore wind industry ranging from early to late stage development all from identifying new opportunities to taking projects to FID / FC as well in construction and operations and maintenance. Currently stationed in Tokyo. Jens oversees the offshore wind development activities of RWE across the Asia Pacific.

Kae Takase joined Renewable Energy Institute in 2023. Previously she was Associate Director at CDP Worldwide-Japan, where she was responsible for helping Japanese companies and investors to set science-based targets (SBT), procure renewable electricity (RE100), and disclose TCFD-aligned sustainability information. She worked as a modelling analyst at the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan, the Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth, and Center for Low Carbon Society Strategy under the Japan Science and Technology Agency, built and ran Integrated Assessment Model for Climate Change, Computable General Equilibrium Model, Econometric Model, Energy System Model, bottom-up model for the energy system. She also initiated and conducted pilot projects for ‘Pay as You Save’ scheme for solar power and other energy efficiency improvement measures in several municipalities. She graduated from Keio University (B.A., M.A.) and the University of Tokyo (PhD).

Kei Yokota, Green Practice Japan, Department of General Practice, Okayama Kyoritsu Hospital

Kei Yokota graduated from Jichi Medical University School of Medicine in 2008. He worked in primary care at hospitals and clinics in mountainous areas of Yamaguchi Prefecture. He worked at a public health center and nephrology in Kanagawa Prefecture. He has been involved in supporting medical care in remote areas and training general practitioners at Yamaguchi Prefectural General Medical Center since 2016. He joined Green Practice Japan in 2022. He has been working at Okayama Kyoritsu Hospital Department of General Practice since 2023. He has translated the Climate Impact Checkup Tool, a carbon footprint calculation tool for medical institutions, and is working to promote its use in Japan.

After assuming several senior executive positions in Europe and Japan at Ricoh, Sergio Shigeo Kato was appointed General Manager of the Sustainability Management Division in 2015, where he was responsible for developing Ricoh Group‘s decarbonization declaration, driving Ricoh to become the first company in Japan to join RE100, and integrate SDGs values into business, leading the company to adopt ESG-oriented management. Since then, he has collaborated with companies across industries in Japan to resolve social issues related to climate change. He held roles as Co-Chair of the Japan Climate Leaders’ Partnership (JCLP), Board Member of the World Environment Center (WEC) and Board Member of Global Compact Network Japan (GCNJ). He also served as member of the Advisory Panel of Experts on Climate Change established by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. Together with Takejiro Sueyoshi, he advocated for creating a network of non-state actors in Japan, and contributed to the establishment of Japan Climate Initiative (JCI) in July 2018.