Ryuzo Sugimoto

Director, International Cooperation and Sustainable Infrastructure Office, Global Environmental Bureau, Ministry of the Environment, Japan (MOEJ)

Ryuzo Sugimoto is currently in charge of environmental cooperation between Asian and African countries, including promotion of environmental infrastructure in developing countries.
Before this position, he was dispatched to Asian Development Bank (ADB) as environment Specialist until June 2016 and was in charge of safeguarding including environment impact assessment, establishment and implementation of Japan Fund for Joint Crediting Mechanism (JFJCM), adaptation to climate change, and coordination with Japanese organisations.
Prior to joining ADB, he had over 13 years experience in various aspects of environment and sustainable development. He was involved in national policy development on climate change, including the road map for Japanese mid-term GHG reduction targets.
He holds a Master’s degree in Public Affairs from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, USA; and a Master’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Tokyo, Japan.

Anil Misra

National Project Manager, United Nations Development Organization (UNIDO) New Delhi Regional Office

Anil Misra started career at the Indian Institute of Technology in New Delhi (India) in 1983 and worked there till 1998, then worked for almost 12 years for TERI, 4 years at University of Siegen (Germany), one year for UNDP and 8 years for GIZ.
As programme advisor and portfolio manager in GIZ, he introduced new models to engage the productive applications of renewable energy and natural bio-oils in rural areas. As Secretary (1996-2006) of the Solar Energy Society of India, he brought professionalism at the helm of society affairs as a significant step in creating a voice for renewable energies in India.
Among the first post-grads of the international programme “Renewable Energy Use” way back in 1989 in Oldenburg in Germany, Dr Misra has always campaigned for recognition and promotion of renewable energies.

Mafalda Duarte

Head of Climate Investment Funds (CIF)

Mafalda Duarte is the head of the $8.3 billion Climate Investment Funds (CIF).
Under her leadership, the CIF has doubled down on work to accelerate global action on climate change, from first-of-its-kind investments and innovative, pilot approaches to a strong emphasis on learning and sharing of knowledge and technical expertise. She is currently leading the strategic and policy efforts to take the tried-and-tested CIF model to the next level, including through new mechanisms to mobilize finance from capital markets.
Recognizing that developing countries are at risk of bearing the brunt of climate change-related impacts – from droughts to floods and the human suffering that comes with them – Mafalda has made helping countries build climate-smart, resilient economies the focus of her career. Prior to taking the helm at the CIF in 2014, Mafalda led policy and corporate work and managed climate-related portfolios at the African Development Bank and the World Bank.

Prosanto Pal

Senior Fellow, Industrial Energy Efficiency Division, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)

Prosanto Pal is a Senior Fellow at the Industrial Energy Efficiency Division at The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in New Delhi. He has about 30 years of experience in the energy and environment sectors, among them 24 years at TERI. Among others, he has been closely involved in conducting energy audit studies; research on development, demonstration and diffusion of cleaner technologies among SMEs; and capacity building activities related to promoting energy efficiency.
Mr. Pal has been educated in India and the UK: Bachelor of Technology from Indian Institute of Technology (Delhi) in Chemical Engineering; Master’s of Science from University of Warwick (Coventry) in Manufacturing Systems Engineering and Master’s Degree from University of Strathclyde (Glasgow) in Process Engineering.

Ketan H. Kakkad

Consultant, Gujarat Industrial & Technical Consultancy Organisation (GITCO) Ltd.

Ketan Kakkad is working as a Consultant at Gujarat Industrial & Technical Consultancy Organisation (GITCO) Ltd.
He is a Production Engineer from Sardar Patel University, Anand, Gujarat and Diploma in Business Management from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai.
He has 26 years of experience as a Techno Commercial Expert, among them 22 at GITCO. He had been involved in executing consultancy assignments of Preparing Project Report & Carryout Project Feasibility Studies in various areas, at MSME units and/or at cluster level. He had worked closely with Policy Makers at the State Government for Evaluation of different Government Schemes for its effective implementation.

Yutaka Suzuki

Director, Kansai Research Centre, IGES / Professor Emeritus, Osaka University

After completing a Master’s Course at the Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, Yutaka Suzuki obtained his Ph.D. in engineering from the same university. In 1972, he became a professor at Osaka University. After serving as Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at Osaka University, President of the Himeji Institute of Technology, and Vice President of the University of Hyogo, he has served as Director of the IGES Kansai Research Centre since 2006. His current research areas include studies on the recycling-based society and new energy systems. As a member of external organizations, Yutaka Suzuki has served as the Chairman of the Japan Society of Energy and Resources; Chairman of the Science and Technology Advisory Committee for MSF; and a member of the Energy Technology Task Force, Osaka Science Technology Center, Global Environment Forum-Kansai.

Moderator

Abdessalem Rabhi

Programme Manager, Kansai Research Centre, IGES

Abdessalem Rabhi, from Tunisia, is a holder of Ph.D. in comprehensive economic policies. He has joined IGES since 2007. He was assigned to conduct various projects related to business and environment, mainly those regarding corporate environmental managements and low carbon technology transfer and application. Currently, he is a task manager of projects related to the application of Japanese low carbon technologies in developing countries in Asia and the Pacific.

Moderator

Lisanne Groen

JSPS-UNU Postdoctoral Fellow, United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS)

Lisanne Groen is a JSPS-UNU Postdoctoral Fellow at the United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS) since November 2016.

At UNU-IAS, her research focuses on European low-carbon technology transfer policies. She analyses and evaluates the low-carbon technology transfer policies pursued by Germany, France, the UK and the European Union (EU), as well as multilateral partnerships.

She was awarded a Ph.D. in political science by the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Brussels, Belgium) in October 2016. Her doctoral thesis addresses the effectiveness of the EU in international climate change (UNFCCC) and biodiversity (CBD) negotiations over time. Since 2012, Lisanne has attended several CBD and UNFCCC Conferences of the Parties for her research.

Before starting her Ph.D., Lisanne was a trainee at the Directorate General for Agriculture of the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium, working on EU Free Trade Agreements with third countries.

She holds a Master of Science in political science and a Bachelor of Arts in European Studies (University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands). She is Dutch.