Yuji Kuroiwa

Governor, Kanagawa Prefectural Government

Graduating from Waseda University, Mr. Kuroiwa entered Fuji Television Network, Inc. In 1988, he took the position of newscaster of evening news program “FNN Super Time” and then “Hodo 2001”.

In 2009, Mr. Kuroiwa changed his career to a professor at International University of Health and Welfare Graduate School.

In April 2011, Mr. Kuroiwa was inaugurated as Governor of Kanagawa Prefecture under the banner of “Magnetic Kanagawa, a prefecture for vibrant lives”.

With an aim to further develop the magnetic prefecture and create a community filled with laughter, where people can live a healthy and happy life to 100 years old and beyond, Mr. Kuroiwa took office in April 2019 for the third term.

Tokuya Wada

Deputy Director-General for Environmental Policy, Minister’s Secretariat, Ministry of the Environment, Japan

Tokuya Wada graduated from the Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University and began his career at the Environment Agency in 1988. After holding several positions including Director of the Climate Change Policy Division, and Director of the Waste Management Division, he was assigned as Deputy Director-General, Environmental Regeneration and Material Cycles Bureau in 2018, and now serves as Deputy Director-General for Environmental Policy, Minister’s Secretariat.

Sandra Wu

Board member, United Nations Global Compact/ Board member, Global Compact Network Japan/ Chairperson and CEO, Kokusai Kogyo Co., Ltd./ Director, Japan Asia Group Limited

Sandra Wu is the Chairperson and CEO of Kokusai Kogyo since 2013, and Co-Founder and Director of Japan Asia Group, of which Kokusai Kogyo is a wholly-owned subsidiary, since 1998. She is a member of the United Nations Global Compact Board; board member for Global Compact Network Japan; and member of the Advisory Committee on National Resilience (Disaster Reduction and Mitigation) at the Cabinet Office. She is board member of UNDRR Private Sector Alliance for Disaster Resilient Societies (ARISE), and was Chair of UNDRR's private sector stakeholder group from 2013 to 2015. She is a member of the Alliance of Climate CEO Leaders within the World Economic Forum, and has served as Co-Chair of the Infrastructure and Urban Development (I&U) Industry Group in 2017 among other roles.

Sandra is a graduate from the Department of Chinese Literature, National Taiwan University and the Advanced Management Program, Harvard Business School.

Mahadi Che Ngah

Executive Director of Planning, Kualalumpur City Hall

Datuk Haji Mahadi bin Che Ngah obtained his bachelor degree in Urban and Regional Planning from University of Technology, Malaysia and his MSc Urban Development from University of Strathclyde Glasgow.

In 2004, he was appointed as the Director for Department of City Planning of Kuala Lumpur City Hall. Later in 2014 he was promoted to the position of Deputy Senior Director of City Planning. He served as the Chief Executive Officer at Kampong Bharu Development Corporation from 2015 until 2017. Since July 2018, Datuk Haji Mahadi bin Che Ngah is appointed as Executive Director (Planning) of Kuala Lumpur City Hall to lead the Planning Sector until today.
He was conferred the 'Darjah Kebesaran Panglima Mahkota Wilayah' from the YDP Agong which carries the title of Datuk.

Yusuke Amano

Senior Vice President, Japan International Cooperation Agency

Mr. Amano graduated with a Master of Engineering degree from the Department of Civil Engineering, Kyoto University and joined the Ministry of Construction in 1989. After holding various governmental positions such as at the River Bureau at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transportation and Tourism (MLIT), he worked in the East and Central Asia Department at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in 2002. He also worked for JICA as a Senior Advisor to the Director General, the Global Environment Department from 2011 to 2013. He then held various positions at the MLIT, including: Director of International Affairs Office, River Planning Division, Water and Disaster Management Bureau; Director of International Cooperation and Engineering for Infrastructure, Overseas Project Division, Policy Bureau; and Director of Watershed Management, Sewerage Management Department, Water and Disaster Management Bureau. He has been serving as a Senior Vice President at JICA since April 2019.

Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi

Secretary General of the United Cities and Local Governments Asia Pacific (UCLG ASPAC)

She is the first woman Secretary General of UCLG’s regional section.
She received her PhD in urban engineering from the University of Tokyo, and two master degrees in Atmospheric Physic from Nagoya University, Japan and in Public Policy from National University of Singapore.
Bernadia has been working in urban development and related fields for more than 15 years. Beginning of her career she worked with JICA and afterward she was with CITYNET in Yokohama. She is also a visiting professor at several universities in Japan. She has written various papers and has also been a speaker at numerous events.
She was recently appointed as a member of the Advisory Group on Gender Issues (AGGI) of UNHABITAT.
Besides global and urban environmental issues, her current interests range from strategic urban planning, climate change, disaster management, and international cooperation to water management, women empowerment, and local governance.

Moderator

Junichi Fujino

Programme Director, City Taskforce, IGES

Dr. Fujino received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tokyo, focusing on analysing the world’s energy system in the year 2100 (SDG 7). In 2000, he began his work at the National Institute for Environmental Studies. He has been involved in “Low Carbon Society Scenarios Research Project towards 2050” and has participated in the government’s committee for Japan’s greenhouse gas emission reduction toward COP15 as well as toward the 2015 Paris Agreement (SDG 13). Since the autumn of 2010, he has been a committee member for promoting the "FutureCity” initiative and has supported local governments in sustainable city planning. He has also served as a member for the “Urban Planning and Sustainability Committee” (of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Organizing Committee), as well as the Chair of the“Decarbonisation Working Group” (SDG 11). Currently, his focus is on supporting Asian countries and local governments in efforts to decarbonise and achieve the SDGs (SDG 17). He has been an IGES full-time researcher since April 2019.