Eric ZUSMAN

Research Leader, Integrated Sustainability Centre, IGES

Eric Zusman is a senior policy researcher/area leader at the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies in Hayama, Japan. Dr. Zusman holds a bachelors degree in Mandarin Chinese from Rutgers University, a dual Masters Degree in public policy and Asian studies from the University of Texas at Austin and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles. For much of the past two decades he has conducted research on environmental issues in Asia. This has included working with China’s Yellow River Conservancy Commission, the Chinese Research Academy on Environmental Science, Woodrow Wilson Center’s China Environment Forum as well as Taiwan’s Academia Sinica. He has published books and articles on water scarcity, air pollution regulation, environmental law, multilevel governance, sustainability transitions, low carbon development and the Sustainable Development Goals. He is currently serving as a lead author for the sixth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Chapter 17).

Dhanalekshmy SIVANI

Local government, Kerala, India

Dr Dhanalekshmy Sivani is an Administrator cum Researcher with 20 years of experience in Revenue Department, Government of Kerala, India. She has obtained her PhD from Kannur University, Kerala, India. Her areas of interest are SDGs, Localisation of SDGs, Urban Water, LCA, ESG and Disaster Risk Reduction.

KASAI Takahiro

Section Chief, Policy Planning & Coordination Division, Sado City

After graduating from college, Mr. Kasai became an employee of Sado City (formerly Aikawa Town).

Following a municipal merger in March 2004, he was transferred to the Finance Division, Administrative Reform Division, seconded to the Cabinet Secretariat (Regional Revitalization), and after working in the Comprehensive Policy Division, he was in charge of the Regional Development Department, including Hometown Tax Donation Program and the rural community support.

For the past year, he has been involved in the formulation of the comprehensive plan and the SDGs Future Cities, as well as the promotion of nature positive and regional decarbonisation in the Planning Department.

UCHIDA Togo

Director, ICLEI Japan Office

Born in UK and grew up in Melbourne and Tokyo, Togo started his career at Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) working on donor coordination and aid policies. Gradually, his interest shifted to environmental policies and climate change and spent over 8 years in Thailand and Cambodia as Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Project Formulation Adviser on Climate Change and Environment. After serving one year at Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) as Programme Manager for promoting SDGs at cities in ASEAN countries, Togo have assumed the position as the Director of ICLEI Japan from July 1st, 2018.

FUJITA Kaori

Senior Deputy Editor, Nikkei ESG / Professor, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University

Born in Uozu City, Toyama Prefecture. Graduated from the Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Tokyo. After joining Nikkei BP, she worked as a staff editor for "Nikkei Electronics," deputy editor of "National Geographic Japanese Edition," which introduces nature and culture, editorial board member of "Nikkei Ecology," an environmental management magazine, and producer of "Nikkei ESG Management Forum," before becoming senior editor of "Nikkei ESG," a sustainability management magazine. She has been following biodiversity, natural capital, sustainable procurement, SDGs, ESG investment, human rights, and regional development. She is a member of the Central Environment Council of the Ministry of the Environment. She is also a visiting professor at the University of Toyama and Toyama University of International Studies.