Speakers Profile Decarbonization Scenarios for JapanThe Way Forward for the Strategic Energy Plan

in Japanese

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  Paolo Frankl
  Head of Renewable Energy Division, International Energy Agency (IEA)
  
  Paolo Frankl leads the IEA's work on renewables, providing analysis and advice on policies, markets and technologies to 31 Member countries and 17 Association and Accession countries. 
  A physicist by training, he holds a Ph.D in energy and environmental technologies from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” and has been post-doc Marie Curie research fellow at INSEAD business school in Fontainebleau, France. He has 30 years of experience working on renewable energy systems and markets, life cycle assessment and eco-labeling.

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  Bruce Douglas
  CEO, Global Renewables Alliance
  
  Bruce Douglas has 25 years’ international experience in the promotion of renewable energy and electrification. He is currently CEO of the Global Renewables Alliance - the  single voice for wind, solar, geothermal, hydro, long duration energy storage and green hydrogen industries at an international level. 
  Previously he has held the following positions: Director of Communications and Business at Eurelectric, Deputy CEO of SolarPower Europe, Founder and Coordinator of the RE-Source Platform, Founding Chairman of the Global Solar Council (GSC), Chief Operating Officer at WindEurope, Founding Secretary General of the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) and Managing Director of FLiDAR, an offshore wind company.

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  Satoshi Abe
  General Manager, ESG Center, ESG Strategy Division, Ricoh

  Satoshi Abe joined Ricoh in 1992 and began his career in sales and marketing, followed by an assignment to environment communication at the Environment Department in 1999.
  In 2008, he was temporarily assigned to KEIZAI DOYUKAI, Japan Association of Corporate Executives,  and participated in the activities of the Global Environment Committee.
  In his capacity as General Manager of Social Environment Department since 2011, he has been a key driver in the development and execution of corporate sustainability strategies and played a pivotal role in establishing Ricoh’s commitment to both RE100 and Science-based Targets, integrating corporate strategies with SDGs. Since 2023, he  has been appointed General Manager of the ESG Strategy Division.

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  Kumiko Isono
  Director, Shizen Energy

  After graduating from university, Kumiko Isono worked for a management consulting firm, where she was involved in projects such as mid-term business planning and marketing strategy development for multiple industries. After joining Shizen Energy in 2014, she led the O&M business and was appointed as Representative Director of JUWI Shizen Energy Operation in April 2015. She later served as head of the Corporate Services Department for the Shizen Energy Group. Kumiko became Director of Shizen Energy in September 2020.

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  Yusuke Toyoda
  CEO, Digital Grid

  Yusuke Toyoda completed his graduate studies in the engineering department at the University of Tokyo in 2012 before joining Goldman Sachs Securities. In the securities division, he was engaged in the composition and sale of financial products, and in the strategic investment development division, he mainly worked on the development and investment business of mega solar power projects. From 2016, he was engaged in investing equity across various sectors at the PE fund Integral. In 2018, he participated as a founding member of Digital Grid and in 2019 was appointed as the representative director and president of the company.

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  Sergio Shigeo Kato
  Co-Representative, Japan Climate Initiative (JCI) 

  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 and contributed in the launch of the Japan Climate Initiative (JCI) in July 2018. He was appointed to his current position in March 2023, leading efforts by non-state actors in Japan to achieve a decarbonized society.

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  Tomas Kåberger
  Chair of Executive Board, Renewable Energy Institute

  Tomas Kåberger has been the Chair of Executive Board of Renewable Energy Institute since its foundation in 2011. Academically, he got an MSc in Engineering Physics, a PhD in Physical Resource Theory, and Docent in Environmental Science at Chalmers. He has been professor in International Sustainable Energy Systems at the International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics at Lund University, and he is currently affiliate Professor of Industrial Energy Policy at Chalmers University of Technology.
  Industrially, he has had leading roles in companies providing fuels and technology in the bio-energy industry, another company developing sustainable energy solutions for the automotive industry, and a company operating wind power plants. Currently he serves on the board of Persson Invest, a company building wind and solar plants and a retailer of cars, trucks and busses; increasingly electric. He is also the Chairman of the Swedish Delegation for a Circular Economy.
  He has served as Director General of the National Swedish Energy Agency, Board of Director of the power company Vattenfall, and as member of the Swedish Climate Policy Council.
  Other key positions he has held include board of the Swedish and European environmental citizens organizations, government committees and commissions on energy and environmental policy in Sweden, as well as member task forces under China International Council for Cooperation on Environment and Development.
  He is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences and the Swedish Society of Energy Economists.

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  Teruyuki Ohno
  Executive Director, Renewable Energy Institute

  Teruyuki Ohno joined Renewable Energy Institute in 2013. He has actively participated in the policy formation of Japan’s climate change measures as a member of national and local governments' committees. Before joining the Institute, he was Director General of the Bureau of Environment, Tokyo Metropolitan Government for three years, covering a broad range of environmental issues including energy, climate change, waste management, pollution control, natural environment, and sustainable development. His notable achievements include the “No Dirty Diesel Vehicle Strategy in Tokyo” which reduced the air pollution and PM emissions, and implementation of Japan’s first Cap-and-Trade Program in Tokyo in 2008, involving the industries and successfully building a grand consensus. His active leadership in promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency led to the formation of the foundation of Tokyo’s energy policy. He is also a Board Member of WWF Japan. He received the Haagen-Smit Clean Air Award from the California Air Resources Board in 2014. His publications include "Energy Strategies of Municipality Governments" (Iwanami, 2013, Japanese) among others.

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  Mika Ohbayashi
  Director, Renewable Energy Institute

  Mika Ohbayashi is Director at Renewable Energy Institute since its foundation in August 2011. Before joining the Institute, from 2010 to 2011, she worked in Abu Dhabi for the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) as Policy and Project Regional Manager for Asia Oceania. Prior to that, she worked at the British Embassy to Japan as Climate Change Project Advisor from 2008 to 2009, and served as Director at the Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies from 2000 to 2008. She started her career in the energy field by joining the Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center in 1992. In 2017, she was awarded the ISES Global Leadership Award in Advancing Solar Energy Policy - in honour of Hermann Scheer by the International Solar Energy Society.

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  Masaya Ishida
  Director, Renewable Energy Institute

  Masaya Ishida joined Renewable Energy Institute in 2017 to lead research on the deployment of renewable energy for business activities. Since April 2018, he has been responsible for the activities of Renewable Energy Users Network (RE-Users), a network of corporate energy users aiming to accelerate the procurement of renewable energy, and the publication of the "Renewable Electricity Procurement Guidebook" and the "Corporate PPA Guidebook." He has been a member of the Technical Advisory Group at RE100 since September 2021.
  Prior to joining the Institute, he was Executive Producer at “Smart Japan,” a leading online media in Japan focusing on renewable energy deployment and electric power market reformation. He has held senior positions at several technology information media and internet businesses, including “EE Times Japan” and “Nikkei Computer.” He holds a B.S. and M.S. in Information Engineering from the Tokyo Institute of Technology.

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  Kae Takase
  Senior Manager (Climate Change), Renewable Energy Institute

  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). She has also spent a year in Yongin University in South Korea to devote herself to taekwondo and take a break from research.

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  Seiichiro Kimura
  Principal Researcher, Renewable Energy Institute

  Seiichiro Kimura (Ph.D., P.E.jp) joined Renewable Energy Institute in 2018. Specializes in cost-benefit analysis, techno-economic analysis with market penetrating simulation in the energy system. He started his career at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in 2004, and was engaged in development of hydrogen energy until 2010. After working for International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research of Kyushu University, he became an associate at the Matsushita Institute of Government and Management between 2014 and 2018, where he was engaged in research on interconnecting electric power systems with the aim of increasing energy self-sufficiency through its own resources and eventually becoming a nation capable of suppling energy to other countries (energy-exporting nation). He received B.Sc. from Tokyo University of Science, M.Sc. from Tokyo Institute of Technology, and Ph.D. from Kyushu University.
  At Renewable Energy Institute, his research focuses on interconnectors and market design for electricity system reform. He has also been responsible for formulating visualized charts and maps for the Power Supply/Demand and Power Flow of Interregional Interconnections data on the Institute’s website.