Kyoto 2019 Digital Edition

Daisaku Kadokawa

Mayor of Kyoto

Daisaku Kadokawa, known as an advocate for the environment at the local, national and international level, has served as mayor of Kyoto since 2008. Easily identifiable due to his preference for wearing a kimono, he is a mayor of contrasts - widely recognized for both his role as a proponent of Kyoto traditions and his modernization of the local economy. Now in his third term, he has overseen an explosion in visitor numbers, with over 55 million tourists making the trek to the former imperial capital of Japan in 2014 - many of them from overseas. Kadokawa has prioritized the dual challenges of global warming and climate change, only partly because the UN Kyoto Protocol was signed in the ancient city. He is also chair of the ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability regional executive committee for East Asia and representative of Japan, a role that gives him the opportunity to amplify his message on the urgent need to repair ecosystems. He began life in Kyoto in 1950, graduating from the city's Ritsumeikan University. The city, which has a population of about 1.5 million people.

Peg Putt

Co-Chair, Climate Action Network, Sinks Working Group , Coordinator of the Forests, Climate and Biomass Energy working group of the Environmental Paper Network

She has been an active forest campaigner in Australia and internationally for over 30 years. She was previously the leader of the Greens in Australia’s state of Tasmania, serving as a Member of Parliament for 15 years, carrying the forests portfolio. She was inscribed on the Tasmanian Honour Roll of Women in 2011 for service to the environment. She has subsequently worked internationally on forests and climate at the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention for Biodiversity. She has consulted for The Wilderness Society, Global Witness (UK), Humane Society International (Australia), and the Environmental Investigation Agency (Washington), also campaigning to stop illegal logging in Asia and Africa. She has been involved with markets campaigns in Japan and was a Gunns 20 defendant. Before joining parliament, she was Director of the Tasmanian Conservation Trust after establishing the Threatened Species Network in Tasmania, and leading the successful Huon Valley campaign to prevent construction of a wood chip mill.

Constance Okollet

Chairperson, Osukuru United Women’s Network (OWN)

Constance Okollet is the Chairperson for the Osukuru United Women’s Network (OWN) in the Tororo district of Eastern Uganda, and is a self-described peasant farmer and mother of seven. As the chairperson for OWN, she leads a consortium of approximately 1200 small women’s groups working on education, community health and nutrition.

Kanako Morita

United Nations University-Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS) , Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute (FFPRI)

Dr. Kanako Morita, is a senior researcher at the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, a visiting research fellow at the United Nations University-Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability, and a project assistant professor at Keio University. She is a lead author for the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report Working Group III Chapter 15 Investment and finance, and was a contributing author for the Fifth Assessment Report Working Group III Chapter 7 Energy systems. She earned her Ph.D. from the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 2010. She attended the Young Scientist Summer Program at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in 2005, and was a visiting researcher at the University of California Santa Barbara from 2006 to 2007. From 2010 to 2013, she worked at the National Institute for Environmental Studies. Her research interests focus on the effective governance and financial mechanisms for the Sustainable Development Goals, and climate change mitigation and adaptation (with a focus on energy, ecosystems, and forestry sectors). Furthermore, she attended the UNFCCC COP16, COP17, COP18, COP19, COP22, COP23, and COP24; the CBD COP10, COP 11, COP12; the UNCCD COP10; and intersessional meetings as a member of the Japanese delegation.

Gerhard Dieterle

Executive Director, International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO)

 Gerhard Dieterle is the Executive Director of ITTO with Headquarters in Yokohama/Japan. ITTO’s goals are to promote the expansion and diversification of international trade in tropical timber from sustainably managed and legally harvested forests and to promote the sustainable management of tropical timber producing forests Until recently, over a period of about 18 years, he was the World Bank’s Forest Adviser and Program Manager for the Forest Investment Program (FIP) and the Dedicated Grant Mechanism for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (DGM) and for several years he also led the World Bank forestry program in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region. As the World Bank’s Forestry Adviser he was responsible for the Bank’s overall forest policies and strategies, external relations and partnerships.  In the earlier years of his career he held different positions in the German Forest Service, in GIZ overseas assignments in Togo and Indonesia, the European Commission, and at the Forest Faculty of Freiburg/Germany.  Overall, he has more than 35 years of experience in national and international forest and environmental and development policies. His focus is to preserve unique forest resources in harmony with sustainable use for equitable development and to build bridges between Local and Global. He holds a Master’s of Science degree in Forestry and a PhD in technical and economic analyses of sustainable forest management systems. 

Mary Robinson

Former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Republic of Ireland

She previously served as president of Ireland and U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. She is a member of the Elders and the Club of Madrid and the recipient of numerous honors and awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom from U.S. President Barack Obama. A former president of the International Commission of Jurists and former chair of the Council of Women World Leaders she was president and founder of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative. She serves as honorary president of Oxfam International and chair of the board of the Institute of Human Rights and Business in addition to being a board member of several organizations including the Mo Ibrahim Foundation and the European Climate Foundation. She is also chancellor of Ireland’s University of Dublin.

Janene Yazzie

Co-Convenor, Indigenous Peoples Major Group on Sustainable Development

She is sustainable Development Program Coordinator for International Indian Treaty Council and the council’s representative as co-convenor of the Indigenous Peoples Major Group of the U.N. High-level Political Forum on the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. She is also co-founder Sixth World Solutions LLP, Navajo Nation Little Colorado River Watershed Chapters Association. She is a community organizer and human rights advocate who has worked on development and energy issues with indigenous communities across the United States. She has built expertise in infrastructure policy, integrated land and water management, and restoration and protection of traditional ecological knowledge systems. Locally, she is the manager of Indigenous Infrastructure and Policy for LatinGroup LLC., through which she serves as project manager for the Laguna Broadband Network project led by the Pueblo of Laguna Utility Authority. She also serves as co-chair of the Traditional and Cultural Values Subcommittee of the Navajo Nation Genetics Research Policy working group. She sits on the advisory board of the Oxfam Land Rights Now Campaign and is also a member of the Right Energy Partnership, an international initiative led by the IPMG to apply a Human rights framework in sustainable energy development projects globally.

Yasuko Inoue

Senior Researcher, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute (FFPRI)

Dr. Yasuko Inoue, a Senior Researcher at Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute. Her main role for the institute is to manage the REDD Research and Development Center. She was awarded Ph.D. from Tokyo University in 2017. Her doctoral thesis was "REDD+ Landscape Approach and Resilience of Land Law in Mozambique" that is based on her service as a JICA Advisor for National Directorate of Land and Forests, Ministry of Agriculture, the government of Mozambique. She served as a REDD+ negotiator as a Mozambican delegation from UNFCCC COP16 in Cancun to COP19 in Warsaw and as a Japanese delegation from COP20 in Lima to COP21 in Paris from Forestry Agency, the government of Japan. She has various working experiences for international services including for the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) as a Bioenergy Analyst from 2016 to 18, for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Asia Bureau from 2008 to 10 as a Programme Officer, and for Ministry of Forestry, Republic of Indonesia as a Forestry Management expert of JICA Project for the Development of Sustainable Mangrove Management from 1997 to 1999. She earned Master of Forestry at Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies in 2004 and Tourism, Environment and Development at King's College London in 2003. Her research focus is participatory and sustainable rural land and resource management and development.

Steve Trent

Executive director , Environmental Justice Foundation

He has over 30 years of experience in environmental and human rights campaigning, creating effective advocacy and communications campaigns and field projects, as well as leading investigations in over 40 countries. Steve also co-founded WildAid, serving as president for over a decade, and leading WildAid’s work in China and India. Prior to this Steve was the Campaigns Director at the Environmental Investigation Agency.

Mie Asaoka

President and CEO, Kiko Network, attorney at Law, ＮＰＯ法人気候ネットワーク代表・弁護士

Born in Tokushima Prefecture in 1947. Ms. Asaoka graduated from Kyoto University Department of Law in 1970. Registered as a member of the Kyoto Bar Association in 1972.Participated in consumer lawsuits relating to subacute myelo-optico-neuropathy(SMON),Minamata mercury poisoning case and the Toyota Shoji, big fraud cases. She was chair of the Consumer Issues Committee of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations in 2001-3, President of the Kyoto Bar Association in 2006 and Vice-President of Japan Federation of Bar Association in 2014. Executive director of the Kiko(climate) Forum established in 1996 in preparation for the Conferences of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change(COP3); became President of the Kiko Network (umbrella NGO regarding climate issue in Japan) in 1998 (current position). Ms. Asaoka participated in COP from COP2 and in domestic climate policy as a member of the Central Environment Council(until 2012) and Kyoto Prefectural Environmental Council.

Komal Kumar

Youth Competition Winner, GLF Kyoto 2019