About

Tetsuji Ida
Board of Directors

Senior Staff Writer & Editorial Writer (Environment, Energy and Development)

After graduating from Tokyo University (sociology of science and technology) Tetsuji started in journalism as a staff writer for Kyodo News in 1983, later serving as the Washington bureau’s science correspondent from 2001 to 2004 and in his current position since 2016.
He is well versed in the topic of climate change, having reported on the issue since before the formal adoption of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992 and serving as the main reporter for Kyodo News covering COP3 in Kyoto in 1997. He  has reported from the frontlines on environmental, poverty, and conservation issues in many countries in Asia, Africa and South America for more than 30 years. He has covered many international conferences on multilateral environmental agreements, including the UNFCCC, CITES, CBD, Montreal Protocol, Ramsar Convention, WSSD, and Rio+20, and has authored or coauthored twenty books on topics ranging from primate conservation to climate change, fisheries resources, toxic chemicals, natural resources management, and the ocean environment.

Kenji Shiraishi
Board of Directors

Researcher
Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Kenji is a researcher at the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory (RAEL) and a Ph.D. student at Goldman School of Public Policy (GSPP) at the University of California, Berkeley. He is also a graduate student researcher at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He has conducted various studies on renewable energy development and grid integration towards zero-carbon grid using spatial data analysis, mathematical optimization, capacity expansion modeling, econometrics, and techno-economic analysis. He has ten years of professional experience in domestic and international climate policy as Deputy Director for Market-based Climate Policy at the Japanese Government (Ministry of the Environment) and Managing Director for Global Environment Centre Foundation, including negotiation on Technology at COP 18 and 19. He holds a BS and MS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Tokyo and an MPP from UC Berkeley.

Naoyuki Yamagishi
Board of Directors

Chief Conservation Officer
Director, Climate & Energy and Oceans & Fisheries Division WWF Japan

COP3 in Kyoto inspired Naoyuki to work on international climate policies in his freshman year at Ritsumeikan University. He pursued a master degree in International Relations and Environmental Policy at Boston University. After graduation, he joined WWF Japan in 2003. Since then, his work has been focused on policy advocacy. He covered both domestic and international climate policies. Domestically, he has been working on cap-and-trade scheme and energy policy advocacy and, internationally, he has participated in the UN climate negotiations almost every year since 2003 with the global team of WWF.

Chisaki Watanabe
Program Director

Chisaki, a former reporter for the Associated Press, developed her interest in climate change while working for Bloomberg News where she covered renewable energy and power markets. After receiving a master’s degree from the Fletcher School, Tufts University, she worked as a research fellow at the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies. She was on the Global Policy Team at CDP Worldwide-Japan before joining Climate Integrate. She also has a master’s degree from the College of Communication, Boston University, and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Sophia University.

Hiroaki Odawara
Research Fellow

Hiroaki obtained a bachelor’s degree in economics and master’s in public policy from Hokkaido University. In 2014, he joined Japan’s Ministry of the Environment, where he was involved in development of soil environment policy from 2015 to 2017, followed by coordination of Japan’s Long-term Strategy under the Paris Agreement and other national climate and energy-related strategies from 2017 to 2019, as well as climate negotiation and climate diplomacy at international conferences such as COP climate meetings, and G7 and G20 summits. After supporting capacity building for climate reporting by developing countries while at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change secretariat from 2019 to 2021, he joined the team at Climate Integrate.

Yasuyuki Sasaki (Cojirou)
Communications Manager

Yasuyuki debuted as lead guitarist with the band “bonobos,” performing over the years in national concert tours and music festivals and releasing many musical works. Since leaving the band over a decade ago, he has continued as composer, guitarist, producer, writer of advertising jingles, and concert tour supporter (see his profile website), while also engaging in various social ventures, including launching a plant-based vegan restaurant on the theme of locally produced food and energy and leading a micro-hydro power project at the non-profit Ikeda Eco Staff. While recognizing the importance of grassroots action, he knows that more is needed. His search for a place to realize a more profound paradigm shift in the world led him to join the Climate Integrate team in April 2022. He has a bachelor’s degree in environmental design (majoring in architecture) from the Kyoto University of Art and Design (now the Kyoto University of the Arts).

Atsuko Kawaguchi
Communications Fellow

Atsuko started in journalism as a staff writer for Kyodo News in 2001, with a special interest in climate change and biodiversity. Among her many articles, she covered international negotiations leading to the adoption of Paris Agreement at COP21 in 2015. After two decades with Kyodo, she started a new phase as freelance writer in 2022. She holds a master’s degree in area studies from the University of Tsukuba.

Sakon Kuramoto

Attorney at Law
(Legal, SDGs, ESG and Business
and Human rights)
Profile

Dr. Minoru Tsubogo

Professor emeritus, Waseda University (Political Science, Comparative Politics, Environmental Governance, Civil Society Study)
Profile

Dr. Takeshi Mizuguchi

President,
Takasaki City University of Economics
(Responsible Investment, Non-financial information disclosure)
Profile

Activity & Financial Report

FY2021　Activity Report・Financial Report 

Activity Plan & Budget

FY2022　Activity Plan・Budget