HLPF 2021 Side Event: Carbon Neutrality & Social Transformation: Are We on Track to Arrive at a
Justice-based Transition?
6 July 2021, 07:30–09:00 EDTSPEAKERS
by order of presentation

CHAIR

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Prof. Shinobu Yume Yamaguchi (Director, UNU Institutefor the Advanced Study of Sustainability)

Prof. Yukari Takamura (Professor, Institute of Future
Initiatives, University of Tokyo)

Dr. Shinobu Yume Yamaguchi is Director of the UNU Institutefor the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS). Her fieldsof specialisation include international development andcooperation, ICT in education, reform and policy of education,science and technology policy, and the application oftechnology in world heritage site preservation. Prior to thispost, Dr Yamaguchi worked at Tokyo Institute of Technology
as an Associate Professor (2002‒2006) and then full Professor(from 2006). In 2005‒2007, she concurrently served as Advisor
to the President. Before joining Tokyo Institute of Technology,
Dr Yamaguchi worked for the United Nations Educational
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), first at theParis headquarters, and then in the Beijing Office. While withUNESCO, she was involved primarily in the development ofeducation systems in China, Indonesia, Mongolia, andPakistan. Dr Yamaguchi holds a PhD in Economics ofEducation from Columbia University (New York). She has
authored or co-authored more than 200 publications andconference/seminar presentations.

Professor Takamura specialises in international law andenvironmental law. Her research focuses on legal andgovernance issues surrounding environmental agreements andseeking how these agreements could effectively tackle global
environmental issues while accommodating imminent socialand development needs. She serves as member ofgovernmental advisory bodies, among others, Central
Environmental Council as President, and Procurement PriceCalculation Committee for Feed-in Tariff Scheme forRenewable Energy as Vice-President. She also serves as oneof 10 members in the expert meeting established under thePrime Minister to promote climate actions. She serves as
member of Advisory Group on Climate Change andSustainable Development of ADB and as member of Science
Council of Japan as Vice-President. She received
Environmental Conservation Merit's Minister of theEnvironment Award in 2018.

PANEL MODERATORPANELLISTS

Dr. Shen Xiaomeng (UNU Vice-Rector in Europe andDirector, UNU Institute for Environment & Human Security)

Dr. Minoru Takada (Team Leader, Sustainable Energy, UN
Department of Economic and Social Affairs)

Dr. Shen Xiaomeng is the UNU Vice-Rector in Europe (UNUViE) and Director of the UNU Institute for Environment andHuman Security (UNU-EHS). Before she rejoined UNU in2020, she had worked with the then International Bureau of theGerman Federal Ministry of Education and Research at theDLR-PT (German Aerospace Center) for 10 years focusing on
international cooperation, innovation policies and multilateralscience and technology development in Asia and Oceania.
Prior to that, Dr. Shen worked with UNU-EHS with a focus onsocial vulnerability, environmentally induced migration issues
and water–related disaster and risk research from cultural
perspectives.

Dr. Takada spearheads DESA’s efforts in reviewing, following
up and implementing SDG7 on energy, in support of the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development. Prior to this position, Dr.
Takada was the Team Leader for Sustainable Energy for All at
the Executive Office of the Secretary-General at UN.
Previously, he was Head of the Sustainable Energy
Programme at UNDP, and worked in Africa as a community
organizer for several years. He holds a PhD in renewableenergy applications from the University of Mie in Japan, and aMasters in nuclear engineering from the University ofHokkaido, Japan.

PANELLISTS (CONTINUED)
Dr. Youssef Nassef (Director of the Adaptation Division,Chair of World Adaptation Science Programme, UNFCCC)
Dr. Youssef Nassef has led the adaptation workstreams under
the UNFCCC since their inception. He possesses over 30
years of experience in diplomacy and international
environmental policy, and is a seconded diplomat from theEgyptian Foreign Service. While assuming progressively higher
levels of leadership at the UNFCCC, he led UNFCCC supportfor several initiatives on adaptation. These include theinception and support for National Adaptation Programmes ofAction and National Adaptation Plans; the Nairobi Work
Programme – an international knowledge hub for impacts,vulnerability and adaptation; and the Warsaw International
Mechanism for Loss and Damage. He recently created theResilience Frontiers initiative which applies foresight for
attaining post-2030 resilience.

Dr. Fatima Denton (Director, UNU Institute for NaturalResources in Africa)
Dr. Fatima Denton is the Director of the United Nations
University Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNUINRA). She is an accomplished senior leader in the UNsystem, respected across the research and implementation
branches of the organization. She has depth of expertise innatural resource management, as well as deep knowledge ofresearch and policy development, and the African region. Priorto joining UNU-INRA, Dr. Denton had worked with the UN
Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in Ethiopia since2012. Her roles included Director of the Natural Resource
Management Division and Coordinator of the African Climate
Policy Centre. Before that Dr Denton was a Programme Leaderwith the Canada-based International Development ResearchCentre (IDRC). She also worked as an energy scientist with theUnited Nations Environment Programme Risoe Centre(Denmark) and as an energy programme manager with EndaTiers Monde (Senegal). Dr Denton has written more than 50
peer-reviewed articles, reports, and books. She holds a PhD in
Political Science from the University of Birmingham (UK).

Dr. Jean-Paul Adam (Director for Technology, Climate
Change and Natural Resources Management, UN
Economic Commission for Africa)
Prior to taking on this role, Dr. Adam served in the Governmentof the Republic of Seychelles in several Cabinet positions. Hewas Minister of Health from 2016 to 2019. He served as
Minister of Finance, Trade and the Blue Economy from 2015 to2016 where he negotiated a debt for climate change
adaptation swap and launched the process for Seychelles tobecome the first issuer of a Blue Bond. Between 2010 and2014, he was Seychelles’ Minister of Foreign Affairs, where headvocated for countries to embrace the concept of the Blue
Economy, to improve sustainability for island and coastalcountries. Before entering the Cabinet, between 2005 and2009, he occupied several senior roles in the Office of thePresident of the Republic of Seychelles including Director
General for presidential affairs, Principal Secretary for theOffice of the President and Secretary of state in thepresidency.

Mr. Hiroyuki Tezuka (Chair, Working Group on Global
Environment Strategy, Committee on Environment andSafety, KEIDANREN Fellow & General Manager, Climate
Change Policy Group Technology Planning Department,
JFE Steel Corporation)
Mr. Tezuka is Executive Fellow and the General Manager,
Climate Change Policy Group at JFE Steel Corporation, andthe Chairman of Energy Technology Committee at Japan Iron& Steel Federation. Since 2007, Mr.Tezuka has been in chargeof Climate Change issues and involved in environmental andenergy policy in steel industry. On international front, he alsochaired the Environment Committee at worldsteel Associationtill June 2019, and has been chairing the WG on Global
Environmental Strategy at Keidanren, and the Public & Private
Collaborative Meeting between Indian and Japanese Iron &Steel Industry. From March 2021, he started serving as theVice Chair at Environment & Energy Committee at OECDBIAC. Mr.Tezuka received MBA from Massachusetts Instituteof Technology and BE on Applied Physics from The Universityof Tokyo.

Ms. Mailes Zulu Muke (CEO, Save Environment and People
Agency)Mailes Zulu Muku is the Founder and Executive Director of theSave Environment and People Agency (SEPA). SEPA is aclimate advocacy grassroots organisation based in the North
Western province of Zambia that aims to transform ruralcommunities by addressing the adverse effects of climatechange, environmental sustainability, food security andpromoting agriculture.
In 2004, Mailes worked with rural communities in Zambezi toestablish two community schools which offer education to lessprivileged children. She also worked tirelessly using her own
resources to raise awareness on environmental protection andthe need to plant trees to protect the Zambezi River source.
Mailes has been empowering women in rural communities bytraining them in gardening, bee keeping, goat and pig rearing,fish farming and crafts production to help sustain theirlivelihoods whilst conserving the environment. Currently,
Mailes represents Zambian Women in Environment on theSouthern African Development Community (SADC) Green Wall
Initiative, the African Women Innovative Sustainable
Environment and she is the first Zambian Woman inEnvironment to sit on the United Nations Environment
Governing Council as an observer.