Innovation for Cool Earth Forum (ICEF) is a platform of wisdom for discussing among industry-academia-government leaders around the world in order to promote “INNOVATION”, the key to solving global warming.
Since 2014, the ICEF Annual Meeting has been held every year by the Government of Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) of Japan.
Distinguished experts from industry, academia and governments are gathered to engage in lively discussions and explore innovation-based solutions to address climate change, the most pressing challenge facing the 21st Century.
ICEF hopes to share the latest knowledge with the world, increase public awareness of the threat of climate change, and to facilitate a change in behaviour. ICEF is taking into consideration gender equality and youth engagement based on the awareness that diversification is the origin of innovation.
Chair, Innovation for Cool Earth Forum (ICEF)
Steering Committee;
Former Executive Director, International
Energy Agency (IEA)
Chair, Innovation for Cool Earth Forum (ICEF) Steering Committee;
Former Executive Director, International Energy Agency (IEA)
Japan
Tanaka Nobuo is CEO of Tanaka Global, Inc. He joined the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (SPF) as President in 2015 and in December 2016 he became Chairman, a position he held until June 2020. Also as Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) from 2007 to 2011, he initiated a collective release of oil stocks in June 2011. He also played a crucial and personal role in the strengthening of ties with major non-Member energy players, including China and India.
He began his career in 1973 in the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), and has served in a number of high-ranking positions, including Director-General of the Multilateral Trade System Department. He was deeply engaged in bilateral trade issues with the US as Minister for Industry, Trade and Energy at the Embassy of Japan, Washington DC. He has also served twice as Director for Science, Technology and Industry (DSTI) of the Paris-based international organization, OECD.
Energy Security, Trade Negotiation, International Organization
Senior Research Fellow, Belfer Center
for Science and International Affairs,
Harvard University’s Kennedy School
of Government;
Director General Emeritus, IRENA;
Senior Adviser to COP 28 President
Director General Emeritus IRENA;
Senior Adviser to COP 28 President
Kenya
Adnan Z. Amin is an experienced international official and development economist specializing in sustainable development with over 20 years experience in senior positions at the United Nations. Mr. Amin is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. There, he specializes in the “Geopolitics of the Energy Transition”. He has been recently appointed by the Secretary General of the United Nations as a member of his High Level Advisory Group on Climate Change in September 2020, and is also serving on several Advisory Boards both in the private sector and within academia. Mr. Amin has also been appointed to the position of Senior Political Advisor to the United Arab Emirates COP 28 Presidency.
Mr. Amin led a distinguished career serving the United Nations. He served as Head of the UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB) Secretariat, the UN Secretary-General’s policy coordination body comprising the Executive Heads of the UN System. Mr. Amin also led the Secretariat for the UN Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on UN System-Wide Coherence, which resulted in an ambitious reform programme implemented under the framework of “One UN” and “Delivering as One”. Mr. Amin was also the Director of the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) New York Office and led the Secretariat supporting the Intergovernmental review of International Environmental Governance established to review and streamline the proliferation of institutional frameworks within the United Nations. Mr. Amin also served as a Trustee and Member of the Board of Directors of the Cambridge, UK based World Conservation Monitoring Centre, considered one of the premier biodiversity information institutions in the world.
In 2011, Mr. Amin was elected and served as the first ever Director General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Elected for an initial four-years term, Mr. Amin was re-appointed unanimously by the Assembly for a second term in 2015. During his tenure, IRENA became the authoritative voice of renewable energy and a leading player in the global energy transition. The Agency’s membership increased three-fold and now accounts for over 160 State Members with 24 additional countries in the process of accession, a remarkable achievement in the annals of multilateralism. After his second term he was granted the honorary title of Director General Emeritus by the 2019 IRENA Assembly, in recognition of his leadership and outstanding service to the Agency.
Mr. Amin oversaw the development of IRENA’s operations and programmatic work, directing the growth of the Agency’s knowledge framework, country support and regional engagement. IRENA’s efforts played a key role in showcasing the centrality of renewables to powering sustainable economic growth, creating jobs while meeting climate and sustainable development objectives.
Mr. Amin also propelled IRENA on the global stage. Today, the Agency is a regular contributor to, and a sought-after partner for, global and multilateral Organizations such as the United Nations, G7 and G20, as well as international forums such as the Clean Energy Ministerial, the Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue and The Suzhou International Forum on Energy Transitions, among others.
During his tenure, IRENA actively engaged with a wide range of stakeholders, including parliamentarians, the private sector and civil society to create an inclusive global platform for cooperation. At his initiative, the Global Commission on the Geopolitics of Energy Transformation was established in 2018, and delivered in 2019 a ground-breaking report which outlines the implications of a large-scale shift to renewable energy on the global energy system, economies and relations within and between countries.
After his tenure at IRENA, Mr. Amin has served on a number of important initiatives including:
Mr. Amin also serves on a number of Advisory Boards within the private sector including Shell New Energy, Porsche Sustainability Advisory Board and Arctic Green Energy.
Geopolitics of the Energy Transition
Deputy Director and Chief Strategist
for the Energy Transition,
White House Office of Science
and Technology Policy
Deputy Director and Chief Strategist
for the Energy Transition,
White House Office of Science
and Technology Policy
United States
Groundwater hydrology, reservoir engineering, geologic storage of carbon dioxide in deep underground formations, technologies for a low-energy future, and net energy analysis (quantifying overall energy efficiency of a production process by weighing the energetic cost of energy production against the energy produced).
Retired Professor for Energy Systems,
Berlin University of Technology;
President of the Board, KSB Energie AG, Berlin
Retired Professor for Energy Systems, Berlin University of Technology;
President of the Board, KSB Energie AG, Berlin
Germany
Energy economics including energy market modeling and forecasting, energy market reform, energy trade, investment strategies, financing and risk management, and market entry of new energy technologies such as fuel cell and battery electric vehicles; Evolutionary economics applied to energy innovations and technologies
Delegate of the Consultative Commission
on Industrial Change;
Advisor in the EU Affairs
Delegate of the Consultative Commission on Industrial Change;
Adviser in the EU affairs
Finland
PhD in environmental politics, doctoral thesis on Kyoto Protocol and the climate performance of the EU. Emissions trading, waste & energy, eco design, EU Law, Århus convention, Energy transitions
Designated Professor,
Frontier Research Institute,
Chubu University;
Professor Emeritus,
The University of Tokyo;
Member, G7 Germany GEAC
(Gender Equality Advisory Council)
Designated Professor, Frontier Research Institute, Chubu University;
Professor Emeritus, The University of Tokyo;
Japan
Chemistry and biology working on missing link of microscopic and macroscopic world, e.g., from molecules to crystals in the non-biological domain, and from genes to individual living organisms in the biological domains through chirality (left and right handedness). She also involves in “Science Policy” (ICSU ex-vice President, ex-UN SG SAB on Global Sustainability) as well as in “Science in Society (established a campus-wide minor degree Science Interpreter Training Course at The University of Tokyo graduate school)”.
Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC);
Endowed Chair Professor, Graduate School of
Energy and Environment, Korea University
Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC);
Endowed Chair Professor, Graduate School of Energy and Environment, Korea University
Republic of Korea
Dr. Hoesung Lee is Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), elected since October 2015, and Endowed Chair Professor at Korea University Graduate School of Energy and Environment, Seoul, Korea. He is a council member of the Global Green Growth Institute, and Chairman of the Asian Development Bank President’s Advisory Board on Climate Change and Sustainable Development. Lee was the founding president of the Korea Energy Economics Institute -- a government agency for national energy policy development. He was Distinguished Research Fellow at the Korea Environment Institute, senior adviser to the Minister of Energy and Resources and the Minister of Environment, senior fellow at the Korea Development Institute and economist at Exxon Company USA. He served as the president of the International Association for Energy Economics (IAEE), a member of the International Advisory Board of the Battelle-Pacific Northwest National Lab, USA, the Board of Directors of Hyundai Corporation and the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Japan. He served as Vice-Chair of IPCC 2008-2015, and Co-chair of Working Group III of the Second Assessment, lead author and review editor for the various IPCC assessments. He was named to the 2019 TIME 100 Most Influential People in the world. He received the 2020 IAEE Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Profession. He received The 2020 Asian Environmental Award sponsored by the Chosun Ilbo of Korea and the Mainichi Shimbun of Japan.
Economics of energy and climate change
Associate Provost, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
United States
Innovation management and policy. Local, regional, and national systems of innovation. Energy systems. Nuclear technology innovation, management, and control. Decarbonization and adaptation pathways.
Chairman, Center for Social and Economic
Progress (CSEP) Research Foundation
Chairman, Center for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP) Research Foundation
India
Vikram Singh Mehta is currently Chairman of the think tank CSEP Research Foundation (Formerly Brookings Institution India Center).
Vikram Singh Mehta was executive Chairman of the Think tank, Brookings Institution India Center and senior fellow, Brookings Institution from 2012 to 2020. Prior to that he was Chairman of the Shell Group of Companies in India (1994 - 2012); Chief executive of Shell Markets and Shell Chemicals, Egypt (1992-1993), and Advisor, Strategic Planning to the State owned company, Oil India (1984-1988). He started his career by joining the Indian Administrative Service in 1978. He resigned from the service in 1980.
Vikram Singh Mehta was recipient of Asia House’s “Businessmen of the year” award for 2010. He also received Asia Centre for Corporate Governance and Sustainability’s Award for “Best Independent Director” in India for 2016.
Chief Executive Officer, BloombergNEF
United Kingdom
Jon has been at BloombergNEF for over a decade. Jon has been the Chief Executive Officer since 2014, after joining the company in 2008 as Commercial Director. BloombergNEF is a leading provider of strategic research and economic analysis for Corporations, Governments and Financial Institutions, helping them transition to a decarbonized future.
Prior to BloombergNEF, Jon has over 20 years’ experience of providing consulting advisory services to the global financial services industry, serving clients across the US, Europe and Asia.
Jon started his career at J P Morgan in their Commodities business.
Jon has a B Eng (Hons) in Electronic Engineering from Nottingham University.
Finance and Energy industry trends, in response to Technological and Climate Change Business strategy and innovation
Head of the South African
Presidential Climate Commission;
Former President of the International Union
for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN)
Head of the South African Presidential Climate Commission;
Former President of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN)
Republic of South Africa
Valli Moosa was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. He is a veteran of the South African Freedom struggle. He worked closely with Nelson Mandela during the settlement talks and served as a negotiator for the ANC. He participated in the drafting of the South African Constitution.
He served in President Mandela’s cabinet as Minister of Constitutional Development and in President Mbeki’s government as Environment Minister.
He joined the corporate sector in 2004 and currently serves on the board of Sappi Ltd. He has served on the boards of Anglo Platinum, Eskom and Sanlam.
Has served as a facilitator in the global climate change negotiation’s for a number of years.
He previously served as President of the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature), Chairman of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development and as the Chairman of WWF(SA).
He is the Deputy Chairperson of the Presidential Climate Change Coordinating Commission, chaired by President Ramaphosa.
Vice Chair of the Group of Chief Scientific Advisors (GCSA)
to the European Commission;
Emeritus Scholar, International Institute
for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA);
Emeritus Professor of Energy Economics,
Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien)
Vice Chair of the Group of Chief Scientific Advisors (GCSA) to the European Commission;
Emeritus Scholar, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA);
Emeritus Professor of Energy Economics, Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien)
Austria
Serves on numerous advisory boards and editorial board of eight scientific journals.
Long-term patterns of technological change, economic development and response to climate change and, in particular, the evolution of energy, mobility, and information and communication technologies
Inaugural Fellow, Center on Global Energy Policy,
Columbia University;
Co-Director, Energy and
Environment Concentration,
School of International and Public Affairs,
Columbia University
Inaugural Fellow, Center on Global Energy Policy, Columbia University;
Co-Director, Energy and Environment Concentration, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
United States
David Sandalow is the Inaugural Fellow at the Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) and Co-Director of the Energy and Environment Concentration at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. He launched and directs CGEP’s U.S.-China Program, wrote the Guide to Chinese Climate Policy and is a co-founder of the Food Climate Partnership. Mr. Sandalow chairs the ICEF Innovation Roadmap Project, which has produced roadmaps on biomass carbon removal and storage (BiCRS), industrial decarbonization, direct air capture and carbon dioxide utilization, among other topics. Mr. Sandalow has served in senior positions at the White House, State Department and U.S. Department of Energy.
Energy and climate policy
Energy and climate policy
Emeritus Librarian of Alexandria;
Founding Director of the Library of Alexandria
Emeritus Librarian of Alexandria; Founding Director of the Library of Alexandria
Egypt
Ismail Serageldin, an Egyptian national, is the Emeritus Librarian of Alexandria and the Founding Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA), the new Library of Alexandria in Egypt, which he headed from its inauguration in 2002 to his retirement in 2017. He has been Distinguished Professor at the College de France in Paris (2010-2011) Vice-President of the World Bank (1993-2000), and has received the Public Welfare Medal of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), as well as the Legion d’Honneur (France) and the Order of the Rising Sun (Japan). He is a member of many academies, and he was recently elected as a founding Patron of the International Science council (ISC) created in 2018 by a merger of the International Social Science Council and the ICSU (natural Sciences). Mr. Serageldin serves as Chair and Member of a number of advisory committees for academic, research, scientific and international institutions and civil society efforts, including as co-Chair of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center (NGIC). He has a B.Sc. from Cairo University, and a Ph.D. from Harvard University, and has received 40 Honorary Doctorates.
Biotechnology, rural development, sustainability, and the value of science to society.
Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of Manitoba
Canada
Vaclav Smil does interdisciplinary research in the fields of energy, environmental and population change, food production and nutrition, technical innovation, risk assessment, and public policy. He has published 44 books and more than 500 papers on these topics. He is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Manitoba and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (Science Academy). In 2010 he was named by Foreign Policy as one of the top 100 global thinkers, in 2013 he was appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada and in 2015 he received OPEC Award for Research for his energy studies. He has worked as a consultant for many US, EU and international institutions, has been an invited speaker in more than 400 conferences and workshops in the USA, Canada, Europe, Asia and Africa, and has lectured at many universities in North America, Europe and East Asia.
Interdisciplinary energy studies
Energy analysis
Energy policy
Energy and the environment
Fossil fuels
Renewable energies
Energy in history
History of technical advances
Energy and food production
Global biogeochemical cycles
China Director, Office of Jeremy Rifkin;
Executive Director, Professional Association for
China’s Environment;
Chief Strategist, CN Innovation;
Vice Chair, Governing Council, Asia Pacific Water Forum
China Director, Office of Jeremy Rifkin;
Executive Director, Professional Association for China’s Environment;
Chief Strategist, CN Innovation;
Vice Chair, Governing Council, Asia Pacific Water Forum
China
Changhua Wu is a specialist and policy analyst of China’s sustainable development, an advisor to governments and corporations on sustainability strategy and innovation, a strategist of public and private partnership engagement for clean energy transformation and an advocate for climate leadership. She was one of the 15 global women leaders recognized by the Time magazine in 2019 for their leadership in fighting climate change.
She supports Jeremy Rifkin’s China/Asia strategic engagement, with a particular focus on digitalization for sustainability. As Vice Chair of the Governing Council of Asia Pacific Water Forum and a member of the Asian Development Bank’s Water Advisory Group, she contributes her expertise to advance water security and sustainable development in Asia. She is a member of World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Clean Electricity and also a board member of Global Infrastructure Basel Foundation, which champions sustainable infrastructure financing standard.
She serves as the Executive Director of the Professional Association for China’s Environment (PACE) and sits on the Executive Committee of International Finance Forum (IFF). Earlier, she was the Greater China Director of the Climate Group, CEO of ENSR, Director of China Studies for the World Resources Institute, and Editor for the English Edition of the China Environment News.
President,
Research Institute of Innovative Technology
for the Earth (RITE);
Professor Emeritus,
The University of Tokyo
President,
Research Institute of Innovative Technology
for the Earth (RITE);
Professor Emeritus,
The University of Tokyo
Japan
Dr. Kenji Yamaji graduated from The University of Tokyo and was awarded a degree for Doctor of Engineering.
In 1977, he joined the Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI). He was appointed Professor, in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Systems at the University of Tokyo in 1994 and Professor Emeritus in 2010.
Dr. Yamaji was a Council Member of the Science Council of Japan (SCJ), a Research Supervisor of the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). He served as President of the Japan Institute of Energy and the President of the Japan Society of Energy and Resources.
Dr. Yamaji’s main academic field is Energy Systems Engineering. Within his field, he has published over 100 peer-reviewed academic papers, as well as published around 100 books, including many single-authored books. He also currently serves in many advisory bodies on energy and environmental policy for Japanese government. He has contributed to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as a lead author for the 3rd and 4th Assessment Reports of WG3.