2023/11/29
On Thursday, November 9, the 2023 Shinzo Koizumi Memorial Lecture, titled "Sustainable Management for the Carbon-Neutral Generation—Envisioning the Future of Business, Regions, and Universities," was delivered by Ms. Mari Yoshitaka at the G-lab in the East Research Building on Mita Campus.
Ms. Yoshitaka completed her studies at the University of Michigan's School for Environment and Sustainability (formerly the School of Natural Resources and Environment) and the Doctoral Programs at the Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University. After working for an IT company and a US investment bank, she has long been engaged in environmental finance consulting both in Japan and internationally. She currently serves concurrently as a Fellow (Sustainability) at Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting Co., Ltd., a Guest Professor at the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Tokyo, and a Part-time Lecturer at the Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University.
In her lecture, Ms. Yoshitaka explained the growing role of finance in light of global and Japanese trends in addressing the planet's challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss. She also touched upon the disclosure of corporate non-financial information, which forms the basis of ESG investment and sustainable finance, and described the kind of sustainable management required of companies.
Furthermore, while introducing regional case studies related to the "Basic Policy for the Realization of Green Transformation (GX)," which was approved by the Cabinet this year, she also proposed the role universities are expected to play in GX and what a sustainable, carbon-neutral society would entail.
All participants listened intently, deepening their knowledge.