Peter David Pedersen (Chair)

Co-Founder, Next Leaders’ Initiative for Sustainability (NELIS); Professor, Graduate School of Leadership and Innovation Shizenkan University; Chairman, Transagent Co., Ltd.; Outside Director, Marui Group; Independent Outside Member of the Board, Meiji Holdings Co., Ltd.

Born 1967 in Denmark, resident of Japan for more than 30 years.

Graduated from the Institute of Cultural Anthropology, Copenhagen University. In 2000, Peter David co-founded E-Square Inc., one of Japan’s first sustainability consultancies, and worked on numerous CSR/sustainability projects with leading Japanese corporations.

He co-founded NELIS in 2015.

Masaru Arai

Masaru Arai is chair of the Japan Sustainable Investment Forum (JSIF) and a senior engagement consultant at Federated Hermes EOS. He is a member of the FTSE Russell ESG Advisory Committee and the FTSE Russell Sustainable Investment Advisory Committee. Also, he is a former board member of the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment.

Masaru Arai graduated from Keio University’s Faculty of Business and Commerce in 1972 and completed a course on Arabia at The American University in Cairo in 1976. In 1972, he joined Daiwa Securities Co. Ltd., and after serving in such capacities as president of the company’s subsidiary in Australia, he joined Daiwa Asset Management Co. Ltd. in 1992. At this company, he assumed the positions of chief investment officer in 2003, and director and chief investment officer in 2006, retiring from the company in 2011. Since 2003, he has been involved in the field of responsible investment and has served on the sustainable finance-related committees and other committees of the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.

Asako Nagai

Managing Director at Business for Social Responsibility (BSR)

Asako Nagai holds dual master’s degrees in Business Administration and Science from the Ross School of Business and School of Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan. Prior to joining BSR, she had more than 10 years of experience leading global sustainability strategies at Sony Corporation. She also played a role in shaping the industry framework for the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA). In 2013, Asako joined BSR, a global organization that works with its network of more than 300 member companies and other partners, and promotes sustainability including “Business and Human Rights.”

Peter David Pedersen

Masaru Arai

Asako Nagai

Tomoo Machiba

Partner, ERM Japan Ltd. (in charge of Low-Carbon and Economic Transition)

Headquartered in London, ERM is one of the largest consulting firms in the world specializing in the environment and sustainability. Machiba has been a partner at ERM in charge of Low-Carbon and Economic Transition since 2021. After working as a newspaper reporter and obtaining a master’s degree in international development at the University of Sussex, he worked at the SustainAbility, which is now a part of ERM, in the U.K. and at the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). He now advises companies on decarbonization pathways and ESG matters. He has been involved in initiatives to develop government policy for creating a sustainable society through innovation with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) federal government. Lately, he served as Deputy Director of the UN Climate Technology Centre & Network (CTCN), which coordinates projects for transferring the technologies needed to address climate change to developing countries.

Asako Nagai (Facilitator)

Daisuke Takahashi

Partner, Shinwa Sohgoh Law Offices and Master of Law (U.S., France, Germany, and Italy)

Daisuke Takahashi advises multinational enterprises on global legal compliance and sustainability including supply chain due diligence. As the Vice Chair of CSR Project Team at Japan Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA), he contributed to drafting JFBA’s Guidance on Human Rights Due Diligence and ESG Risk Management Guidance. He also served as a member of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Working Group on the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (BHR). Daisuke also serves as the Vice Chair of the BHR Committee at the International Bar Association; Steering Committee Officer of BHR Lawyers Network Japan; and Consultant for OECD Centre for Responsible Business Conduct.

Ryusuke Tanaka

Programme Officer, International Labour Organization (ILO) Office for Japan

Ryusuke Tanaka is the Programme Officer at the ILO Office for Japan. In that capacity, he assumes the role of contact point for tripartite constituents in Japan and foreign embassies for various countries and has engaged in activities related to international labour standards, particularly in the context of business and human rights. He is also in charge of projects concerning global supply chains and CSR/RBC and a member of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Working Group on the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (BHR). Previously, Ryusuke was an attorney at law practicing labour/employment law in domestic and international law firms. He studied Law at the New York University School of Law (LL.M.) and Keio University (LL.B. in Political Science).