Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) convened the second Advisory Board Meeting of its Planetary Health Project for fiscal year 2025 on August 18, 2025. Recognizing the profound impact of global environmental challenges—such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental pollution—on human health, HGPI continues to provide a policy dialogue platform from the perspective of medical and health policy to achieve a sustainable society.

In this second meeting, the secretariat reported on the progress of how recommendations from the previous meeting were reflected in government policies, such as the “Basic Policy on Economic and Fiscal Management and Reform 2025 (Honebuto Policy)” and the “Grand Design and Action Plan for a New Form of Capitalism 2025 Revised Version.” Specifically, the discussion covered policy directions including net-zero commitments in the health sector, reduction of the environmental footprint of healthcare facilities, and the integration of the circular economy into medical waste management. During the subsequent plenary session, board members from industry, government, academia, civil society, and youth engaged in a multi-faceted exchange of views on drafting a joint statement to support these government initiatives, responding to international trends (such as the “Belém Health Action Plan” for COP30), and developing implementation plans at the field level. 

■ Key Discussion Topics:

The meeting deepened discussions on concrete social implementation, focused on the following pillars:

• Evaluating and Communicating Policy Reflection: Reviewing the status of how the project’s goals were incorporated into the “Action Plan for a New Form of Capitalism” and considering a joint statement to evaluate and accelerate government actions.
• Decarbonizing Healthcare Institutions: Reporting on the launch of the Japanese version of the carbon footprint measurement tool by Global Green and Healthy Hospitals (GGHH) and discussing the draft outline for a compendium of “green” healthcare facility case studies.
• Promoting Education and Human Resource Development: Reporting on the progress of the “Planetary Health Academy,” which includes participants from diverse generations, and the integration of planetary health into the Model Core Curriculum for medical and nursing education.
• Building the Evidence Base: Designing a large-scale cross-sectional survey targeting approximately 140 major medical societies and professional organizations in Japan to assess environmental awareness and current initiatives.
• Strengthening Outreach: Sharing the outcomes of webinars on heat-related illness prevention, discussing international collaboration linked to the Osaka-Kansai Expo, and planning the relaunch of the non-partisan parliamentary study group.

<Meeting Agenda>

17:00–17:05 – Opening Remarks & Purpose of Meeting

17:05–17:25 – Report on Policy Reflection & Update on International Trends

17:25–18:25 – Plenary Discussion (Implementation plans: Decarbonization tools, Case studies, Education, and Large-scale survey)

18:25–18:30 – Next Steps & Closing

■ Advisory Board Members (Titles omitted; in Japanese syllabary order)

Industry

• Satoru Arima (Sustainability Planning & Management Group, Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd.)
• Kentaro Kawamura (Head, Sustainability Dept., Novo Nordisk Pharma Ltd.)
• Yosuke Nishiba (Sustainability Dept., Novo Nordisk Pharma Ltd.)
• Sayuri Takimoto (Associate Director, AstraZeneca K.K.)
• Yutaka Mitsutake (Director, Japan Sustainability, AstraZeneca K.K.)

Government

• Masato Izutsu (Senior Coordinator, Global Health, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW))
• Satoshi Ezoe (Senior Assistant Minister for Global Health, MHLW)
• Shoko Misaka (Senior Officer for International Cooperation, MHLW)
• Yoshie Nakayama (Director, Heat Illness Policy Office, Ministry of the Environment)
• Haruhiko Hakuno (Director General, Environmental Health Dept., Ministry of the Environment)

Academia

• Kenji Fuma (Specially Appointed Professor, Co-Creative Organization for Green Society, Shinshu University / CEO, Neural, Inc.)
• Masahiro Hashizume (Professor, Department of Global Health Policy, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo)
• Yukiko Imada (Associate Professor, Division of Climate System Research, Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute and Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of Tokyo)
• Saori Kashima (Director, Center for the Planetary Health and Innovation Science (PHIS); Associate Professor, Environmental Health Sciences Laboratory, Hiroshima University)
• Naoki Kondo (Professor and Chair, Department of Social Epidemiology, Graduate School of Medicine and Public Health, Kyoto University)
• Taiko Kudo (Visiting Professor, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature)
• Keiko Nakamura (Emeritus Professor, Institute of Science Tokyo)
• Keisuke Nansai (Director, Material Cycles Division, National Institute for Environmental Studies)
• Masashi Soga (Associate Professor, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo)
• Naoko Yamamoto (Vice President / Professor, International University of Health and Welfare; Director, Global Medical Cooperation Center)
• Hiroya Yamano (Professor, Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of Tokyo; Senior Principal Researcher, Biodiversity Division, NIES)
• Shoji Yokobori (Professor, Department of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, Nippon Medical School; Director, Advanced Critical Care Center, Nippon Medical School Hospital)
• Chiho Watanabe (Professor, School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nagasaki University)

Civil Society / Youth

• Makoto Haraguchi (Fellow, Sustainability Department, MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings, Inc.)
• Yoshio Uetsuka (Supreme Adviser & Special Member, Japan R-SUD Association)
• So Sugawara (Representative Director, Green innovation)
• Yusuke Sakurai (Secretary-General, Japan Zero Carbon Welfare Council)
• Yukari Nakano (Executive Director, Japanese Nursing Association)
• Masafumi Nozawa (Director, Healthcare Division, Corporate Finance Dept. Div. 6, Development Bank of Japan)
• Yusuke Matsuo (Director, Business Task Force, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies)
• Akihito Watanabe (Health Specialist, Human and Social Development Office, Sectors Group, Asian Development Bank)
• Green Practice Japan
• AMSA Japan (Asian Medical Students’ Association Japan)
• IFMSA-Japan (International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations Japan)
• jagh-s (Japan Association for Global Health, Students Section)

Secretariat

• Joji Sugawara (Vice President, HGPI)
• Eri Cahill (Associate, HGPI)
• Shu Suzuki (Senior Associate, HGPI)