Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) held the first FY2023 advisory board meeting for the Planetary Health Project on July 24, 2023.

Aiming to advance discussions on planetary health and to contribute to better health for the Earth and its people, HGPI formed an advisory board and launched its Planetary Health Project in FY2022. Together with our newest advisory board members who joined in FY2023, we plan to advance various initiatives centered on advisory board discussions this fiscal year.

The Planetary Health Alliance (PHA) describes planetary health as “a solutions-oriented, transdisciplinary field and social movement focused on analyzing and addressing the impacts of human disruptions to Earth’s natural systems on human health and all life on Earth.” Recognizing that climate change impacts and environmental footprints vary from country to country, and discussions that examine these issues are being held in the field of planetary health and efforts to implement various mitigation and adaptation measures to address them are currently underway. Challenges facing Japan include frequent natural disasters and a demographic transition resulting from birthrate decline and population aging. Deepening discussions on these topics and implementing future solutions will require multi-stakeholder efforts to identify unique challenges facing Japan and to build understanding toward them.

At this project’s advisory board meetings, opinion leaders and relevant parties in the field of planetary health from industry, Government, academia, and civil society will share best practices and ideas from each stakeholder group, identify issues, and recommend solutions.

At our first meeting for FY2023, we shared information regarding how the project secretariat will be organized and held a discussion in which each participant shared challenges they have in mind, items for the agenda, and objectives to set.

 

■ The First Advisory Board Meeting

17:00-17: 05: Explanatory introduction

Joji Sugawara (Vice President, HGPI)

17:05-17:10: Secretariat structure and the future direction of this project

Shu Suzuki (Senior Associate, HGPI)

17:10-17:30: Short comments from each advisory board member

17:25-18:10: Comments on issues from each participant and discussion

18:10-18:25: Presentation 1 – Introducing the International Development and Cooperation (IDEC) Institute at Hiroshima University”

Saori Kashima (Director, Center for the Planetary Health and Innovation Science (PHIS), Associate Professor of Environmental Health Sciences Laboratory, Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Hiroshima University)

18:25-18:40: Presentation 2 – “Considering Heat Health in Japan an Era of Extreme Heat Caused by Anthropogenic Global Warming”

Yasuko Kudo (Chief Engineer, Environment and Energy Division, Japan Weather Association)

18:40-18:55: Presentation 3 – “The Carbon Footprint of Healthcare in Japan and Searching for Paths to Decarbonization”

Keisuke Nansai (Head, Material Cycles Division of National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES))

18:55-19:00: Future schedule and other notes

Shu Suzuki (Senior Associate, HGPI)

 

(The first Planetary Health Project advisory board meeting in FY2023)

 

Advisory board members (titles omitted; in Japanese syllabary order)

Satoru Arima (DAIICHI SANKYO HEALTHCARE CO., LTD.)
Saori Kashima (Director, Center for the Planetary Health and Innovation Science (PHIS), Associate Professor of Environmental Health Sciences Laboratory, Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Hiroshima University)
Masahiro Kaminota (Director-General, Environmental Health Department, Minister’s Secretariat, Ministry of the Environment)
Taiko Kudo (Chief Engineer, Environment and Energy Division, Japan Weather Association)
Naoki Kondo (Professor and Chair, Department of Social Epidemiology, Graduate School of Medicine and School of Public Health, Kyoto University)
So Sugawara (Representative Director, Green innovation)
Yasuhiko Suzuki (Director, International Joint Research Institute for Zoonosis Control, Hokkaido University; Distinguished Professor, Hokkaido University)
Yukari Nakano (Executive Officer, Japanese Nursing Association)
Keiko Nakamura (Professor, Department of Global Health Entrepreneurship, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences (Medicine), Tokyo Medical and Dental University)
Keisuke Nansai (Head, Material Cycles Division of National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES))
Masahiro Hashizume (Professor, Department of Global Health Policy, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo)
Makoto Haraguchi (Fellow, MS&AD InterRisk Research & Consulting, Inc. / TNFD dedicated SVP, MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings, Inc.)
Eiji Hinoshita (Assistant Minister for Global Health and Welfare, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare)
Kenji Fuma (Specially Appointed Professor, Co-Creative Organization for Green Society, Shinshu University / CEO, Neural, Inc.)
Hidekazu Hosokawa (Executive Director, Japan Medical Association)
Yusuke Matsuo (Director, Business Task Force, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies)
Yutaka Mitsutake (Director, Japan Sustainability, AstraZeneca K.K.)
Hiroya Yamano (Director, Biodiversity Division, National Institute for Environmental Studies)
Naoko Yamamoto (Professor, International University of Health and Welfare / Director,Global Medical Cooperation Center)
Chiho Watanabe (Dean, Interfaculty Initiative in Planetary Health; Professor, School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nagasaki University)
Japan Association for Global Health, Students Section (jagh-s)
Asian Medical Students’ Association Japan (AMSA Japan)