Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) held the first Advisory Board meeting of the FY2026 for the Planetary Health Project online on Tuesday, June 2, 2026.

HGPI carries out initiatives on planetary health, taking into account the impact of global environmental issues, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution, on human health. The Advisory Board brings together experts from industry, government, academia, civil society, and youth groups once every quarter to engage in dialogue and build consensus toward a sustainable society from a health policy perspective. We aim to create an interactive platform that goes beyond one-way reporting from the secretariat and actively encourages information sharing and proposals for collaboration among members.

At the first meeting, the secretariat reported on the activity plan and annual schedule for FY2026. All participants, including new members, then introduced themselves and shared their work in their respective fields, the themes they hope to focus on this year, and their expectations for the Meetings, thereby strengthening the network. Next, the secretariat gave an overview of domestic policy trends related to planetary health, including developments that intersect with it, such as the new administration’s crisis-management and growth investments, energy and economic security, efforts to strengthen supply-chain resilience, the Circular Economy Action Plan, the establishment of the Disaster Management Agency, and revisions to the Climate Change Adaptation Plan and the Heat Illness Prevention Action Plan.

In the discussion that followed, members shared their perspectives, primarily focusing on security and the narratives surrounding planetary health. Several key points were raised, including the observation that the concept of planetary health represents a narrative shift that reframes the previous discussion of ‘environmental conservation,’ through the lens of ‘health’. Another point was that the choice of who issues policy recommendations, and from what standpoint, is itself a strategy. Members also noted the potential to connect this work with the framework of “human security” that Japan promotes. The discussion further touched on the growing focus on ‘adaptation’ as climate change qualitatively changes risks and uncertainties, as well as the importance of themes rooted in local communities and daily life, such as urban health, water, and nutrition. This year, the Advisory Board will continue to develop policy recommendations and public communications on planetary health issues from cross-disciplinary perspective.

■ Advisory Board Members: (In No Particular Order; Titles Omitted)

[Industry]

• Yutaka Mitsutake (Director, Japan Sustainability, AstraZeneca K.K.)

[Government]

• Satoshi Ezoe (Senior Assistant Minister for Global Health, Minister’s Secretariat, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Government of Japan)
• Yasuhiro Nishijima (Director, Regional Medical Care Planning Division, Health Policy Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare)
• Haruhiko Hakuno (Director General, Environmental Health Department, Ministry of the Environment)
• Ken Takayama (Office of Heat Illness Prevention, Planning Division, Environmental Health Department, 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 / School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nagasaki University)
• Yukiko Imada (Associate Professor, Division of Climate System Research, Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute and Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Group, Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of Tokyo)
• Saori Kashima (Director, Center for the Planetary Health and Innovation Science (PHIS), IDEC Institute; Professor, Environmental Health Sciences Laboratory, Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Hiroshima University)
• Eisaku Kikuchi (Head, Office for Social and International Collaboration / Specially Appointed Associate Professor, One Health Research Center, Hokkaido University)
• Naoki Kondo (Professor and Chair, Department of Social Epidemiology, Graduate School of Medicine and School of Public Health, Kyoto University)
• Taiko Kudo (Visiting Professor, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature / Lecturer (Part time), Meiji University)
• Hiroaki Matsuura (Vice President and Executive Director, Shoin University / Chair, Technical Advisory Group on the Economics of Environment, Climate Change, and Health, World Health Organization (WHO))
• Keiko Nakamura (Emeritus Professor, Institute of Science Tokyo / President, Promotion Committee for Healthy Cities)
• Keisuke Nansai (Director, Material Cycles Division of National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES))
• 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 (IUHW); Director, Global Medical Cooperation Center)
• Hiroya Yamano (Professor, Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo; Senior Principal Researcher, Biodiversity Division, NIES)
• Chiho Watanabe (Professor, School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nagasaki University / President, Planetary Health Alliance Japan Hub)

[Civil Society and Youth]

• Kinya Hamaguchi (Executive Board Member, Japan Medical Association (JMA))
• Makoto Haraguchi (Fellow, Sustainability Department, MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings, Inc.)
• Yusuke Matsuo (Executive Director, Japan Climate Leaders’ Partnership)
• Yukari Nakano (Executive Director, Japanese Nursing Association)
• Masafumi Nozawa (Senior Vice President, Healthcare Industry Office, Corporate Finance Department Division 6, Development Bank of Japan)
• Yusuke Sakurai (Secretary-General, Japan Zero Carbon Welfare Council)
• So Sugawara (Representative Director, Green innovation)
• Yoshio Uetsuka (Supreme Adviser & Special Member, Japan R-SUD Association)
• Akihito Watabe (Health Specialist, Human and Social Development Office, Sector Department 3 / Health Impact Investment Specialist, Social Sector Office, Private Sector Operation Department, 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, Health and Global Policy Institute)
• Eri Cahill (Associate, Health and Global Policy Institute)
• Hinako Iwakura (Program Specialist, Health and Global Policy Institute)