UNIDO’s Green technology Forum [Tokyo]

UNIDO’s Green Technology Forum was held on 12 November 2014 at Tokyo Big Sight on the sidelines of the Green Innovation Expo 2014.

The Forum’s objective was to introduce UNIDO’s initiatives to promote Green Technologies for Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development with Public and Private Partnerships, and focused on two thematic areas of Waste Management and Low Carbon. The Forum, which was cooperated by the Japan Management Association (JMA), included high level speakers from academia, foreign government, Japanese companies and UNIDO. The Forum was attended by 130 participants from the Japanese private and public sector, Kenya and various foreign embassies in Japan.

Mr. Takeshi Furutani, Head of UNIDO ITPO Tokyo and Mr. Tadashi Yoshida, Vice President of JMA opened the session, marking the importance and timeliness of the event in line with GIE 2014.

The first Keynote speech was provided by Prof. Kazuhiko Hombu, Visiting Professor of the University of Tokyo. Prof. Hombu made a presentation highlighting Japan’s policies and actions with regards to low carbon initiatives (Japan’s Bilateral Carbon Offset Mechanism initiative).
The second Keynote speech was given by Mr. Wilson Songa, Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Industrialization and Enterprise Development of the Republic of Kenya. Mr. Songa promoted Kenya’s policies and plans with regards to green energy projects and opportunities for Japanese companies.

Two technical sessions followed featuring Japanese private sector companies, NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization) and UNIDO.
The first session focused on Waste Management. Mr. Yutaka Ichihashi, Executive Director of Nomura Kohsan Co., Ltd., introduced Nomura’s waste management technology relating to mercury waste and introduced their new project in the Philippines, as well as ongoing business partnership cooperation with UNIDO. Mr. Motoyuki Okada, President of Finetech Co., Ltd., discussed about their special technology to convert waste to energy and introduced the support of Yokohama City and further expressed interest to cooperate with UNIDO. Mr. Kenji Okuma, Environment Consultant, UNIDO wrapped up the session by presenting UNIDO ITPO Tokyo’s Environment Technology Database and related activities, and asked interested companies to contact UNIDO for discussions.
The second session focused on Low Carbon. Ms. Hiromi Sugiura, Senior Programme Management Expert, Energy and Climate Change Branch, UNIDO, outlined UNIDO’s activities for low carbon project promotion and focused on cooperation with the Government of Japan. Mr. Masanori Kobayashi, Director of JCM /BOCM Group, Kyoto Mechanisms Department at NEDO outlined their activities for low carbon projects around the world and cooperation with UNIDO to support new projects in this area. Mr. Yuji Unno, President of Seabell International Co., Ltd., presented his company and low carbon mycro hydro power project in cooperation with UNIDO in India and Kenya.
A lively Q&A session followed the presentations with interventions by participants from both Japan and overseas. The Forum successfully highlighted the role that private public partnerships can play in promoting green technologies for industrial development, in particular focusing on UNIDO’s services and Japanese companies’ expectations in this area.