Climate Action and Sustainability speakers

Why organisations work with Yasin Kasirga He has built the assets he talks about. With his teams he brought more than 11 GW of gas and renewable capacity and more than 25 wind plants to life across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. His account of what a transition costs, and how long it takes, comes from having delivered it. He translates carbon and climate risk into the language a CFO and board already use, framing decarbonisation as a capital allocation decision with commercial risk attached. He advised the COP28 Presidency and coordinated and compiled the report behind the global pledge to triple renewable energy by 2030, giving audiences a first-hand account of how energy policy at that level is actually negotiated. On the energy cost of AI he argues from the generation side. His book “Megawatts, Not Tokens: AI, Energy and Sustainability” sets out what it takes to power AI, written by someone who has spent two decades building that capacity. He briefs finance, strategy and operations leaders in one room, so the cost of a transition plan and the question of who owns it get settled in the same conversation. Biography highlights Founder and CEO of Qasirga Advisory, Dubai, advising across the Middle East, Africa, Türkiye and Europe. Previously built the Carbon Solutions business for the Middle East and Africa at GE Vernova. Senior Energy Advisor to the COP28 Presidency, in the Office of the UAE Special Envoy for Climate Change, where he coordinated and compiled “Tripling Renewable Power and Doubling Energy Efficiency by 2030,” issued with IRENA and the Global Renewables Alliance. Developed and built over 5 GW of gas-fired power and 6 GW of renewables, including more than 25 wind plants, across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Speaker at ADIPEC and bylined author at GE Vernova on carbon capture, hydrogen and decarbonisation in the Middle East and Africa. Executive MBA and undergraduate degrees in mechanical engineering and business from Middle East Technical University and Anadolu University. Doctorate of Management in progress at UCAM Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia, on sustainability and net-zero stakeholder impact. Author of “Megawatts, Not Tokens: AI, Energy and Sustainability” (2026), published in Kindle, paperback and hardcover. Biography In 2023, the COP28 Presidency set out to make the case for tripling the world’s renewable energy capacity by 2030. Yasin Kasirga helped deliver it. Working inside the Office of the UAE Special Envoy for Climate Change, he coordinated and compiled the report the pledge was built on, issued with IRENA and the Global Renewables Alliance. That advisory role sits on two decades of building what the transition depends on: more than 5 GW of gas-fired power and 6 GW of renewables across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, including over 25 wind plants. He built the Carbon Solutions business for the Middle East and Africa at GE Vernova, working on carbon capture, hydrogen and low-carbon fuels. Today he runs Qasirga Advisory from Dubai. Kasirga works in two registers. He can take a board through the politics of a COP negotiation and, in the same session, through the economics of the wind plants he has delivered. On most decarbonisation programmes the technology and the capital are already there; what blocks progress is getting people to commit to one plan. That is the problem he was asked to help solve at COP28, and the one he works on now through Qasirga Advisory across the Middle East, Africa, Türkiye and Europe. His book “Megawatts, Not Tokens: AI, Energy and Sustainability” argues that responsible AI starts with responsible build. It sets out how AI works and what it costs to power. He wrote it from the generation side, after two decades building the plants that put power on the grid AI now draws from. Key speaking topics Energy transition and decarbonisation Net zero strategy and the business case for climate action Carbon capture, hydrogen and low-carbon fuels The energy cost of AI and responsible build The energy transition in the Middle East, Africa, Türkiye and Europe Climate risk as capital allocation and board risk AI in energy operations Leadership and culture in decarbonisation programmes Ideal for Boards and executive committees setting or defending a net zero commitment CFOs, CSOs and heads of strategy who must fund and sequence decarbonisation Energy, utilities and heavy-industry leadership teams across the Middle East, Africa, Türkiye and Europe Government and policy teams working on national energy transition plans and COP commitments Audience outcomes A way to describe carbon exposure in the financial terms a CFO and board already use A ranked view of which decarbonisation investments to make first, by commercial impact An honest read on what is real and what is hype in the energy transition Why the Middle East and Africa may be better placed for the transition than Western commentary assumes What powering AI actually costs, and where in energy operations it is already cutting emissions instead of budget

Why organisations work with Yuriko Koike She runs the world’s largest metropolitan economy. Few speakers can describe the operating reality of climate, security and fiscal trade-offs at megacity scale from the seat where the decisions are made. She authored the Zero Emission Tokyo Strategy, with mandated solar panels on new detached homes from April 2025 and a target of halved emissions by 2030. Audiences hear how a major capital city is converting net zero language into capital allocation and regulation. As Environment Minister she designed Cool Biz, a behavioural and policy intervention that the Japanese Ministry of the Environment estimated cut 460,000 tons of CO2 in its first year. It is a rare example of a low-cost public policy producing measurable emissions reduction. She brings cabinet-level perspective on Japan’s geopolitical position. Former Minister of Defense, former National Security adviser, fluent Arabic speaker, Project Syndicate columnist on Asia, fiscal policy and the rules-based order since 2010. She is the first woman to govern Tokyo and the first to seek the LDP leadership. Her perspective on women in senior public and corporate roles is grounded in an actual executive career, not advocacy alone. Biography highlights Governor of Tokyo since 2016, re-elected in 2020 and 2024. Minister of the Environment of Japan (2003-2006); Minister of Defense (2007); Special Adviser to the Prime Minister for National Security. Architect of the Cool Biz campaign and the Zero Emission Tokyo Strategy. Asia Society Asia Game Changer Award, 2019. Chair, OECD Champion Mayors for Inclusive Growth Initiative. Project Syndicate columnist since 2010; World Economic Forum Agenda contributor. Biography Tokyo, with a metropolitan population near 14 million and a GDP larger than most G20 economies, is one of the few cities where climate policy, fiscal stress and geopolitical exposure all run through the same office. Yuriko Koike has held that office since 2016, re-elected in 2020 and again in 2024. The decisions she has made there are the substance of her platform. Her policy track record predates the governorship. As Minister of the Environment under Junichiro Koizumi between 2003 and 2006, she launched Cool Biz, a behavioural and dress-code intervention that the Japanese Ministry of the Environment estimated reduced CO2 emissions by 460,000 tons in its first year. As Governor she authored the Zero Emission Tokyo Strategy in December 2019, setting a 2050 net zero target with halved emissions by 2030, and pushed through a mandate that new detached homes in Tokyo install solar panels from April 2025. Few city leaders globally have moved climate ambition into binding metropolitan regulation at this scale. She also brings cabinet-level perspective on geopolitics. She was Japan’s Minister of Defense, served as Special Adviser to the Prime Minister for National Security, ran for the LDP presidency in 2008 as the first woman to seek the leadership of a major Japanese party, and has written for Project Syndicate on Asian security, fiscal policy and the rules-based order since 2010. Before politics she was a Nippon TV anchor and Arabic-speaking foreign correspondent, with a sociology degree from Cairo University. She chairs the OECD Champion Mayors for Inclusive Growth Initiative and was awarded the Asia Society Asia Game Changer Award in 2019. Audiences who book her are typically working on the same problem she works on every day: how to govern an exposed, dense, ageing, ambitious economy when energy, geopolitics and capital are all moving at once. Key speaking topics Climate policy and city-scale decarbonisation Megacity resilience and inclusive urban growth Japan, China and the geopolitics of East Asia Energy transition and capital allocation Women in senior public and corporate leadership Public sector reform and fiscal discipline Ideal for Boards and executive teams setting climate, energy and ESG strategy in Asia or with Asia exposure CFOs, CSOs and policy leads working on long-term capital allocation under climate and geopolitical risk Public-private convenings on urban resilience, infrastructure and inclusive growth Conferences on Japan, the Indo-Pacific and the global rules-based order Audience outcomes A first-hand view of how the world’s largest metropolitan economy is converting net zero policy into binding regulation and capital plans A sharper read on Japan’s economic and security position, and what it implies for organisations operating across East Asia A working example of behavioural climate policy that produced measurable emissions reduction at low fiscal cost A senior practitioner’s perspective on running large public institutions through fiscal pressure, demographic change and geopolitical realignment A direct account of breaking into senior leadership in a country and party where the path was not designed for women