Asia Pacific

Daesung Choe is General Manager of the ESG & Performance Management Department at the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation (KSPO), Korea’s principal public institution for the promotion of sport, established on the legacy of the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. Over more than two decades at KSPO, he has led work across corporate strategy, Olympic legacy, and large-scale operations, and now directs the Foundation’s ESG and performance-management agenda. His international experience includes directing the Seoul Olympic Legacy Forum 2022.

Joanne Bowen is CEO of Cricket for Climate, a player-led movement founded by Australian Test Captain Pat Cummins to build resilience for communities and the game.

Working at the intersection of sport, energy, climate resilience and community engagement, Joanne has led the design and scaling of innovative programs that help community sport and sporting venues reduce costs, cut emissions and build resilience. Since becoming CEO in 2024, she has led landmark programs including influencing and leading the Australian Governments $50 million investment into clean energy and climate resilience solutions across community sport venues, Australia’s first ever clean energy power hub, and development of a connected energy ecosystem across multiple sporting venues with high sport and broader community benefits.

Joanne pioneered the Cricket for Climate Academy, developing athletes, administrators, media professionals and community leaders as trusted climate and energy advocates. She is recognised for her ability to bring together diverse stakeholders across sport, government, business and communities to create shared value and drive collective action.

Takayuki Tsujii was born in Tokyo in 1968. He discovered soccer in London, during a one year stay in 1977, and went on to play for Waseda University and in Japan Regional Football League, equivalent to the 3rd division. After retiring as a player, he completed a master’s degree at Waseda University Graduate School of Social Sciences, specializing in the philosophies of Japanese nature conservation. At the age of 30, he joined the California-based outdoor apparel company, Patagonia, as a part-time staff member. After working at the Tokyo/Shibuya store, he became a full-time employee, gaining experience in marketing and wholesale. He served as the General Manager of Patagonia Japan from 2009 to 2019. He became a board member of the J. League in 2022 and since 2023 has been an executive officer in charge of sustainability. He dedicates most of his time to surfing and snowboarding while he is out of the office.

For over 20 years, Dr. Sheila Nguyễn has championed the protection of our planet through the power of sport. Her impact has been recognized globally — named the inaugural Regional Leader (Oceania) by Sport Positive, awarded Honorary Lifetime Membership by BASIS (2022), and listed among the Australian Financial Review’s Top 100 Women of Influence (2019).

As Head of Sustainability for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, she led groundbreaking initiatives to embed sustainability into one of the world’s biggest tournaments. She also co-founded the Sports Environment Alliance, uniting sport and planet leaders to protect the places where we play.

Jamie’s thirteen-year rugby career saw him captain his country on the international stage. He has played fifty-nine international sevens tournaments for Scotland and is their second highest try scorer of all time. He won Twickenham Sevens back to back in 2016 and 2017, has been to two Commonwealth Games and two World Cups and is a European Games silver medalist with Team GB. He has also played for Cambridge University in the Varsity match.

Alongside playing, Jamie is a leading voice in the sport and sustainability space. He co-wrote a letter to World Rugby demanding environmental action signed by hundreds of professional players and gaining international media attention. He then worked with his own union to galvanise sustainability action and helped set up an ESG group which baselined current activity and workshopped sustainability aims from which to write a sustainability plan. Jamie’s research at Cambridge University has focussed upon sport’s role in influencing the uptake of sustainable technology amongst fans in the transition to a net zero economy, and he has used his platform to speak about sport’s responsibility in light of the climate crisis and the positive impact it can and should be having.

He has spoken at COP28, Global Sports Week, Sport Positive, COG-X, and at the Hong Kong sustainability summit. He has also spoken on podcasts such as High Impact Athletes, Emergency on Planet Sport, the ESG engagement podcast and has co-presented an hour-long BBC radio show on sustainability at the Rugby World Cup. Jamie has picked up awards as the International Olympic Committee Sustainability Ambassador award winner, Mastercard’s Future XV of those shaping the future of rugby, and is sustainability ambassador for Scottish Rugby and the Birmingham Commonwealth Games

Rita Nehme is an environmental, social, and governance specialist whose work and passion are at the nexus of sport and sustainability.