We interviewed Ryosuke Ike, Head of ESG Business Unit and Public Relations Officer: what does a young man of just 26 years of age, who has been involved in GreenCarbon since its inception, have to say?
Q.Please briefly introduce yourself, including your career to date.
After joining a major PR agency as a new graduate, she was assigned to the New Business Development Division directly under the president, where she spent about a year seeking 0⇒1 seeds for new businesses such as edtech, gaftech, food loss, ESG and business improvement consulting!
One year later, I established an ESG business department that could become a mainstay business, implemented sustainability disclosure and information disclosure materials for listed companies, and in my third year, as manager of the ESG business department, I managed four people and made a cumulative total of 200 million yen in sales.
I then became involved in the environmental start-up GreenCarbon K.K. from its launch, and while I took over the ESG Business Department, I was mainly responsible for grant applications and sales work, and was involved in a wide range of tasks from corporate planning to general affairs, including public relations, accelerator programmes, pitching and domestic sales.
Q.What made you decide to work for GreenCarbon?
In fact, the boss at my previous post, where I was employed as a new graduate, is the president of my current company (laughs)!
Because of my position in ESG consulting, many of the people I talked to were directors and presidents involved in corporate planning, and in my second or third year as a working adult, I started to vaguely think that I wanted to start my own business too! I studied various things, but I thought that the closest I could get to starting a business was to be by the side of people who were going to start their own businesses, so when I was approached by the current president, Ohkita, about starting a business, I said no time, let me help!
That was the turning point for me, and I got involved in GreenCarbon’s operations and joined GreenCarbon in earnest last year.
Q.You mention that you are in charge, what kind of work are you involved in? What are your responsibilities and what makes your job worthwhile?
The ESG division supports (consulting) listed companies in the sustainability disclosures required by national governments and institutions. These days, companies are under pressure to address non-financial areas such as climate change, decarbonisation, governance transparency and human capital. However, company representatives are unclear about what exactly they need to do, and are unable to prioritise their own actions! This is where our support comes in: we help companies to prepare disclosure plans and set the direction of their sustainability activities.
We also provide a wide range of other services, such as public relations, applying for grants and subsidies, domestic sales and new business development, but we have also achieved results in the Accela programme.
I think the environment in which I can take on challenges in this way, regardless of my age or year, makes it worthwhile for me. For example, at the end of last year, there was an accelerator programme called the Deep Valey Agritech Award organised by Fukaya City in Saitama Prefecture! This was an event to select a company that promotes agriculture from Fukaya City, and out of more than 50 companies that applied, we were selected as the top winner and were given the right to negotiate a 10 million yen investment. The photo below is with the mayor of Fukaya City.
I think it is a strength of a start-up to be able to gain this kind of experience from a young age, as proposing and achieving something on your own can motivate you and your work.
Q.What challenges have you faced so far?
There were many, many challenges .
I was constantly being scolded because I had no working business skills such as email, phone calls and meetings, not to mention creating documents! As I went through various experiences, the biggest barrier was creating a new business! I was given the opportunity to be involved in zero start-up operations from my first year as a graduate, but I really didn’t know what to do (laughs). (Laughs) It takes a lot of effort to create a new business when you don’t have any skills or experience, so I came across all kinds of knowledge! I made it a habit to always seek out what the issues were and what the solutions were, to factorise a business or event and investigate the elements that make it up, and it was through these experiences that I finally formed the person I am today.
First of all, you have to take a shot and smash it! I think the world you see will change from there!
Q.Finally, do you have a message for people who want to work for GreenCarbon?
GreenCarbon is a company that specialises in the carbon credit area, but I think it is an environment where you can improve your skills as a member of society! There is a high possibility that you can realise what you want to do and what you think would be good to do! Let’s do interesting things together! We are waiting for your application!