Kotaro Shimizu is Chief analyst, Head of Environment and Energy unit, Policy Research and Consulting Division, Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting Co., Ltd.; Vice president, International Rare Earth Industry Association; Executive director, the Circular Economy Association; Lecturer, International Institute for Mining Technology, Japan; Endowed chair, Global business management, Economic and social policies, Chuo University, Japan; Secretary, committee on the comprehensive system of resource utilization, the Mining and Materials Processing Institute of Japan and invited researcher at the Environmental Research Institute, Waseda University. He holds a Bachelor on Earth Sciences Major and a Master of Science of the Department of resources and environmental engineering of the Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University.