Walter James is an Energy Finance Specialist at IEEFA with a particular focus on LNG, renewables and energy storage, and data centers in Japan.
Before joining IEEFA, Walter was the Principal Consultant at Power Japan Consulting. In that role, he worked as an independent consultant and analyst on the political economy of Japan’s climate change policy and energy strategy. His work has been published in The Japan Times, East Asia Forum, Capital & Climate Media, Green Central Banking, Energy Tracker Asia, and elsewhere. He is also the editor of the Power Japan newsletter.
Walter holds a PhD in political science from Temple University in the United States. En route to completing his doctorate, he received the Fulbright Graduate Research Grant to conduct research at Waseda University in Tokyo from 2021 to 2023. His dissertation was published as a monograph titled Financial Regulators and Macroprudential Policy by Routledge in 2025.
Outside of work, Walter works on his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and rock-climbing skills in Portland, Oregon.