Kimmo Tiilikainen

Director General | Geological Survey of Finland

Kimmo Tiilikainen has been serving as Director General of the Geological Survey of Finland since the beginning of June 2021. Previously, he was a Member of Parliament from 2003 to 2019 and held several ministerial positions during that time, serving as a minister for a total of five years. He was also State Secretary in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Finance from 2019 to 2021

Combining environmental and economic considerations is one of his guiding principles, with key elements being sustainability and the circular economy. Kimmo Tiilikainen has worked towards these goals on the international stage. He was one of the EU’s ministerial negotiators for the Paris Agreement and signed it on behalf of Finland in 2016. He also served as one of the facilitators at UNFCCC COP 24, where the Paris Rule Book was finalised in Katowice in 2018. As Finland's Minister of Energy, he implemented Finnish climate policy by promoting renewable energy and introducing a coal ban.

Tiilikainen has also served as Vice President of the United Nations Environment Assembly 4 (UNEA4) from 2017 to 2019. Since 2022, he has been a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council, and as of 2024, he is also a member of the Executive Committee of EuroGeoSurveys. In 2024, he chaired the Steering Group responsible for updating Finland's Mineral Strategy.