Kimmo Kalevi Tiilikainen (born 17 August 1966,

Ruokolahti Ruokolahti (; sv, Ruokolax; literally translated the "Reed Bay") is a municipality of Finland, situated in south-eastern Finland, in the region of South Karelia. Neighbouring municipalities are Imatra, Lappeenranta, Taipalsaari, Puumala, Sulkava, ...

) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

politician from the Centre Party. He is an

organic farmer Organic farming, also known as ecological farming or biological farming,Labelling, article 30 o''Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic production and labelling of organic products and re ...

and

forester A forester is a person who practises forestry, the science, art, and profession of managing forests. Foresters engage in a broad range of activities including ecological restoration and management of protected areas. Foresters manage forests to ...

. Tiilikainen served as the Minister of Agriculture and the Environment from 2015 to 2019. He is also a former Minister of the Environment of Finland from 2007 to 2008. Currently Tiilikainen is the Chairman of the Centre Party Parliamentary Group and a member of the Finnish Parliament. He is also a city council member in his home municipality in Ruokolahti.

Early career

Tiilikainen graduated in 1991 from the

University of Joensuu The University of Eastern Finland ( fi, Itä-Suomen yliopisto) is a university in Finland founded in 2010 with campuses in Joensuu and Kuopio. History The Finnish Parliament passed the Universities Act on June 16, 2009, which, among other things ...

as a Master of Science in Agriculture and Forestry. In the beginning of 1990's Tiilikainen was elected as the chairman of Finnish Organic Food Association. He made his first attempt to the Finnish Parliament as a nonaligned candidate on the list of the

Green League The Green League (VIHR, fi, Vihreä liitto , sv, Gröna förbundet), shortened to the Greens ( fi, Vihreät, sv, De Gröna), is a green political party in Finland. Ideologically, the Green League is positioned on the centre-left of the polit ...

. He switched to the Centre Party in 1997 explaining that "the Greens were not ecological enough". Tiilikainen was elected to the Finnish Parliament on his third attempt in 2003.

Other activities

United Nations Environment Programme The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on th ...

(UNEP), Vice President of the Bureau of the Assembly (2018-2019)Presidency and Bureau

(UNEP).

References

1966 births Living people People from Ruokolahti Centre Party (Finland) politicians Minister of the Environment of Finland Ministers of Agriculture of Finland Members of the Parliament of Finland (2003–07) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2007–11) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2011–15) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2015–19) Finnish foresters Organic farmers {{forester-stub