Ismo Tiainen was appointed as the Director General of Administration and International Affairs of the Ministry of the Environment for the term 1 June 2020 to 31 May 2025. Tiainen also heads the ministry’s support unit for administration and international affairs. 

The support unit for administration and international affairs is responsible for the development of administration and steering of the ministry’s administrative sector, planning, and steering of operations and finances, and coordination of the ministry’s multilateral cooperation, European Union’s external relations in the field of the environment, and regional, Nordic and bilateral cooperation. 

Ismo Tiainen holds the degree of Master of Science in Technology. He has served at the Ministry of the Environment as the Director General of Administration and International Affairs since 2014 and, before that, as the Director of the Unit for EU Affairs (2013–2014), International Affairs Group (2010–2013) and Group for UN and other Multilateral Cooperation (2010). His work history before coming to the Ministry of the Environment includes various posts at the Finnish Environment Institute.