Dr. Markku Kanninen is Research Director and Professor Emeritus at the Department of Forest Sciences of the University of Helsinki, Finland. He is an expert in tropical forestry, climate change, forest ecology, and forest management. He has published over 350 publications, including over 100 internationally peer-reviewed scientific articles.

He has been involved in tropical forest research for about 40 years. Prior to his current position, he was Director of Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI) (2010-2020); Director of the Environmental Services and Sustainable Use of Forests Program of CIFOR (2003-2010); Deputy Director General of CATIE (Costa Rica) (1996-2003); and earlier the Director of The Finnish Research Program on Climate Change (1990-1995).

He has been involved in science policy dialogue on forests and climate change for more than 30 years, and he has been actively involved in the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) since 1990. He was a Lead Author of the recent IPCC Special Report on 1.5 Degrees. From 2011 to 2019, he was member of the Finnish Climate Panel.

Since 2004, he has been a member of the Finnish Academy of Sciences and Letters. He contributed to the Nobel Peace Prize 2007 for Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).