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About Heidi

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Heidi Hautala is a former Member and Vice-President of the European Parliament and former Minister for International Development and State Ownership Steering (2011–2013) in Finland. She has a master’s degree in agriculture and forestry from the University of Helsinki. She was elected as a Vice-President of the European Parliament in October 2017, with responsibilities including human rights. As a Member of the European Parliament for altogether 20 years between 1995 and 2024, Heidi served on a number of committees, including the Committee on Development, the Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Committee on International Trade. She has also been co-chair of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly.

In 2017, Heidi established the Working Group on Responsible Business Conduct in the European Parliament, which was instrumental in passing the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. She was invited by President Zelenskyy in 2023 to join the High-Level Working Group on the Environmental Consequences of the War in Ukraine, which delivered the Environmental Compact for Ukraine in 2024.

After her long political career, Heidi continues to work as an independent expert on sustainability and corporate accountability. She is a special adviser to the Global Business Initiative on Human Rights. She also serves on the boards of the Fair Trade Advocacy Office, FERN and the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. She is a member of the International Advisory Council of the Institute for Human Rights and Business, a member of the Stakeholder Advisory Council of amfori – Trade with Purpose and a member of the Advisory Council of the NOVA Centre for Business, Human Rights and the Environment.