Heidi Hautala is a former Vice-President of the European Parliament and a long-term MEP. In Finland, she has been a Member of Parliament and a Minister for Development Cooperation and State Ownership Steering. Human rights, transparency, global justice and the environment have always been at the heart of her work.

During her last two terms at the European Parliament, she focused on promoting binding rules for Responsible Business Conduct (RBC). She created a cross-party working group on RBC and took part in drafting key legislation in this field, namely the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive and the Deforestation Regulation.