A/HRC/15/37 85. Due diligence exercised by companies in relation to indigenous rights include, first, the identification of the indigenous peoples that might be affected by their activities, including in States that do not recognize, or recognize solely in a limited fashion, the indigenous peoples living within their borders. For the purposes of such identification, companies must apply the international criteria which define the category of indigenous peoples and provide the grounds for a series of specific rights. 86. In addition, within the framework of due diligence, companies must take account of the criteria, as laid down in international rules, for recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples, in particular their right to lands, territories and natural resources, including in cases where domestic law differs substantially from such criteria. Companies must therefore grant, in all respects, full recognition of the indigenous territorial rights arising from customary land tenure, independent of official State recognition. 87. The principle of due diligence also requires that companies recognize the duty of States to consult indigenous peoples (and, in some case, to obtain their consent) prior to the adoption of measures that may affect them directly, and in particular in relation to projects that affect their traditional territories. Companies must not attempt to replace Governments in situations where international standards require Governments to bear direct responsibility for holding consultations; indeed, they must promote the full assumption by Governments of such responsibility. 88. Lastly, companies would be negligent in their due diligence with respect to human rights if they agreed to work on specific projects or with countries in which Governments fail to guarantee adequate consultation with indigenous peoples. 89. Without prejudice to the principle that States bear the main responsibility to consult, companies must respect the strengthened right of indigenous peoples to participate in decisions affecting them by ensuring adequate mechanisms for consultation and dialogue with them. Here, the purpose of consultations with indigenous peoples should be to seek consensus on key aspects such as identification of the potential negative impact of the activities, measures to mitigate and compensate for such impact, and mechanisms for sharing the benefits derived from the activities. Once again, if companies wish to exercise due diligence, they must ensure that the consultations they hold are based on the criteria laid down in international rules, especially when the States in which they operate provide inadequate legal regulations, or none at all. 90. An adequate consulting process requires full information on the planned corporate activity, which means, first of all, that impact studies must be conducted prior to the implementation of the project. From a human rights standpoint, such studies, conducted by independent technical experts under State supervision, must consider all possible negative impacts on the rights, of whatever kind, of the indigenous communities concerned. Impact studies must also identify possible ways of mitigating those impacts. In the event that such solutions do not exist or are not technically feasible, companies must compensate for all types of damage sustained by the indigenous peoples concerned. 91. Independent of compensation measures, companies are bound by their duty to respect indigenous rights to establish mechanisms ensuring that indigenous peoples share the benefits generated by the activities in question. Benefit sharing responds in part to the concept of fair compensation for deprivation or limitation of the rights of the communities concerned, in particular their right of communal ownership of lands, territories and natural resources. Companies must ensure that benefit-sharing GE.10-15075 19