A/HRC/15/37 44. Of particular interest is the fact that a series of important official initiatives have been taken nationally to encourage corporate responsibility with regard to indigenous peoples, either within the countries themselves or in other countries. The Australian Human Rights Commission, for example, has actively promoted negotiations between business and indigenous peoples in the framework of corporate social responsibility.36 The Human Rights Compliance Assessment (HRCA), developed by the Danish Institute for Human Rights, includes a set of indigenous rights criteria, based on ILO Convention No. 169.37 Some policies for bilateral cooperation with indigenous peoples, such as those of the Danish International Development Assistance Agency (DANIDA),38 or the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID),39 also include a commitment to promote corporate responsibility, including of multinational corporations, in this area. 45. The growing interest shown by various stakeholders in the establishment of regulatory or self-regulatory frameworks in relation to indigenous rights demonstrates awareness of the adverse effects of specific types of business practices on indigenous peoples, and the expectation, increasingly widely shared, that companies bear responsibilities for respecting indigenous rights, as guaranteed by existing international standards. The international community expects companies, as part of the due diligence they must exercise in relation to human rights, to be proactive by identifying the rights of indigenous peoples in the areas in which they operate and by determining how those peoples would be affected by their activities. There is at the same time a clear expectation that companies, in carrying out their activities, will respect indigenous rights, fostering rather than blocking States’ compliance with the obligation to protect those rights. C. Due diligence and the duty to respect indigenous rights 46. In the context of indigenous peoples, the corporate responsibility to respect human rights means that companies must exercise due diligence by identifying, prior to commencing their activities, various matters relating to the basic rights of indigenous peoples, and by paying adequate attention to those matters as the activities are being carried out. Such matters include recognition of the existence of indigenous peoples and of their own social and political structures; indigenous possession and use of land, territory and natural resources; exercise by the State of its duty to consult indigenous peoples in relation to activities that might affect them, and the related responsibility of business; impact studies and mitigation measures; and benefit sharing with indigenous peoples. 47. As observed by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, due diligence is not limited to respect for the domestic regulations of States in which companies operate, which are inadequate in many cases, but should be governed by the international standards that are binding on those States and on the international community as a whole.40 Consequently, companies wishing to exercise due diligence with respect to indigenous rights should be guided in their activities by the rights recognized under the relevant international rules, including the United Nations Declaration and ILO Convention No. 169, even if they operate in countries that have not formally accepted or ratified these rules. 36 37 38 39 40 GE.10-15075 See: www.hreoc.gov.au/social_justice/publications/corporateresponsibility/index.html. See: https://hrca.humanrightsbusiness.org/. DANIDA, Strategy for Danish Support to Indigenous Peoples (2004): www.um.dk/Publikationer/ Danida/English/DanishDevelopmentCooperation/StrategyforDanishSupport/strategyforDanish Support.pdf, p. 16. AECID, Estrategia Sectorial de la Cooperación Española con los Pueblos Indígenas (2007): http:// 194.140.3.20/export/sites/default/web/galerias/programas/Indigena/descargas/ecepi.pdf, p. 67. A/HRC/8/5, para. 54. 11