A/HRC/18/35 adopted by the Human Rights Council as the basic normative structure for advancing in the protection of human rights in the context of business activities (see paragraph 25 above). 62. While an awareness and express commitment by States to the protection of the rights of indigenous peoples are evident in the many Government responses received to the Special Rapporteur’s questionnaire, these responses, coupled with those received from other sources, also reflect a lack of operative consensus about the extent and means of realization of the State’s duties with regard to resource extraction and development projects. 63. As noted above, several responses, particularly those received from business actors, pointed out that Governments tend to detach from the implementation of consultation procedures and other procedural safeguards for indigenous peoples rights in the context of extractive operations and act as mere regulators. The delegation of the State’s protective role to business enterprises was repeatedly pointed out as a matter of concern, particularly with when there are insufficient or non-existent State regulatory frameworks regarding indigenous rights, including in relation to the protection of lands and resources, consultation and benefit-sharing schemes. The lack of clarity or consensus about the role of the State in protecting the rights of indigenous peoples in this context compounds the uncertainties arising from the differing views about the scope and content of those rights. 64. An additional, significant area of divergent perspectives concerns the balance between costs and benefits of extractive development projects. Even though there is a shared awareness of the past negative effects of extractive activities for indigenous peoples, there are widely divergent perspectives about the incidence and value of benefits from extractive industries, especially into the future. As noted above, many of the Governments’ responses to the questionnaire underscored the key importance of extractive industries for their domestic economies. Many of the responses by business actors shared the view that indigenous peoples could stand to benefit from extractive industries. 65. For their part, indigenous peoples’ responses to the Special Rapporteur’s questionnaire were dominated by a great deal of scepticism and, in many cases, outright rejection, of the possibility of benefiting from extractive or development projects in their traditional territories. The vast majority of indigenous peoples’ responses, many of which stemmed from the direct experience of specific projects affecting their territories and communities, rather emphasized a common perception of disenfranchisement, ignorance of their rights and concerns on the part of States and businesses enterprises, and constant life insecurity in the face of encroaching extractive activities. Such a perception suggests that no apparent positive impact is to be had from these operations, which are seen more as a top-down imposition of decisions taken in a collusion of State and corporate interests than the result of negotiated decisions in which their communities are not directly involved. 66. In the Special Rapporteur’s view, the lack of a minimum common ground for understanding the key issues by all actors concerned entails a major barrier for the effective protection and realization of indigenous peoples’ rights in the context of extractive development projects. The lack of a common understanding among the actors concerned, including States, corporate actors and indigenous peoples themselves, coupled with the existence of numerous grey conceptual and legal areas has invariably proved to be a source of social conflict. Comparative experience, including specific country situations in which the Special Rapporteur has intervened within the framework of his mandate, provide ample examples of the eruption and escalation of these conflicts and the ensuing radicalization of positions. Where social conflicts erupt in connection with extractive or development plans in indigenous territories, everybody loses. 67. The responses to the Special Rapporteur’s questionnaire manifest the need for change in the currents state of affairs if indigenous rights standards are to have a meaningful effect on State and corporate policies and action as they relate to indigenous peoples. An initial step towards such a change is establishing a common ground of 15