A/HRC/29/25 ensure that an enabling environment exists for civil society to engage in the process and express views related to natural resource governance, including in relation to laws, regulations and administrative rules and practice. In its civil society protocol, the Initiative outlines that the rights of civil society to expression, operation, association, engagement and access to public decision-making in the implementing countries must be respected. 28. Similarly, the Open Government Partnership provides a platform for civil society to engage in a lasting dialogue with Governments to ensure that the latter are more open, accountable and responsive to their citizens. Participating States subscribe and commit to the values and principles in the Open Government Declaration, including supporting civic participation. These values include protecting the ability of not-for-profit and civil society organizations to operate in ways consistent with a commitment to freedom of expression, association, and opinion. The policy document entitled “Policy upholding the values and principles of the Open Government Partnership, as articulated in the Open Government Declaration”, which was agreed upon by the Partnership’s Steering Committee on 25 September 2014, provides a means of reacting to developments in participating countries that fall short of State commitments. 29. The Special Rapporteur considers the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and the Open Government Partnership important for enhancing the public’s access to information and for reforming government policies that lead to exclusion, inequality and the marginalization of those who should benefit from natural resource exploitation. These initiatives can reinforce and open more space for civil society to engage with other stakeholders in decision-making on natural resource exploitation, but only if there is an enabling environment for civil society as a whole. General restrictions on civil society negatively affect their participation within these initiatives, and it is unacceptable to create space only for civil society working on natural resource issues. Effective participation by civil society in these initiatives and the ability of a broader portion of civil society to freely associate and peacefully assemble are both necessary. D. Challenges applicable to both the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association 30. Natural resources present something of a dilemma for even the most conscientious of States. They are a source of economic wealth, yet this wealth also brings the potential for conflict and fierce competition. If natural resources belong to the State itself, and the State is composed of the people, how exactly should resources be shared? What if communities living on the land to be exploited hold other values superior to the value of the economic potential of their land? And who makes the final decision? Ensuring that all voices are heard, including through the free exercise of peaceful assembly and association rights, promotes equitable sharing of benefits. 31. The Special Rapporteur has found that States are typically eager to shape their legal and practical environments in ways that encourage investors to exploit natural resources. Global competition for investment is fierce, and businesses, by their nature, tend to favour environments with less regulation so that they can maximize profits. There is thus something of a “race to the bottom” among States in terms of creating an enabling environment for business. For example, the Environmental Law No. 30230 of Peru reduces the ability of authorities to create natural reserves exempt from exploitation and reduces the time within which environmental impact assessments should be produced.15 15 From the response to questionnaire. 11