A/HRC/44/56 compliant global value chains; the implementation and follow-up of national action plans; sustainability reporting; and State-owned enterprises as role models of sustainable business. 16. The panellists reiterated that Governments needed to adopt a smart mix of measures to meet their existing obligations to respect, protect and fulfil human rights and foster responsible business practices. Highlighting some of the major issues to be tackled during the eighth session – environmental degradation, climate change, uncontrolled technology development and attacks against human rights defenders – they emphasized the value of strengthening partnerships and dialogue among all stakeholders to address current and future challenges. B. High-level plenary on stepping up government leadership: from commitments to action 17. The opening plenary was followed by a high-level plenary on the theme “Stepping up government leadership: from commitments to action”, during which the representatives of Finland and Thailand shared their Governments’ experiences, practices and lessons learned in the implementation of the Guiding Principles. The representative of Thailand shared information on the Government’s progress in developing a national action plan and stressed the importance of high-level political will and multi-stakeholder engagement during the process. The representative of Finland reiterated her Government’s commitment to human rights, highlighting its initiative to increase policy coherence across different public financing instruments and to raise awareness about the importance of the Guiding Principles. She announced her Government’s commitment to carrying out a judicial review to assess the need for national due diligence legislation. 18. In their interventions, the participants in the room, among whom were government representatives, provided updates on current initiatives to implement the Guiding Principles and made reference to the importance of promoting dialogue with human rights defenders and civil society, of using a smart mix of policy measures and of developing national action plans through inclusive processes. 6 C. Plenary on helping States to promote responsible business practices: towards greater coherence at the multilateral level7 19. The plenary on global governance and policy coherence gathered senior leaders, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Assistant Administrator and Director of the Crisis Bureau of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Chair of the Working Party on Responsible Business Conduct of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It stressed the importance of aligning action at the international level to promote corporate respect for human rights and the need to foster responsible business conduct as essential for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. 20. The speakers noted that improving policy coherence in State action to foster responsible business practices in line with international human rights standards, including at the multilateral level, remained a challenge despite the fact that different human rights standards seeking to prevent and address human rights abuses in the business context were 6 7 Representatives of the Governments of Belgium, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Italy, Luxembourg, Mongolia, Norway, the Russian Federation, Switzerland and Ukraine, as well as civil society representatives, made statements. See http://webtv.un.org/search/helping-states-promote-responsible-business-forum-on-business-andhuman-rights-2019/6109109323001/?term=&lan=english&cat=Forum%20on%20Business%20 and%20Human%20Rights&sort=date&page=2. 5