A/HRC/44/56 the situations of individuals at heightened risk of abuse, as emphasized in the G20 principles for quality infrastructure investment.13 36. At a session on the protection of human rights in the future of work, participants highlighted the urgent need to reform labour regulations to protect workers’ rights in a rapidly evolving world of work, including from abuses arising from the use of digital technology. 37. Participants in a session on the elaboration of an international legally binding instrument to regulate the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises14 discussed the latest updates in the development of such an instrument. 38. The Working Group and other stakeholders acknowledged that an increasing number of Governments were developing national action plans to implement the Guiding Principles and welcomed the sharing of experiences by Governments on this matter, including on the progress they had made, on the challenges they had encountered and on the innovative approaches they had taken in the development and implementation of national action plans.15 Among the key messages and elements of lessons learned were the following: (a) Strong leadership, commitment and high-level political will were needed; (b) It was necessary to address the lack of understanding of the link between business and human rights, including by raising awareness of the Guiding Principles within State institutions and governmental departments/agencies, as well as among all stakeholders; (c) In order to foster shared ownership, the process of drafting national action plans needed to be inclusive, participatory and transparent; (d) In order to build synergies and strengthen vertical and horizontal policy coherence, it was necessary to ensure a participatory approach to identifying stakeholders and to include all businesses, regardless of their size and sector, and all government ministries; (e) It was important to manage the expectations of all the different stakeholders and to prioritize and identify the most urgent human rights issues; (f) It was critical to conduct a national baseline assessment that included the identification of essential business and human rights issues prior to the development of a national action plan; (g) The issue of horizontal policy coherence, including in the context of the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, needed to be addressed; (h) An environment conducive to business respect for human rights had to be created, with more ambitious incentives for companies and for promoting a race to the top, as part of a smart mix that included mandatory measures such as human rights due diligence legislation; (i) Human rights defenders had to be better protected and the practice of filing strategic lawsuits against them had to stop. 39. Voluntary peer learning among States was also highlighted as a positive initiative for learning and sharing experiences. It was noted that such an exercise would require resources and collaboration. 13 14 15 See www.mof.go.jp/english/international_policy/convention/g20/annex6_1.pdf. See Human Rights Council resolution 26/9. Statements concerning developments around existing national action plans or plans to develop such plans were provided by representatives of the Governments of Chile, Finland, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Italy, Luxembourg, Mongolia, Russia, Switzerland and Thailand, among others in other sessions. For a video of the main session on this topic, see http://webtv.un.org/search/-stepping-upgovernment-leadership-forum-on-business-and-human-rights-2019/6108649717001/?term=& lan=english&cat=Forum%20on%20Business%20and%20Human%20Rights%202019&sort=date&pa ge=2. 9