A/HRC/29/28 respect and support the rights of these groups. 69 In addition to producing and promoting guidance on key elements of the Guiding Principles, the Global Compact has addressed issues such as the role companies can play in respecting the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, business efforts to support the rights of older persons and the role of business in addressing the adverse human rights impacts of climate change. It also undertakes training for business representatives at the local level through its local networks, at the global level through interactive online webinars and through capacitybuilding events at key business and human rights conferences, such as the annual Forum on Business and Human Rights and the African Regional Forum in 2014. With its potential for reaching a wide business audience globally, it would seem obvious that strengthened resources for the Global Compact specifically to promote the Guiding Principles could deliver significant progress. 85. The “UN Guiding Principles reporting framework” provides a useful reference to help businesses understand the practical implications of the corporate responsibility to respect human rights and for Global Compact participant companies to report on progress on the first six principles (covering human and labour rights). 86. The UNEP Finance Initiative also plays a critical role in enhancing understanding by business of human rights in the context of finance and in alignment with the Guiding Principles. Its guidance tool on human rights,70 which is designed as an online signposting tool providing information on human rights risks for financial institutions, offers a platform for learning and sharing information. It should be regularly updated in order to reflect the rapid developments in this field and align with emerging tools and initiatives, such as the “UN Guiding Principles reporting framework”. In addition, the Initiative works to better understand the current landscape of human rights expectations in the context of banking through an analysis of soft and hard law.71 Both of these projects led by the Initiative contribute to clarifying the implications of the Guiding Principles for the financial sector. However, as is the case with the Global Compact’s human rights work, fulfilling more of the potential impact of this work remains highly dependent on the availability of resources. 87. In addition, engagement with other partnership initiatives involving the United Nations to promote responsible business practices is vital. For example, initiatives such as the Principles for Responsible Investment, the Principles for Responsible Management Education and the Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative should be firmly aligned with the Guiding Principles across their activities and take into account relevant emerging tools and initiatives to further support wider uptake of the Guiding Principles. VI. Conclusions and recommendations 88. Since their endorsement in 2011, there has been progress in convergence around the Guiding Principles in policy and tool development among major stakeholder groups. However, gaps remain both in terms of translating policy commitments into better protection of human rights on the ground and policy coherence in relevant global governance frameworks. In particular, there is potential throughout the United Nations for more robust integration of the Guiding Principles. Examples of existing efforts as well as key opportunities to embed the Guiding 22 69 See www.weprinciples.org, www.childrenandbusiness.org and https://www.unglobalcompact.org/ Issues/human_rights/indigenous_peoples_rights.html. 70 Available from www.unepfi.org/humanrightstoolkit/. 71 www.unepfi.org/work-streams/social-issues/.