A/HRC/44/43/Add.2 the environment. This means, for example, presenting findings from environmental studies in a manner that is understandable to those lacking technical expertise. For businesses it means engaging in comprehensive (human rights) impact assessments, together with an analysis of potential environmental harm. In all cases, plans for mitigating impact should be developed and shared with all stakeholders. 23. The issue of legal standards for consultations with indigenous peoples was a matter of concern for many stakeholders. The Working Group observed the lack of a proper regulatory and institutional framework to ensure the rights of indigenous peoples to free, prior and informed consultation and consent in line with international standards, such as the International Labour Organization (ILO) Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169) and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The inadequacy of the “socialization” process in projects affecting indigenous communities was particularly evident in cases of the Reitoca and Tornillito hydroelectric projects. 24. A legislative initiative was developed on free, prior and informed consultation with indigenous and Afro-Honduran peoples and presented to Congress in May 2018. The initiative was prompted also by efforts to ensure legal certainty for investors in development projects, given the potential for conflict surrounding them, including in the hydroelectric, energy and mining sectors. In this context, concern was expressed about the draft law and the lack of alignment of provisions on free, prior and informed consultation and consent with international standards. In 2015, 2016 and 2017 the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples called, among others, for more inclusive processes with broader and diverse indigenous representation in the consultation, drafting and approving stages of the law (see A/HRC/33/42/Add.2).6 Similar concerns were also raised by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in 2018 (see CERD/C/HND/6-8). In October 2019, following additional information received indicating the continued opposition from significant sectors of indigenous peoples to the draft law, the Special Rapporteur reiterated her view that the current draft still had not addressed the problems of process and substance previously identified.7 25. The Working Group reiterates its concern at the prospect of the passage of the draft law as currently presented and stresses the need, as a precondition for any law, to ensure a broader and inclusive consultation process. 26. The Government informed the Working Group that Congress was analysing a technical proposal and schedule of activities submitted by OHCHR Honduras in November 2019, and that the commission in charge of drafting the law announced that it would allow further comments by indigenous communities. On 23 January 2020, representatives from indigenous and Afro-Honduran communities protested in front of Congress, opposing the process and the content of the draft law. 27. The Working Group noted with interest the information received from the Government regarding some initiatives, including by the Secretariat of Energy, to prepare a protocol for engaging indigenous communities at the earliest stage of projects in the energy sector, looking at similar experiences of other countries in the region. It also noted that some companies, after experiencing social conflict and consequent project delays or blockages, had reviewed their processes to ensure better consultation as part of a human rights due diligence process. 28. The Working Group welcomes the above initiatives, but is still concerned that the approval of the draft law in its current form could aggravate the existing social conflict and unrest surrounding development projects. It urges the Government and Congress to properly take into account the observations and recommendations made by relevant human rights bodies and mechanisms, and to implement them in full. The adoption of a regulatory and institutional framework on the right to free, prior and informed consultation and consent for 6 7 6 See http://unsr.vtaulicorpuz.org/site/images/docs/special/2016-honduras-unsr-comentariosanteproyecto-ley-consulta-sp.pdf and http://unsr.vtaulicorpuz.org/site/images/docs/special/2017-0609-honduras-unsr-additional-observations.pdf. https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunication File?gId=24921.