A/HRC/38/49 71. The main session on human rights defenders was opened with one minute of silence to honour all defenders killed in the course of their work. Participants received an update on the work of the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre in tracking cases involving attacks on human rights defenders working on business and human rights issues, which showed that more than 800 attacks had been registered since 2015. Land-intensive industries, such as mining, agriculture and renewables, had witnessed the largest numbers of incidents. Businesses were implicated in different ways, such as in cases of legal harassment involving strategic lawsuits against public participation, or failure to address attacks carried out by government actors and security forces. In other examples, businesses could use their lobbying power to encourage a Government to introduce restrictions on advocacy, or to retaliate against people who raise concerns. Protection and accountability gaps were especially acute in countries where rule of law was weak, but also existed in jurisdictions where courts could be effective. Participants noted that retaliation against defenders had a chilling effect, and restricted the ability of defenders to raise early warnings about business-related impacts. Defenders ended up having to spend their time and limited resources defending themselves and their institutions. Participants pointed out that criminalization of defenders in itself should be a crime, and that prevention of attacks was critical. 72. On a positive note, a growing number of companies and business leaders recognized that protecting, respecting and supporting human rights defenders and civic freedoms in a business context were both a responsibility and ultimately good for society and business itself. Examples of positive actions by companies presented at the Forum included: • Apparel companies defending union rights • Companies standing up for lesbian, gay, bi, trans and intersex (LGBTI) persons, including companies joining the recent OHCHR standards of conduct for business in tackling discrimination against LGBTI persons12 • Companies addressing xenophobia and anti-migrant narratives 73. Participants in the Forum also heard about efforts of some Governments to more actively prevent and to address risks to human rights defenders in third countries where “their” transnational corporations operate, as in the case of the “Voices at risk” policy in Canada. 74. Key recommendations included the need to ensure that protection of and respect for rights human rights defenders were integrated in national action plans and human rights due diligence processes. Going forward, it was crucial to strengthen the role of human rights defenders in the pursuit of sustainable development and as “justice enablers” in bringing about access to remedy for victims of corporate-related human rights abuse. D. Corporate respect for human rights and the Sustainable Development Goals 75. One objective of the Forum was to contribute to a greater understanding of the connection between business and human rights and sustainable development. A major backdrop was provided by the embedding of human rights in the Sustainable Development Goals, and the significant role that the private sector envisaged to play in realizing them. While the role of the private sector is crucial, there is a risk of a return to traditional and partial philanthropic approaches by businesses that fail to take into consideration the social and environmental impact of a company’s core operations and value chain. Forum speakers stressed that the greatest contribution that most companies could make to socially sustainable development (its “people part”) was to embed respect for human rights in all their activities and value chains. The key references included the recommendations addressed by the Working Group to States and businesses on integrating the Guiding 12 18 See www.unfe.org/standards.