A/HRC/34/52 identify emerging needs for protection. In 2014 and 2015, he therefore conducted seven regional consultations, which drew more than 500 participants from 110 countries. The main findings of these consultations are compiled in a report (A/70/217) submitted to the General Assembly in October 2015. These consultations provided an understanding of the overall situation of defenders and the functioning of the various protection systems established in recent decades. 13. It was during these exchanges, and through the many reports and documents submitted by civil society and partners involved in protecting defenders, that the Special Rapporteur became aware of the groundswell of coordinated attacks that seek to undermine and cause lasting damage to civil society. He is dismayed to note the increasing number of attacks intended to undermine the role of defenders, irrespective of the country or the area of human rights involved. In the face of these attacks, civil society is required to constantly reinvent itself and to adopt new strategies in order to continue to promote and protect human rights. 14. Although precise figures are difficult to obtain, the number of defenders killed around the world is continuously rising. This rise is in part the result of deliberate and concerted actions by persons capitalizing on major institutional weaknesses and the lack of political will to halt attacks and threats. The profound political shake-ups taking place on every continent and the growing numbers of actors who adopt ever more sophisticated strategies and tools to undermine human rights work oblige us, as never before, to refine our analysis of the situation of defenders. 15. The Special Rapporteur wishes to study these new paradigms in order to better understand the drivers and enablers involved. Mapping and analysis must be carried out to understand the environment or context in which defenders work and to adopt a far-sighted, preventive approach to risk in conjunction with measures to respond to emergency situations. In addition, in line with the work initiated in this area, the Special Rapporteur wishes to devote one of his future reports to the role played by businesses in threats and attacks against defenders. Similarly, he considers it essential to continue his predecessors’ reflections on the impact that counter-terrorism policies and national security have on the criminalization of defenders’ work. 16. The Special Rapporteur has also initiated a series of regional consultations on the impunity enjoyed by those who attack defenders. All too often, the perpetrators of such attacks are not convicted. The distress of victims and families who seek justice and reparation meets with indifference and even hostility on the part of law enforcement and judicial officers. It is therefore important to have a sharper understanding of the situation and to better identify the factors behind impunity so that specific recommendations can be made to States and other actors involved. 17. The Special Rapporteur furthermore plans to update the 2006 report on the situation of defenders in 118 countries (E/CN.4/2006/95/Add.5). This long-term project will make it possible to identify progress and setbacks and to pinpoint the efforts that need to be made, particularly in respect of the implementation of recommendations made in previous reports produced during the mandate. The Special Rapporteur intends to submit the updated report to the Human Rights Council in 2018. 18. The consultations conducted over the past three years have also led to greater understanding of the way in which defenders view and assess the work of protection mechanisms, whether these take the form of the guidelines drawn up by national Governments 1 and regional organizations, including the European Union and the 1 GE.17-00986 Particularly Canada, Finland, Norway, Switzerland and the United States of America. 5