(h) global and international responsibilities relating to the environment must be discharged in the national interest 4) The Act also provides for a fund in terms of section 52. The object of the fund are amongst other things to rehabilitate degraded environments and to clean up polluted environments. 6.3. International law The United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) 6.3.1 The UNGPs are the authoritative global standard on business and human rights which were unanimously endorsed by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2011. The 31 principles set expectations of states and companies about how to prevent and address negative impacts on human rights by business. The Guiding Principles apply to all states and all businesses worldwide and today are being implemented by companies, governments and their stakeholders on every continent. 6.3.2. The principles have three pillars linked to them namely: the duty of the State to protect citizens from negative impacts of business activities, the duty of corporates to respect rights of citizens as well as the right of citizens to access remedies in the event of human rights violations by corporates. 6.3.3. The duty to protect sets in from the time the State signs and ratifies human rights treaties and conventions which should then be translated into domestic laws with enforcement processes. This duty includes respecting human rights in what the state does, protecting human rights against abuse by others, and fulfilling human rights over time where that requires considerable resources, for example in providing access to education or clean water. The State is supposed to put in place adequate standards and regulations for protection of its citizens from harmful business activities. The standards and regulations should be enforceable if they are to be effective as protection mechanisms. 6.3.4. The duty to respect by corporates means that all businesses should put in place appropriate policies and processes in a proactive effort to respect human rights. Page 11 of 15