Honorable Chair of INTOSAI WGEA, Dear colleagues from INTOSAI WGEA, Ladies and Gentlemen:
It is my honor to make the report on the work of the ASOSAI Working Group on Environmental Auditing (WGEA) since the 13th INTOSAI WGEA Meeting in Guilin China, 2010.
Ⅰ. The 3rd survey on environmental auditing within ASOSAI community
In February 2011, National Audit Office of China (CNAO) as the Chair of ASOSAI WGEA, conducted the 3rd survey on environmental auditing. The survey aimed at understanding and practices of cooperative environmental audit within ASOSAI and collecting ideas for future cooperative audit plans. Till the end of May, replies from 27 SAIs have been received. The Secretariat appreciates very much the active cooperation of all the participating SAIs. The response indicates that our Asian countries paid much more attention to the environmental auditing and gave positive support to the work of the ASOSAI WGEA, which serves as a very good basis for the WGEA to conduct further activities.
The results of questionnaire showed that those SAIs have adequate knowledge about cooperative environmental audit, however, only some of them have experience of doing such audits. At present, only SAIs of China, Indonesia, Korea and Malaysia have conducted cooperative environmental audit, and the fields of cooperative environmental audit are limited as trans-country forest protection, the control and prevention of sand-storm, etc. There is a general understanding among ASOSAI Community that the way of parallel audit is more suitable, meanwhile the challenges of language and technology are faced to conduct cooperative environmental audit. INTOSAI WGEA encourages regional working groups to actively carry out cooperative environmental audit, the ASOSAI WGEA also call for those SAIs who have conducted cooperative environmental audits to share relevant experiences with others SAIs so as to promote cooperative environmental auditing in Asia.
The detailed result of the survey has been reported to the ASOSAI WGEA members during the regional meeting yesterday.
Ⅱ. The 2011-2013 Work Plan of ASOSAI WGEA
In accordance with the terms of reference of ASOSAI WGEA, the 2011-2013 Work Plan of ASOSAI WGEA was drafted on the basis of the 2011-2013 Work Plan of INTOSAI WGEA and the 2011-2015 Strategic Plan of ASOSAI. Contents of the plan includes the development of ASOSAI WGEA and its routine work, enhancing the dissemination and exchange of information and experience on environmental auditing, and facilitating cooperation and collaboration on environmental auditing, etc. The Secretariat had asked the members of ASOSAI WGEA for their opinions on the draft Work Plan, and incorporated the feedback into the final Work Plan.
The secretariat made the briefing to the ASOSAI WGEA members during the regional meeting yesterday afternoon.
Ⅲ. The Trans-regional Program on Performance Audit of Environmental Issues in Forestry
The IDI/WGEA Trans-regional capacity building Program on Performance Audit of Environmental Issues in Forestry (2010-2012) was launched in July 2010. 7 Asian countries, namely Bangladesh，Bhutan, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal and Thailand, are taking part in the Program. At present, “Online Training” (Phase I), a 12-days training in Indonesia (Phase II), pilot audit (Phase Ⅲ) and Audit Review Meeting in Tanzania(Phase Ⅳ) are all finished.
Ⅳ. The Seminar on Environmental Auditing
A China-Russia Joint Seminar on Environmental Auditing was held in Russia in September 2010 as part of the regular work mechanism established between the two SAIs in 2006. Participants from both SAIs discussed a wide range of topics, such as the measures on environmental protection and their corresponding effects, audits of resources and environmental issues. They also explored the possibility of cooperative environmental audits between two SAIs and reached consensus on future cooperation in joint environmental audits.
Ⅴ. The EUROSAI WGEA Meeting
CNAO as Chair of ASOSAI WGEA sent participants to the 8th and 9th Meeting of EUROSAI WGEA in 2010 and 2011. The attendance of such meetings have further enriched our understanding about the activities of EUROSAI WGEA and enhanced our relations and communication with other regional working groups.
For the coming year 2012, the ASOSAI WGEA plans to:
1. Prepare for the 3rd Meeting and Seminar of ASOSAI WGEA. According to the 2011-2013 Work Plan of ASOSAI WGEA, the above meeting will be held in 2012. The Secretariat has sent the questionnaire regarding the place and topics of the seminar to all members of ASOSAI WGEA for their comments/opinions, and will further consult with relative SAIs to decide the themes and timing of this event. SAI Malaysia has voluntarily to host this event.
During the regional meeting, the participants discussed the topic and time of the 3rd meeting of ASOASI WGEA. The outcome is that majority of SAIs are interested in the topic of EA on water issues. However, some SAIs express strong interested in cooperative audit especially cooperative audit on water issues. China National Audit Office, as the chair of the ASOSAI WGEA, will explore the possibility to set the cooperative audit on water issue as a sub-theme for the meeting and invite the experts from other regional group to share the experience and knowledge with us.
The time of the meeting will be decided after consulting with the host SAI.
2. Officially begin the cooperative environmental audit project between SAI China and Russia. The heads of the two SAIs has signed the Program of Cooperation for the period 2011-2013 during the Governing Board meeting of INTOSAI, which clear stated that the parallel audit on the theme of Environmental Protection and Maintenance of Biodiversity in the catchment area of Heilongjiang River (Which is also called Amur River by Russia) in 2012. On the next stage, the two SAIs will discuss the details and officially start this cooperative audit project.
3. Provide support to the Cooperative Environmental Audit on The Mekong River Basin Management. This project is the outcome of the workshop “Strengthening the Capacities of Southeast Asian Supreme Audit Institutions” held in Bangkok from 19th until 21st January 2011 facilitated by the German International Cooperation (GIZ) and the Asian Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (ASOSAI). The proposal budget has been submitted to the GIZ and the financial confirmation will be made shortly.
The cooperative audit will be carried out in the form of Parallel Audit. The project is to conduct cooperative environment audit on water issue focusing on Mekong River Basin Management among SAIs of the countries located along Mekong River which are SAI China, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. For more and detail information, please refer to the colleagues from SAI Thailand, the team leader of this project.
That’s the end of my report and thank you for your attention!
