The Hanoi Declaration with the main message "Environmental Audit for Sustainable Development" has become an important document of ASOSAI on the strategic vision for the next stage of development.
The 14th Congress of the Asian Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (ASOSAI), hosted by the State Audit Office of Vietnam, issued a Hanoi Declaration with the message: "Environmental audit for sustainable development". This can be considered as an important document of ASOSAI on the strategic vision for the next stage of development, in order to realize the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations.
84 environmental audits were conducted with diverse topics and covered almost all environmental sectors. Image: KTNN.84 environmental audits have been carried out
In the period of 2020-2022, ASOSAI has implemented the SDGs Cooperative Audit Program with the theme: "Sustainable and rapidly recovering national health system" according to a comprehensive and closed model of sustainable development of INTOSAI with the participation of 26 Asian countries and 3 countries in the Pacific region. This is a large-scale pilot cooperation program, aiming to have more equitable access to national health systems and give priority to vulnerable groups such as women, people with disabilities, the poor.
In addition to the goal of sustainable health, the ASOSAI Working Group on Environmental Audits (ASOSAI WGEA) has worked to promote collaborative audits and Research projects which has the outstanding among them is the collaborative audit on water environment protection; and two research projects on the application of big data in environmental audits and audits on poverty reduction and improvement of the living environment in rural areas.
In 2020, the Group carried out two audits in cooperation with the topic of Auditing of Water Resources Management in the Mekong River Basin (chaired by the State Audit Office of Vietnam) and Audit of Sustainable Traffic; at the same time started a research project on the topic of green financial audit. Besides, many other cooperation projects of INTOSAI WGEA with the theme of Sustainable Transport, Plastic Waste and Green Finance have been actively implemented. These projects have the participation of 9 SAI members in the period of 2020-2011.
A total of 84 environmental audits were conducted mainly under the operational audit type, with diverse topics and on almost all environmental areas, such as air quality management, marine, water resources, waste treatment, medical waste management, imported scrap, renewable energy, nature conservation, combating desertification, climate change, biodiversity and land degradation.
Technology application helps improve environmental audit activitiesSolving environmental challenges
The pursuit of recommendations in the Hanoi Declaration by ASOSAI and its members shows the seriousness and initiative in responding to common challenges in the field of public audit, including environmental audit and audit of achieving sustainable development goals. These are also identified as the top priorities of Asian and global countries today.
According to Mrs. Ha Thi My Dung, Deputy Auditor General, the audits have improved the efficiency of environmental audits, contributing to an increasingly comprehensive implementation of the SDGs. From there, it helps to make the audit findings and recommendations valuable in terms of expertise and policy management. This is demonstrated in the following five points.
First, auditing helps the government to vigorously and promptly adopt measures to protect the ecosystem, and at the same time, raise awareness of regulatory agencies in solving problems.
Second, performing an audit will establish a long-term mechanism, facilitate the issuance, revision and improvement of the legal system and policy framework on national environmental issues.
Third, through the audit, it is possible to comprehensively assess the appropriateness of programs and projects from the perspective of sustainable development. From there, it helps to make general environmental planning, program/project objectives, standards, regulations and to form a mechanism for implementing environmental policies.
Fourth, SAI transforms its approach from performing a discrete, single audit to focusing on auditing the overall policy process through performance audit, thereby evaluating the implementation of desired policy objectives. Many SAIs aim to perform “real-time” audits that helps monitor the implementation of the policy/program and offer improvement measures right in the process.
Fifth, these audit programs/projects have made a great impact
on the operational efficiency of SAIs by promoting knowledge sharing, applying best practices, and supporting SAIs in building professional capacity and enhancing organizational capacity.
In order to promote the field of environmental audit for sustainable development, Auditor General of Vietnam Mr. Tran Sy Thanh said that it is necessary to promote cooperation and increase sharing between SAIs and stakeholders. At the same time, strengthening the capacity of SAI members on SDGs such as developing strategies, action plans or programs... In the future, ASOSAI will have activities to promote cooperation and knowledge sharing through digital platforms. All are for the sake of growing ASOSAI, for a green and sustainable Asia
Ha Tran
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