International Coordinated Audit (Control) of Public Funds, Allocated to prevention and Consequences elimination of Disasters and Catastrophes

Report ID: 250

The International Coordinated Audit (Control) of Public Funds, Allocated to Prevention and consequences Elimination of Disasters and Catastrophes was included into the Work Plan of the EUROSAI Task Force on the Audit of Funds Allocated to Disasters and Catastrophes for 2012-2014, and was conducted by the SAIs of 9 participated countries.

The audit (control) objective was to assess legality and utilization efficiency of the public funds
allocated to establishment, functioning and development of the national system for prevention
and response to natural and man-caused disasters and catastrophes.

This audit also allowed to test Good Practice Recommendations for the Audit of Funds Allocated to Disasters and Catastrophes, which were developed by the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine within the framework of the EUROSAI Task Force and were prepared for approval in 2014.

COORDINATED PERFORMANCE AUDIT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE

Report ID: 256

Due to the serious environmental situation and high vulnerability of countries in the region,  the SAIs of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Paraguay and Peru, members of the OLACEFS Technical Commission on ENVIRONMENT (COMTEMA) agreed in 2009 to perform a coordinated audit on climate change.

The audit had as general bbjective to assess the performance of governmental bodies responsible for implementing the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in the countries of the region.

The specific objectives of the coordinated audit were:

- Examine the compliance with the commitments established in the United Nations Framework  Convention on Climate Change regarding the implementation of governmental policies, plans, programs and actions.

- Determine whether governments have developed appropriate mitigation strategies and plans for complying with the commitments of the Convention and evaluate the progress attained.

- Determine whether governments have developed adaptation strategies and plans related to vulnerability assessment to the impacts of climate change and whether policy instruments have been implemented in response to risks identified.

The audit took place between 2009 and 2011. It followed the guidelines for cooperative audits of the Working Group on Environmental Auditing of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (WGEA-INTOSAI). Hence, there were individual audit teams and individual reports in each SAI, but a common research framework. Main sources of audit criteria come from articles 4 and 12 of UNFCCC and article 12 of Kyoto Protocol.

The findings of the coordinated audit indicate progress in the implementation of UNFCCC commitments and point out aspects to improve, especially in relation to the efforts and measures towards the reduction of vulnerability in natural and anthropogenic systems facing current and potential effects of climate change.

WGEA Coordinated International Audit on Climate Change

Report ID: 257

In June 2007, the INTOSAI Working Group on Environmental Audit embarked on a coordinated audit because of the economic, social, and environmental significance of governments’ work to address climate change challenges. The project involved 14 SAIs—from developed countries, countries with economies in transition, and developing countries—and included Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Indonesia, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

For this project, the SAIs cooperated in the design  and undertaking of national audits of their respective governments’ climate change programs and performance. Each SAI undertook one or more audits (in some cases, studies and reviews) in the fields of greenhouse gas emissions mitigation and/or climate change adaptation to determine whether their governments were doing what they said they would do. During this period, 10 SAIs of the European Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (EUROSAI), a regional working group of INTOSAI, also undertook joint audit work focused on climate change. The findings of the 33 national audits and the EUROSAI audit work are included in Appendix A and Appendix B, respectively.

The report draws on the findings of the 33 audits of national implementation of climate change programs. It summarizes the key findings from this work and aims to:

• report on whether governments are (or are not) doing what they said they would do;

• encourage governments to take, improve, and/ or strengthen proper and effective actions;

• assist legislatures in holding governments to account;

• inspire other SAIs to undertake audits of climate change and coordinated audits and to help them by raising awareness of appropriate audit techniques; raise awareness of the important role that supreme audit institutions play in bringing accountability to governments that are implementing policies and actions related to greenhouse gas mitigation and climate change adaptation.

Source: WGEA website http://www.environmental‐auditing.org.

Multilateral Audit on the Arctic States’ national authorities’ work with the Arctic Council

Report ID: 262

The SAIs of  Denmark, Norway, the Russian Federation, Sweden, and the United States of America collaborated on a multilateral audit of national participation in the Arctic Council - an intergovernmental forum to promote cooperation on Arctic issues.

The multilateral audit, coordinated by SAI Norway and SAI Russia, was carried out in accordance with a strategic plan signed by the participating SAIs in October 2012 and was aimed to inform Arctic governance and enhance the usefulness of the Council in understanding and managing Arctic issues.

In addition to the national reports, the SAIs issued a memorandum  highlighting the results of a cooperative audit. The audits conducted by the five SAIs where they are similar in scope, and does not necessarily represent the views or conclusions of each SAI.

Key findings include the following:

• Changes in the Arctic have elevated the importance of international cooperation in the Arctic
• The Arctic Council has contributed to enhanced cooperation, governance and Scientific knowledge
• The Council faces key challenges related to its organizational structure, establishing priorities, funding its work, and ensuring the effective implementation of voluntary recommendations adopted by member states
• Indigenous groups make important contributions to the council, but face Challenges participating

Source: https://oaarchive.arctic-council.org/handle/11374/1527

Audit of Disaster Risk Reduction

Report ID: 267

WIthin the framework of the activities of the former INTOSAI Working Group on Accountability for and the Audit of Disaster–related Aid (AADA), from 2011 to 2013 the SAIs of Azerbaijan, Chile, India, Indonesia, Netherlands, Pakistan, Philippines, Romania, Turkey (coordinator) and Ukraine carried out a coordinated audit.

The aim of the audit was  to provide inputs for the draft versions of ISSAI 5510 "Audit of Disaster Risk Reduction" and testing and improving its content.

The joint report presents the results of the international parallel/coordinated audit in two sections:

• In part I: Joint report and common conclusions of the international parallel/coordinated audit.

• In part II: Summaries of the national audits were given.

Source: http://www.sayistay.gov.tr/en/?p=2&ContentID=234