(sav.gov.vn) - The world is facing critical environmental pollution issues, compelling all nations to take robust actions to ensure sustainable development goals. In alignment with global efforts, the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) has been advancing environmental auditing (EA) to monitor, evaluate, and enhance the effectiveness of environmental protection activities. Following this trend, Viet Nam is continuously improving mechanisms, policies, and management capabilities while strengthening oversight and fully leveraging the role of environmental auditing.
Increasing the quantity and scope of audits
According to the recently published 11th survey by INTOSAI Working Group on Environmental Auditing (WGEA), climate change remains the top concern for Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs). During 2021–2023, the most popular audit topics included climate change adaptation, agriculture, urban waste, solid and non-hazardous waste, forestry, and timber resources, as well as climate change mitigation.
On average, SAIs conducted 10 environmental audits during this period, although the number varied significantly depending on the SAI’ size, ranging from 1 to 147 audits. Approximately 70% of surveyed SAIs reported they regularly conduct assessments on the efficiency of environmental policies and programs that the governments are implementing. Additionally, over 70% of total surveyed SAIs consistently evaluated compliance with environmental laws and policies during their audits.
The survey also revealed that the most common method for disclosing audit results is publishing full reports on the web (81% of SAIs). More than 50% of SAIs issue press releases, provide printed reports, or publish summaries of audit findings. To measure the impacts of audit recommendations, SAIs monitor the implementation of audit conclusions and recommendations, including the government’s responses to these recommendations. The result indicated that 40% of SAIs believe their audit conclusions and recommendations have significantly influenced law enforcement and improved the implementation of environmental programs and policies.
WGEA’s survey also discussed future prospects for environmental audit. SAIs are expected to focus more on sustainable development goals (SDGs) and training on environmentatl audit. 27% of SAIs chose to adopt artificial intelligence to enhance environmental audits between 2024 and 2026. Especially, 68% confirmed their collaboration with other SAIs or engage in networks like EUROSAI and INTOSAI WGEA to share experiences and conduct cross-border audits.
The prioritise audit topics in SAIs’ audit plans for 2024–2026 include climate change, conservation areas and natural parks, water resource management and river basin management, renewable energy, and waste management (urban, solid, and non-hazardous waste). Despite challenges related to data, expertise, and workforce, 60% of SAIs plan to increase the number and scope of environmental audits by 2026, the rest 40% keep their audit number unchanged.
To support these efforts, 27% of SAIs aim to expand while 50% seek to maintain their current auditor levels. For SAIs lacking dedicated environmental auditors, they encourage all auditors to participate in environmental audits.
Implementation of audit recommendations generates positive outcomes for environment
Recognising the importance of environmental protection and the challenges nations face, SAIs are striving to implement environmental audit in an effective manner. Their recommendations often aim to rectify violations in environmental management, suggest amendments to inconsistent or impractical policies, and enhance the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of governmental environmental programs.
For instance, SAI Malta’s 2021 audit on the efficiency of the plastic waste management led to the formation of a committee to implement all audit recommendations. A 2024 follow-up audit confirmed that these measures yielded positive environmental, economic, and social outcomes.
Similarly, SAI Croatia audited urban waste management in 2021–2022 with the participation of over 20 state auditors and 23 audited organizations. The audit produced 22 reports with 307 recommendations, all of which were adopted, leading to noticeable environmental improvements and better quality of life.
In Malaysia, the SAI’s audit of water resources management revealed 140 water projects significantly behind the set schedule, causing losses amounting to RM 4.753 billion. Additionally, severe water pollution from wastewater treatment plants was identified. SAI Malaysia recommended improved oversight of water projects and stricter control of pollution sources, etc.
Between 2015 and 2023, SAV has conducted 12 comprehensive environmental audits on various issues such as environmental management in economic zones, industrial parks, thermal power plants, craft villages, medical waste, and imported waste. These audits contributed to the development of, amendment, or supplementation to over 40 legal documents, providing objective and comprehensive evaluations alongside actionable recommendations.
Most recently, SAV has audited environmental management in industrial clusters and craft villages across Tu Son Town, Bac Ninh Province and Hoai Duc District of Hanoi for 2019–2021. By 2023, the audit expanded to industrial clusters in Bac Giang, Nam Dinh, Thai Binh and Ha Tinh provinces for 2020–2022. These audits identified policy and management shortcomings and offered recommendations to update legal frameworks, enhance local management capacity, and adopt modern environmental technologies.