On the morning of December 1st, 2022, SAV held a workshop on “Natural resources management, environmental protection, climate change response and the role of the SAV” at its Head Office at 116 Nguyen Chanh, Ha Noi. Deputy Auditor General, Mr. Doan Anh Tho and the Director General of the Audit Training Institute co-chaired the workshop.
Overview of the Workshop
Participants of the Workshop includes representatives of National Assembly’s agencies, local ministries and departments; Universities, research institutes; experts and scientists; groups, corporations, organizations, professional associations and SAV subordinate units. The workshop aimed to find out solutions for improving the quality and efficiency of the natural resources management, environmental protection and climate change response. The workshop was to analyze, evaluate, discuss and clarify the role of the SAV in natural resources management and environmental protection, contributing to the country’s sustainable development.
Deputy Auditor General, Mr. Doan Anh Tho delivered a guiding speech that sustainable development associated with the natural resources development and environmental protection is nowadays not the matter of any certain country but a global urgent issue which is vital to the humankind’s sustainable development. Similar to many countries around the world, Viet Nam is facing various challenges due to the effects of the climate change, sea level rise and environment pollution.
Deputy Auditor General, Mr. Doan Anh Tho delivered the opening speech at the workshop
Over the past years, environment protection, natural resources management, natural disaster prevention and climate change response are among the topics that have constantly attracted the attention of the Party and the State with a lot of policies and resolutions being issued. However, there have been still many issues in the implementation.
Recognizing the importance of the natural resources management, environmental protection and climate change response, SAV leaders have always paid attention to and considered the auditing in this field as one of SAV’s priorities. SAV's working group on environmental audit was established in 2008; Members of this working group have participated in meetings of INTOSAI and ASOSAI’s Working Group; Environmental audit has been defined as one of the key tasks in the Action Plan for the implementation of SAV’s Development Strategy up to 2030; SAV developed documents and manuals on environmental audit as well as implemented them in its environmental auditing activities; etc. “At the 14th ASOSAI Assembly held in Ha Noi in 2018, SAV raised many initatives and together with other SAIs adopted Ha Noi Declaration which affirmed efforts and practical contributions of ASOSAI to UN’s sustainable development objectives and resolved challenges on global environment based discussions on the environmental auditing for sustainable development” – said Deputy Auditor General Doan Anh Tho.
In recent years, SAV has strengthen its audits of natural resources management, environmental protection and climate change response. Accordingly, SAV has assessed the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of the environmental management, such as: pointing out the structural and policy shortcomings in natural resources management, exploitation and sustainable usage, degraded and exhausted resourses due to over-exploitation; increased environmental pollution, and more serious in some places; passive climate change response … “However, environmental audits performed by SAV has been mainly integrated in financial and compliance audits. There are few environmental audits which present characteristics of performance audits or are conducted independently; therefore, expected audit results have not been obtained” said Deputy Auditor General Doan Anh Tho.
The presentations and opinions of participants at the workshop proposed some solutions for improving the efficiency of natural resource management, environmental protection, and climate change response and auditing work, as follows:
- The legal regulations should be continuously improved;
- The future audit plans should focus on priority issues; To have medium-term and annual audit plans for implementing environmental tasks and objectives as stated in the National Action Plan for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; to identify environmental audit and climate change response as one of the important and breakthrough contents in SAV’s Development Strategy up to 2030.
- SAV should strengthen pre-auditing from the issuance of the license for mineral resources exploitation; Audit the environmental impact assessment in the preparation of feasibility study reports for projects on newly construction and investment of industrial zones, industrial clusters, export processing zones, major investment projects and other big investment projects; Improve training and development for state auditors; Increase the mobilization of experts in performing audits to evaluate the suitability in terms of techniques, technology, price, promptness and correctness.
- SAV should continuously develop and improve the database system on environmental audit in a complete, accurate and scientific manner; simultaneously strengthen the IT application in audit activities.
Concluding the workshop, Deputy Auditor General Doan Anh Tho said that opinions and discussions of participants would be fully acknowledged for continued research, innovation to further develop solutions for improving the quality of audit activities and the efficiency of natural resource management, environmental protection and climate change response, contributing to the country’s sustainable development./.