Work Plans

The activities of the INTOSAI Working Group on Environmental Auditing (WGEA) follow a three-year cycle, starting and ending with the International Congress of Supreme Audit Institutions (INCOSAI) — a triennial meeting for the entire INTOSAI community. The XIX INCOSAI was held in November 2007 in Mexico City, Mexico. The WGEA 2008-10 Work Plan was approved by the Congress. The next work plan (2011–2013) will be presented to the XX INCOSAI in South Africa in the autumn of 2010.

An overview of the most important activities carried out by the WGEA can be found in the work plan of each period below.

The 2008-10 work plan includes a series of projects, organized around the goals set out below, which are intended to respond to the SAIs variety of needs and to recognize their different levels of development:

• Goal 1: Expand the guidance materials available to SAIs.
• Goal 2: Facilitate concurrent, joint and coordinated audits.
• Goal 3: Enhance information dissemination, exchange, and training.
• Goal 4: Increase cooperation between the WGEA and international organizations.
• Goal 5: Ensure ongoing and effective governance of the WGEA

• adopting climate change as the new central theme;
• developing audit guidance materials for climate change, sustainable energy, and natural resource sectors of fisheries, forests and mining;
• encouraging cooperative environmental audits regionally and undertaking a globally-coordinated audit on climate change;
• fostering information exchange and learning, including training in environmental auditing in French-speaking African countries; and
• strengthening the activities in Regional WGEAs.

The 2005-07 work plan presents the strategy for undertaking the activities of the INTOSAI Working Group on Environmental Auditing (WGEA). Supreme audit institutions (SAIs) are at different stages of sophistication in environmental auditing and their mandates vary considerably. Therefore, the range of goals and activities included in this work plan are intended to respond to the various needs of SAIs and to be applicable to the majority, if not all, of the SAIs.

The WGEA is committed to preparing guidance and reference tools in the following products and services:

• adopting biodiversity as the new central theme and preparing a guidance paper for SAIs;
• preparing a retrospective report that summarizes the evolution and trends in environmental audits;
• providing tips and examples, capturing lessons learned and sharing experiences in conducting and reporting on concurrent, joint, and co-ordinated audits;
• assess the progress towards commitments made at the World Summit on Sustainable Development;
• continuing to support audits on waste and water; and
• collecting information through the Fifth Questionnaire on Environmental Auditing by SAIs for developing the next WGEA Work Plan.

As well, the WGEA Secretariat continues to encourage information exchange and relationship building with external international organizations.

For a detailed overview of each project, with key milestones and contacts, please check the projects page under WGEA Business.

The 2002–2004 work plan continued to address the topic areas established in earlier work plans but was adapted to current developments and challenges. The main substantive theme for the WGEA during the Chairmanship of the Netherlands was “fresh water.” Since the 17th INCOSAI in October 2001, the WGEA decided to add “waste” as a second theme of its work. Other activities carried out included developing training materials and providing courses in environmental auditing, co-ordinating environmental audits with other supreme audit institutions (SAIs) related to commitments under the World Summit on Sustainable Development, exchanging information with other SAIs, and preparing environmental auditing papers on such topics as water policy and waste management.

The 1999–2001 work plan for the Working Group on Environmental Auditing was adopted at its 5th meeting in Lima, Peru in 1998. The “fresh water” theme, first adopted in 1995, continued to be a focus of the Working Group through this period. One of the key issues of this work plan was to emphasize co-operation with the INTOSAI regions in order to effectively cope with environmental issues that are trans boundary in nature. Other activities included developing an inventory of international environmental accords and increasing the dissemination of information.

In the 1996-1998 period, the Working Group on Environmental Auditing dealt with two specific issues: audits or co-ordinated audits of international environmental accords and natural resource accounting. There was also a focus on Institutional Learning — facilitating the exchange of information and experience between audit institutions, and developing guidelines, methods, and techniques for environmental auditing. “Fresh water” was first chosen as a theme in an attempt to concentrate activities on an issue considered relevant for all countries in all stages of development.