Greenlines Newsletter

SAI of Canada calls upon Working Group

Dan Rubenstein of the Canadian SAI, has asked the Members of the Working Group on Environmental Auditing for public and private sector examples of other jurisdictions which are currently experimenting with any form of accounting for sustainable development. He would appreciate it very much, if colleagues could e-mail or fax him with the names of companies/other jurisdictions he should visit as part of his best practices work. Dan Rubenstein and Wayne Cluskey are leading a project on Accounting for Sustainable Development. The objective of this project is to demonstrate the practical feasibility of preparing a set of accounts for sustainable development. These accounts would be used to support decisions as departments make the transition to operations consistent with the tenets of sustainable development. The study is a pilot project to construct sustainable development accounts for one department. Please send your reactions to Dan Rubenstein, e-mail <rubensdb@oag-bvg.gc.ca> or fax 613-941-8286.

Congratulations

Don Drach, editor of the INTOSAI Journal of Government Auditing, has congratulated the Working Group for being the first INTOSAI working group or committee to establish a homepage. He has prepared a news item about it for the INTOSAI Journal.
In addition, we received several positive reactions on our homepage from individual SAI-employees.

Change of representatives SAI of United Kingdom

The Chair welcomes Joe Cavanagh and Peter Gray as new members of the Working Group. She thanks Tim Bristow and Jill Goldsmith, who representated the National Audit Office for the past several years, for their contribution to the Working Group.

Audit on wetlands

The Netherlands Court of Audit has embarked on an audit of the development and implementation of national and international policy on Wetlands (based on the 1971 Ramsar Convention). The audit will focus on the value of wetlands (i.e. waterfowl stocks and water quality) wise use and monitoring (auditable aspects) and criteria for identifying wetlands. The audit team will be assisted by Rana Assad Amin of the Office of the Auditor General of Pakistan.

The audit team would appreciate comments or suggestions from those who are interested in the subject of Wetlands. Please contact Diny Hogervorst or Katja Bongers by e-mail (lnv@rekenkamer.nl), fax #31-70-3476776 or telephone #31-70-3792760 or #31-70-3792523.

Response to the Questionnaire

By the first of May we had received about 74 completed questionnares on environmental auditing, but we are still receiving some questionnaires. In total 171 questionnaires were distributed. The respons is about the same as that to the first questionnaire, sent out in 1993.

First Report by Canada’s Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development

Canada’s Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development has published his first report in March 1997. In his report The Commissioner, Brian Emmet, emphasizes the significant role of the federal government in protecting the environment and fostering sustainable development. This report sets the stage for future reports to the House of Commons. The report is available on the Internet at <www.oag-bvg.gc.ca>. Brian Emmet was appointed by the Auditor General as Commissioner in July 1996. In December 1995, by amendment of the Auditor General’s Act, the position of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development was established.

Informal Meeting of the SAIs of Estonia and the Netherlands

On April 23, Karin Kuller of the Estonian SAI and Karin Gabor (temporary replacing Reimke Hitimana), Olga Rademakers and Ali van der Tempel of the SAI of the Netherlands had an informal discussion about the next meeting of the Working Group. The main subject was the coordination between the two SAIs. The Estonian SAI is in charge of organisational matters, while the Netherlands Court of Audit is responsible for the contents. Mrs. Kuller happened to be in The Netherlands for a meeting of the Governing Board of the EUROSAI.

Draft documents fourth meeting Working Group

Four draft documents have been sent to all members of the Working Group on the 5th of June. These are a report on the results of the questionnaire, a proposal for a bibliography, a proposal on possibillities for SAIs in natural resource accounting and a study of natural resource accounting. Please give your comments as soon as possible and before the 2nd of July, so we will be able to incorporate them in the documents for the fourth meeting.

Temporary replacement Reimke Hitimana

Karin Gabor is replacing Reimke Hitimana during her maternity leave. We are happy to congratulate Reimke with the birth of her healthy daughter Nasha on May 8, 1997.

The new or corrected e-mail addresses are marked with an *.

Please let us know if the list is incorrect or incomplete.