Q1 2025

The French Constitution entrusts the Cour des Comptes with the task of informing the public through its public reports. The Annual Public Report (APR) is an essential vehicle for this information. The law specifies that it concerns “a major public policy issue to which the Cour des Comptes wishes to draw the attention of the public authorities and contribute to informing citizens”. In its 2024 annual public report, the Cour des Comptes examined the theme of public action to adapt to climate change.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Report 2024 indicates that only 17% of the SDG targets remain on track as planned. The COVID-19 pandemic, global conflicts, and climate change have profoundly and significantly impacted progress towards meeting the SDGs.

Cyprus has been facing water scarcity for years. The lack of natural surface water systems, such as lakes and rivers, has historically led to excessive exploitation of groundwater. Over-extraction from underground water bodies, in combination with reduced rainfall, as a result of climate change, have led to the current situation, where most of Cyprus’ aquifers are in poor condition. To address the need for sufficient water reserves, in the past, the government has constructed dams to collect rainwater that would otherwise flow into the sea and has developed infrastructure to transfer water to areas with less rainfall, with the Southern Conveyor Project being the most significant. However, the reduction in rainfall mentioned above impacts adversely on the quality of water collected in the dams.

According to the State of the Climate in Asia (2023) report, the average temperature of Asian countries in 2023 rose by 0.91 degrees Celsius compared to the period from 1991-2020. This results in a rise in sea surface temperature, which further intensifies tropical cyclones and severe rainfall that leads to floods and landslides. Indonesia has encountered a total of 300 natural disasters, including 200 instances of flooding between 1990 and 2021. These events have caused harm to around 11 million individuals. Figure 1 shows that all-natural disasters that happened in Indonesia were caused by climate change.

The global climate crisis poses significant threats including water scarcity, extreme weather events, and impacts on agriculture, food security and human health. Israel’s geographical location magnifies these risks as being a ‘Hot Spot’. Various governmental bodies, such as the Ministries of Finance, Environmental Protection, Energy, Transportation, Economy, Agriculture, Defense, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and the Planning Administration within the Ministry of Interior, have different responsibilities for addressing climate change. 

In every region across the globe, climate change is driving extreme weather events like heatwaves, heavy rainfall, and drought to increase and intensify, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.(1) These extreme weather events have led to natural disasters which have cost lives, displaced people, devastated economies, and racked up billions of dollars in damages.(2)

Climate change already has severe consequences for developing countries. Through the Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015, Norway and other industrialised countries committed to support climate change adaptation efforts in developing countries. 

The Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) conducted an audit of the Korea National Railway (KORAIL) to prepare it for possible buckling of railways that may be caused by intense heat waves, the fingerprint of global warming. It seemed worthwhile to share the audit methodologies employed in this audit with INTOSAI members and the public sector auditing community, notably as the methodologies utilized the scientific analysis of the correlation between temperatures of air and railroads, as well as the simulation of future temperature scenarios.

The Supreme Audit Office of the Republic of Poland (NIK) audited the implementation of a strategic pilotage project, Forest carbon farms, to verify its performance and if funds were spent efficiently during its implementation by the General Directorate of State Forests. The audit also looked at whether it enabled obtaining the best outcomes, and if forest divisions correctly and reliably planned and performed their activities included in the project. 

The Australian National Audit Office’s (ANAO) climate change-related audits are generally conducted under the Auditor-General’s performance audit mandate. The ANAO’s performance audit activities involve audits of the performance of Australian Government programs and entities with a focus on assessing economy, efficiency, effectiveness, ethics, and legislative and policy compliance. In 2023–24, the ANAO tabled 45 performance audits in the Australian Parliament, with six audits relating to climate change, energy, the environment and agriculture sectors. 

The fight against climate change requires Hungary to develop a common set of principles-based targets and to operate a coherent framework for action, monitoring and feedback in order to meet national and international targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This is highlighted by the analysis of the State Audit Office of Hungary (SAO) concluded in 2024, which audited the measures aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the strategic framework of Hungary in the light of the dynamically changing requirements of the European Union (EU).

Climate change is one of the biggest global problems of modern time. Greenhouse gas emissions, melting glaciers, forest fires, deforestation and misallocation of water resources have a negative impact on the environment, economic and social conditions. 

Small islands like Malta are particularly vulnerable to climate change hazards. In October 2019, the Maltese Parliament had unanimously declared a climate emergency, stressing the need to take new measures to address this environmental phenomenon.

Evaluations and performance audits require a robust selection process to ensure success. A thorough and systematic examination of potential performance audit topics allows the identification of those that present the highest risks and offer the greatest potential for improvement respectively. Furthermore, it facilitates determining the optimal timing for results to be integrated into the further development of respective public policies. Consequently, a well-considered selection of evaluation topics is more likely to influence existing public policies positively.

Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) aim to make a difference in the lives of citizens. For SAIs operating in challenging contexts, reaching this lofty aim is not always obvious. In 2018 the INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI), African Organisation of English-speaking Supreme Audit Institutions (AFROSAI-E), and African Organisation of French-speaking Supreme Audit Institutions (CREFIAF), came up with a groundbreaking model to support SAIs operating in challenging contexts.

Blockchain technology originated in 2008 when an author codenamed Satoshi Nakamoto published the paper titled “Bitcoin: A Peer-To-Peer Electronic Cash System.” The publication presented an innovative combination of computing-related concepts – peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, cryptography, digital signature, hash functions, and a new consensus algorithm for distributed networks.

The Global Summit on SAI Audits Contributing to Digitalisation and Sustainability, held on November 18-19, 2024, in Tbilisi, Georgia, marked a significant milestone in the collective efforts of Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) worldwide towards current and emerging trends about sustainability and digitalisation. Hosted by SAI Georgia and the INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI), the Summit welcomed a diverse group of leaders, including SAIs, international organisations, academia, and other key stakeholders.