Tag: Featured Articles

Infrastructure is a fundamental part of economic growth, contributing to approximately 14% of the global gross domestic product (GDP). The lack of robust infrastructure can have wide-ranging consequences, affecting societal risks such as societal polarization, health and well-being, inequality and lack of economic opportunity or unemployment. The Word Economic Forum (WEF) stated that insufficient public infrastructure ranks among the top 20 global risks. Given its significance, leveraging infrastructure is essential for fostering economic development. 

Some Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) have been implementing the Concurrent Control, a process created by the SAI of Peru, as it is a valuable tool for control of large projects. However, it is appropriate to raise innovative proposals aimed at improving the process of concurrent control in order to improve adverse situations identified by government auditors. Based on the lessons learned to date, it is important to improve the levels of effectiveness and efficiency in their interventions, with the goal of replicating their effect on the control by other SAIs that have decided to implement similar controls.

The audit of crisis management functioning within rail infrastructure was undertaken on the Supreme Audit Office of Poland, Najwyższa Izba Kontroli (NIK)’s own initiative and covered among other, procedures applied during the biggest breakdown of rail traffic control that occurred in March 2022, 3 weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine. The audit was also driven by a significant number of issues and accidents on railways. In 2020, 516 railway accidents occurred, of which 6 were serious accidents caused by collisions or derailment of trains and affected the safety of people within railway areas. Moreover, 1,218 incidents were noted that did not result in any fatalities or serious injuries or in material or environment damage. However, these incidents could have turned into events requiring actions provided for in crisis management plans. The also audit investigated issues identified during the mass coal transports from seaports at the turn of 2022-2023, issues related to movements of refugees from Ukraine, difficulties in rail traffic in the area of ​​Warsaw Junction caused by investment works in 2020-2023 and disturbances in rail traffic caused by an unauthorized broadcasting of radio-stop signals in 2020-2023.

Infrastructure is a fundamental pillar of resilience and innovation, particularly in sectors that impact sustainability and environmental management. Supreme audit institutions (SAIs) play a crucial role in evaluating whether public infrastructure investments align with national and international commitments, including climate goals and circular economy objectives. An audit conducted by the State Audit Office of Latvia (SAI Latvia) on biodegradable waste sorting provides valuable insights into the challenges of infrastructure planning, execution, and governance.

In China, water security is considered a critical aspect of infrastructure, focusing on optimizing the water resource distribution system and improving the flood control and disaster mitigation system. In 2022, to accelerate the construction of a national water network and build a modern, high-quality water infrastructure network, and to comprehensively address issues of water resources, water ecology, water environment, and water disasters, the Chinese government issued the “National Water Network Construction Planning Outline” (hereinafter referred to as the “Water Network Plan”). In 2023, the National Audit Office of China carried out a special audit on construction and operation of major water diversion projects, aiming to assist in building a safe and resilient modern water network. The audit focused on revealing prominent problems in the construction and operation of major water diversion projects and finding out the systemic barriers, mechanistic defects, and institutional loopholes behind these issues. This article, based on relevant planning and constructions of the national water network, studies key areas that audits should focus on, and discusses experiences, practices of audit, and shares typical cases for reference.

Waste, often regarded as the byproduct of industrialization and urbanization, has become one of the most critical global issues, with municipal waste generated worldwide exceeding two billion tons each year. This number will continue to rise due to increased human activity throughout the entire lifecycle of non-municipal waste as well, including that from agriculture, construction, industry, and healthcare. 

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.

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. 

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).

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 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 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.

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. 

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)

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. 

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.

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.

Future uncertainty, driven by factors such as climate change, technological advancements, and global dynamics, poses challenges that require organizations and governments to adopt more flexible, adaptive, and resilient approaches to planning. SAIs play a crucial role in addressing climate change and future uncertainty by providing insights into the effectiveness of climate-related initiatives and fostering greater accountability and transparency. Strategic foresight in auditing is essential for anticipating and preparing for future uncertainties, enabling organizations to navigate risks and opportunities proactively. Applying a six-step foresight framework in auditing the energy transition, particularly in the electricity sector, allows auditors to evaluate progress, identify gaps, and provide recommendations for more sustainable and resilient energy policies. By integrating strategic foresight into auditing practices, organizations can better prepare for the complexities of a rapidly changing world and build resilience against future uncertainties.

Considering the rise in environmental concerns and the growing importance of ecological transition issues in all national and local public policies, the French Cour des comptes, the supreme audit institution (SAI) that forms the financial jurisdictions with the regional and territorial audit chambers (CRTCs), has organized with the latter to strengthen the relevance of their audit and assessment work in these areas, which already account for a growing share of their scheduled work.