Tag: The Journey Continues

SAI Finland handed over the INTOSAI Working Group on Environmental Auditing (WGEA) Chairmanship to SAI Thailand at the XXV INCOSAI. This article highlights our chairmanship period 2020-2025 with a focus on innovation, as well as key takeaways in organising meetings, communicating effectively, and investing in stakeholder relations. It also includes a set of tips that may provide inspiration for other Working Group Chairs.

Under the Cooperative Audit of Climate Change Adaptation Actions (CCAA), the INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI), in partnership with the INTOSAI Working Group on Environmental Auditing (WGEA), supported 54 Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) of seven INTOSAI regions –  ASOSAI, AFROSAI-E, ARABOSAI (ongoing), CAROSAI, EUROSAI, OLACEFS, and PASAI – to strengthen their capacity to audit government responses to climate change adaptation. The initiative combined ISSAI-based cooperative performance audits with structured capacity development, enabling the 287 auditors of the participating SAI audit teams to enhance professional competencies while delivering nationally relevant audit results.

Due to climate change, communities across the world are losing their homes to floods, crops to drought, and coastlines to rising seas. The financial risks related to lacking or poor adaptation are also growing. Governments have been responding with their plans and promises—but adaptation on the ground remains fragile. The recent Global Cooperative Audit of Climate Change Adaptation Actions (CCAA) from 54 SAIs revealed why adaptation is failing—and what Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) can do to change that trajectory.

The INTOSAI Working Group on Environmental Auditing (WGEA) side event, “Innovations in Environmental Auditing”, at the INCOSAI spotlighted the latest innovations within the INTOSAI WGEA community. First, highlighting some of the recent innovations, Vivi Niemenmaa from the WGEA Secretariat introduced the new agile support system, Audit Clinic, that has been piloted in 2025 with outstanding feedback. This is a mechanism where SAIs can book a one-hour consultation slot with a more experienced SAI to discuss any environmental audit related issue. As another innovation, Dashiell Da Costa from SAI Brazil, revealed the first results of the second assessment round of the ClimateScanner, covering assessments from 100 SAIs. The official launch was foreseen in the COP30 Climate Conference.  

During Sharm El-Sheikh INCOSAI XXV, the General Court of Audit (GCA) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia organized a side event titled “FISP Meet & Greet”, bringing together beneficiaries of the Saudi Fund for Improved SAI Performance (FISP). The Saudi FISP is a funding initiative established by the GCA under the leadership of its President, H.E. Dr. Hussam Alangari. Since 2020, the GCA has allocated 1 million U.S. dollars annually to support the needs of Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) in developing countries, helping INTOSAI respond to the increasing demand for direct capacity-building assistance. By 2026, the fund had reached a total value of 7 million U.S. dollars, with continued growth anticipated.

Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) and the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) have increasingly positioned themselves as key actors in advancing sustainable development. Successive INTOSAI strategic plans (2017–2022 and 2023–2028) identify the contribution of SAIs to the implementation, follow-up, and review of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a strategic priority. This longstanding commitment has provided an enabling institutional framework that has stimulated numerous initiatives— often supported by the INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI) — and yielded a growing set of tools, methodologies, and audit reports across diverse sectors and SDG targets.

During a side event at the XXV INCOSAI, the IDI–OECD Global Project on SAI Independence presented its initial results to the wider INTOSAI community. The session included contributions from János Bertók (OECD), Einar Gørrissen (IDI), H.E. Dr. Alangari (Chair of the INTOSAI PFAC), Dr. Caralee McLiesh (Auditor‑General of Australia), and Franziska Spörri (SECO, Switzerland). They discussed the early evidence gathered through the project and reflected on how Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) operate within their national accountability systems.

At the XXV INCOSAI, a dedicated side event celebrated INTOSAI’s formal recognition of the Professional Education for Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) Auditors (PESA) qualification, highlighted the launch of INTOSAI co-branding and the Arabic version of the qualification, and supported a key motion at INCOSAI. The INTOSAI community came together to support PESA in its journey, including Supreme Audit Institutions, (SAIs), experts, and partners who had contributed to professionalising public sector auditing.

INCOSAI 2025, the INTOSAI Congress, represented a decisive step for JURISAI members since the inaugural General Assembly held in Paris in October 2024.

Author: WGEA Secretariat, SAI Finland The INTOSAI Working Group on Environmental Auditing (WGEA) supports and…

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