TALLINN, 6 May 2008 - On 6 to 9 May 2008, Tallinn will host a meeting of the Steering Committee of the Working Group on Environmental Auditing (WGEA) of the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) acting under the auspices of the UN.

The main topics to be addressed at the meeting include climate change, sustainable energy and use of natural resources – fishery, earth deposits and their extraction, and forestry. During the work period from 2008 to 2010, audit guidelines will be developed for all the main topics and a global audit on climate change will be carried out with the participation of the SAIs of 14 countries. In Tallinn, presentations will be given by the relevant experts from Estonia and the European Environment Agency and discussions will be held.

Representatives from 16 countries will attend the meeting: Austria, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, China, the Czech Republic, Indonesia, the Netherlands, New-Zealand, Norway, Poland, the Republic of South Africa, Tanzania, the United Kingdom, the USA and Qatar. Three of the mentioned will be represented by their Auditors General.

On 6 May, a tour will be organised for the participants to show them Estonia, our nature and our culture. Just before the work session starting on May 7, the visitors will be given a presentation on the project “Teeme ära 2008” (“Let’s Do It 2008”).

The Steering Committee meeting in Tallinn is the first of the work period which just begun and the first meeting chaired by the National Audit Office of Estonia during Estonia’s presidency of the INTOSAI WGEA. Whereas the aforesaid projects are only in the starting phase, the main purpose of the Steering Committee’s first meeting in the work period is to approve all project plans for this period and discuss current issues of the organisation.

For further information, please contact:

Olavi Tammemäe, Director General of the INTOSAI WGEA Secretariat, tel.: +372 640 0116, +372 501 1675, e-mail: [email protected]

Margit Lassi, Senior Advisor of the INTOSAI WGEA Secretariat, tel.: +372 640 0100, +372 529 5415, e-mail: [email protected]

Kairi Raudsepp, Advisor of the INTOSAI WGEA Secretariat, tel.: +372 640 0113, +372 510 7388, e-mail: [email protected]

Henn Pärnamets, Senior Advisor of the INTOSAI WGEA Secretariat, tel.: +372 640 0756, +372 507 8271, e-mail: [email protected]

Toomas Mattson, Head of the NAO Communication Service, tel.: +3726400777, +3725134900, e-mail: [email protected]

Toomas Mattson
Communication Manager of National Audit Office
Telephone: 6400 777
Mob: 51 34900
E-mail: [email protected]

Additional information

Background information on relations between Estonia and the WGEA

In November last year, the presidency of the Working Group on Environmental Auditing (WGEA) of the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) acting under the auspices of the UN was passed on from the Canadian colleagues (Office of the Auditor General of Canada) to the National Audit Office (NAO) of Estonia. Currently, this working group includes 67 SAIs and with its 188 members it is the largest working group of INTOSAI.

The Auditor General, Mihkel Oviir stated that chairing this working group is a great honour as well as a responsibility for the Estonian government and the NAO. “Just like Estonia’s military troops give a practicable contribution to the safeguarding of international security through NATO and our IT specialists contribute to cyber protection, the Estonian NAO contributes to global environmental auditing. In the 1990s, the Estonian NAO was the recipient of aid from foreign partners, but now the NAO is increasingly becoming a provider of assistance and knowledge.”

Furthermore, holding the presidency of the WGEA, the NAO can support Estonia’s government-approved objectives in the EU where Estonia pursues the aim of all countries joining their efforts to combat climate change. In order to control climate change, developing countries which could use Estonia as an example should be invited to give a practicable contribution to compliment the efforts of the leading developed countries.

Managing the working group alongside other counties like Norway, Hungary, the UK, the USA, Mexico, Morocco, Peru, Denmark, India, the Netherlands and others which lead INTOSAI’s activities in other areas is a major challenge for Estonia.

Co-ordination of the work of the WGEA gives the opportunity to introduce on an international level Estonia’s progress in the field of the environment, and to contribute to the elaboration of the audit methodology for assessing sustainable development worldwide.

Estonia’s candidacy for the WGEA presidency was supported especially by the USA, Canada, the UK, Norway and Austria.

Background information on the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions

INTOSAI is the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions established in 1953. Today, it brings together 188 SAIs around the world. INTOSAI’s supreme body is the Congress which meets once every three years and sets up the Governing Board of 18 members to manage the organisation between the meetings of the Congress.

The mission of INTOSAI is to improve audit quality by facilitating the exchange of experience and developing audit methodology. In 1977, INTOSAI audit standards were adopted which serve as a basis of reference for all public sector auditors worldwide.

In order to further INTOSAI’s objectives, committees, working groups and task forces are addressing substantive issues whose work affects the development of audit-related methodology, know-how and skills of all the 188 members of INTOSAI.

Background information on the INTOSAI Working Group on Environmental Audit (WGEA)

The Working Group on Environmental Auditing (WGEA) set up in 1992 is one of the working groups affecting the development of the entire INTOSAI. Today, the largest working group of INTOSAI brings together the SAIs of 67 countries.

The purpose of WGEA is to develop environmental auditing in its member countries as well as non-member countries. A Steering Committee (SC) which includes 18 audit institutions has been set up to provide the strategic management for the work of the WGEA.

WGEA work plan

For the work period from 2008 to 2010, a new and wider work plan has been developed which provides that in this three-year period five major projects are to be initiated and implemented:
* interregional parallel audit of climate change (managed by Canada);
* regional parallel audits (regions select the topics, audits will be managed by regional co-ordinators);
* to prepare guidance materials for auditing government efforts as regards coping with the climate change (managed by Norway);
* to prepare guidance materials for auditing government efforts as regards the introduction of sustainable energy (managed by the Czech Republic);
* to prepare guidance materials for auditing government efforts as regards compliance with environmental standards in forestry (managed by Indonesia), in the extraction of mineral resources (managed by Tanzania) and in fishery (managed by the Republic of South Africa).

• Posted: 5/6/2008 12:00 AM
• Last Update: 9/15/2015 10:10 AM
• Last Review: 9/15/2015 10:10 AM