Published: 13 June 2023
“Unbeknownst to some, auditing is not limited to money matters. There is such a thing as environmental audit. And with the worsening challenges affecting the environment, now more than ever, environmental audit must be given focus.”– COA Commissioner Roland Café Pondoc
With the worsening challenges affecting the environment, Commission on Audit (COA) Commissioner Roland Café Pondoc emphasized the need to focus on environmental audit. In an article recently published by the Manila Bulletin entitled “Environmental audit, a must more than ever” under its PICPA Talks column, Commissioner Pondoc said that COA is actively involved in environmental audits by utilizing globally accepted processes and strategies as a member of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI)-Working Group on Environmental Auditing (WGEA).
Formed in 1992 during the Rio Earth Summit on sustainable development, INTOSAI WGEA aims to use audit mandates and methods in the field of environmental protection and sustainable development. It provides Supreme Audit Institutions with guidance and research on accountable, rule-based, and efficient governance and highlights innovative approaches promoting participation and transparency such as the Citizen Participatory Audit (CPA).
Commissioner Pondoc said “COA fully supports the government in its campaign on disaster risk reduction through the proper utilization of funds, primarily on the allocation and use of disaster risk reduction fund.” He cited the audit conducted in the implementation of the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Program for Calendar Year 2012-2015 and the utilization of the 5% Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund for 2015 by the Tuguegarao City-Region II through its CPA program. He also cited COA’s Performance Audit on National Greening Program as another example of an environmental audit where auditors found that reforestation remains one of the urgent environmental concerns but fast-tracking its process without adequate preparation and support by and among stakeholders would lead to a waste of resources. These and other challenges were detailed in the COA audit report.
Commissioner Pondoc shared that climate and biodiversity, environmental accounting, green fiscal policy tools, and sustainability reporting are some of the projects under the 2023-2025 WGEA Work Plan.
To read more on Commissioner Roland Café Pondoc’s article, you may visit: