Environment and sustainable development challenges are a matter of global concern. Trillions of dollars of mostly public money are invested every year in domestic and international policies and programs to address these challenges. The effectiveness of these policies and programs is critical to environmental sustainability. Performance audits that examine the effectiveness of governmental policies and programs heavily influence their implementation. Despite this, performance auditing in the environment field has received very little academic attention.
This book takes a closer look at performance auditing of public sector environmental policies and programs. It examines trends in global environmental performance auditing; and how it is currently practiced drawing on a global survey and case studies from Canada, India and Australia. In doing so, it identifies issues and challenges faced by Supreme Audit Institutions in undertaking these performance audits.
This book will be of interest to students, scholars and practitioners of sustainable development, environmental auditing and public sector auditing as well as to donor organisations engaged in these areas.
Table of Contents:
1. Introduction 2. Environmental Performance Auditing 3. Global Trends in Environmental Performance Auditing 4. Current Practices in Environmental Performance Auditing 5. Environmental Performance Auditing in Three Countries 6. Challenges and barriers 7. Perspectives and Prospects Appendix A Methods for Evidence Collection
About the Author :
Awadhesh Prasad is a visiting fellow at the Australian National University’s Fenner School of Environment and Society, and works at the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, Australia, where he has been involved in monitoring, and auditing of environmental policies and programs for over 15 years.
Review :
"Prasad’s book is a "magical mirror" that in reflecting the compendium of environmental performance audits undertaken by SAIs over the last two decades also provides insight into them, particularly how the INTOSAI-WGEA influences the activity. It clearly demonstrates that SAIs experienced in environmental performance audits are ready to support the 2030 Agenda. While not easy, the existing environmental auditing capacity can be up-scaled for auditing the Sustainable Development Goals by promoting partnership among WGEA members and other stakeholders." —Moermahadi Soerja Djanegara, CA., CPA, Chair of The Audit Board of the Republic of Indonesia, as Chair of the INTOSAI WGEA
"This book puts a timely spotlight on environmental performance auditing when governments all over the world are embarking upon initiatives to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is a valuable guide for students and professionals working with implementation, monitoring and reporting of 2030 Agenda and SDGs." —Shahbaz Khan, Director UNESCO Regional Science Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, Jakarta, Indonesia
"This book is a timely global review and analysis of the application of Performance Auditing to Government environmental programs and will be particularly interesting to both practitioners and academics. The adoption of the 2030 Agenda and current debates over climate change have focussed considerable public attention on the effectiveness of such programs." — Pat Barrett AO., Distinguished Honorary Professor and Senior Fellow ANCAAR, Research School of Accounting, Australian National University, Former Auditor-General of Australia (1995-2005)
"Awadhesh Prasad’s research contributes to the growing, but still scarce, body of knowledge on performance auditing. It delivers an excellent overall picture of the state-of-the-art on environmental performance auditing and an in-depth comparative analysis in three countries. This book offers enriching insights for practitioners, researchers and students in the field of performance auditing, policy evaluation and environmental policy." — Vital Put, Councillor at the Belgian Court of Audit and Visiting Professor at the Public Governance Institute of the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium
"This book enables you to benefit from the experience of other audit institutions and to reflect on your work from an international perspective. It is strongly recommended for environmental auditors in the public sector." — Sylvia van Leeuwen, Auditor at the Audit Office of Utrecht, The Netherlands (since 2014), Former Environmental Auditor at the Netherlands Court of Audit (1995 - 2015) and the Netherland’s representative to the INTOSAI Working Group on Environmental Auditing (1995 - 2005)
"Performance auditing by supreme audit institutions is the world's most rigorous and widespread mechanism for effectiveness evaluation of policy implementation. Yet its role in assessing the environmental and sustainability policy efforts of nations has received scant attention. Prasad's book breaks new ground and offers invaluable insights for all engaged in formulating, implementing or evaluating environment and sustainability policies." —Stephen Dovers FASSA, Emeritus Professor, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University
