1、<p>　　畢業(yè)論文外文文獻翻譯</p><p>　畢業(yè)設計（論文）題目關于企業(yè)內部環(huán)境績效審計的研究</p><p>　翻譯題目最高審計機關的環(huán)境審計活動</p><p>　學 院會計學院</p><p>　專 業(yè)會計學</p><p>　姓 名</p><p>　

2、班 級</p><p>　學 號</p><p>　指導教師</p><p>　　最高審計機關的環(huán)境審計活動</p><p>　　最高審計機關越來越多的活躍在環(huán)境審計領域。特別是1993-1996年期間，工作組已檢測到環(huán)境審計活動堅定的數量增長。首先，越來越多的最高審計機關已經活躍在這個領域。其次是積極的最高審計機關，甚至變得更加

3、活躍：他們分配較大部分的審計資源給這類工作，同時出版更多環(huán)保審計報告。表1顯示了平均數字。然而，這里是機構間差異較大。例如，環(huán)境報告的數量變化，每個審計機關從1到36份報告不等。</p><p>　　1996-1999年期間，結果是不那么容易詮釋。第一，活躍在環(huán)境審計領域的最高審計機關數量并沒有太大變化。 “活性基團”的組成沒有保持相同的：一些最高審計機關進入，而其他最高審計機關離開了團隊。環(huán)境審計花費的時間量略

4、有增加。二，但是，審計報告數量略有下降，1996年和1999年之間。這些數字可能反映了從量到質的轉變。這個信號解釋了在過去三年從規(guī)律性審計到績效審計的轉變（1994-1996年，20％的規(guī)律性審計和44％績效審計;1997-1999：16％規(guī)律性審計和績效審計54％） 。在一般情況下，績效審計需要更多的資源。我們必須認識到審計的范圍可能急劇變化。在將來，再將來開發(fā)一些其他方式去測算人們工作量而不是計算通過花費的時間和發(fā)表的報告會是很有趣

5、的。</p><p>　　在2000年，有62個響應了最高審計機關并向工作組提供了更詳細的關于他們自1997年以來公布的工作信息。在1997-1999年，這62個最高審計機關公布的560個環(huán)境審計報告。當然，這些報告反映了一個龐大的身軀，可用于其他機構的經驗。環(huán)境審計報告的參考書目可在網站上的最高審計機關國際組織的工作組看到。這里這個信息是用來給最高審計機關的審計工作的內容更多一些洞察。</p>&

6、lt;p>　　自1997年以來，少數環(huán)境審計是規(guī)律性審計（560篇報告中有87篇，占16％）。大多數審計績效審計（560篇報告中有304篇，占54％），或組合的規(guī)律性和績效審計（560篇報告中有169篇，占30％）。如前文所述，績效審計是一個廣泛的概念。在實踐中，績效審計往往集中于環(huán)保計劃的實施（560篇報告中有264篇，占47％），符合國家環(huán)保法律，法規(guī)的，由政府部門，部委和/或其他機構的任務給訪問（560篇報告中有212篇，占

7、38％）。此外，審計經常被列入政府的環(huán)境管理系統(tǒng)（560篇報告中有156篇，占28％）。下面的元素得到了關注審計報告：影響或影響現有的國家環(huán)境計劃非環(huán)保項目對環(huán)境的影響;環(huán)境政策;由政府遵守國際義務和承諾的10％至20％。許多績效審計包括以上提到的要素之一。</p><p>　　環(huán)境政策和計劃，包括范圍廣泛的環(huán)境問題，而這樣做的審計報告。在上一次調查中，最常見的審計問題是公共機構或部門（162的560個報告，29

8、%），淡水（131 560，</p><p>　　23%（103），廢560報告，18%），與自然和娛樂（102的560報告，18%）。這些最常見的主題是大致相同的世界各地。除了這些主題，吸引了許多其他問題中文全稱：海洋污染，空氣污染，氣候變化，土壤污染/污染的場所，環(huán)境和人類健康，減少噪音，生物多樣性生態(tài)系統(tǒng)管理，農業(yè)，農藥，災難管理和應急準備，工業(yè)污染，礦物質和天然資源，挖掘，漁業(yè)，運輸，放射性，等等。<

9、;/p><p>　　為了得到更好的理解最高審計機關在實踐中環(huán)境審計的工作，收集了有關水問題的50份報告。 “水”的主題，是因為它經常被最高審計機關審核，并在過去的6年中，這是中心主題工作組內的經驗交流。收集的所有報告有不同的側重點。</p><p>　　一些處理財務的控制和管理問題，以及水的問題作為一個次要的主題。幾乎所有的報告都作為起點，如缺乏獲得清潔水，或污染的河流和湖泊水的社會問題。為了

10、讓環(huán)境審計在實踐中有一個廣泛的變化想法，下面給出一些例子進行簡要說明：</p><p>　　規(guī)律性審計的一個例子是中國最高審計機關（1999）進行污水處理廠，對營運資金的審計重點。結果發(fā)現，污水處理費水平低，工廠收到的補貼及營運資金提供給工廠之間存在相當大的差距。中國最高審計機關建議，污水處理費應逐步提高，以確保工廠的正常運作。</p><p>　　以下是一個績效審計的例子：</p&

11、gt;<p>　　符合“拉姆薩爾公約”關于保護濕地和兩個相關的歐盟指令是荷蘭最高審計機關（1999）的主題。在這次審計中，有關濕地也被列入國家環(huán)保計劃的實施。主要結果是荷蘭起草了許多的管理和恢復濕地的計劃，但這些計劃的實施在實踐中往往是有問題的或極其緩慢。由于操作性不足的國際義務，國家政策的自然管理部與地方政府簽訂協(xié)議，履行國際義務。因此，地方當局非常了解客觀方面的義務。</p><p>　　在審計

12、的賽埃及的預防污染對尼羅河（2000），遵守國家規(guī)章制度是最重要的一方面。審計的重點是遵守環(huán)境規(guī)則，法規(guī)，標準和保障保護尼羅河流域和其他新鮮水道，所采取的行動侵犯，和國家衛(wèi)生系統(tǒng)。</p><p>　　西的法國審計的污染水是用于人類消費（2002）。審計報告表明了困境可持續(xù)發(fā)展平衡的經濟和社會目標與環(huán)境目標。主要的結論是，盡管公共支出審計1993以來，一直沒有顯著的改善在水質。本條例旨在調和水域的保護與農業(yè)活動被

13、忽視了贊成后者。此外，條例監(jiān)測的主要是很差為了避免意外污染和不污染擴散源。</p><p>　　在2000年，毛里求斯國家最高審計機關對泄漏飲用水儲存和配送系統(tǒng)進行了審計。這次審計的原因是大量去向不明的水（UFW）（在1998年和1999年生產總量的47％左右），導致“水強調”國家毛里求斯的分類。結合降雨，由2010年的20％以上，估計增加的食水需求的減少，構成一個迫切需要解決的問題的國家。這一短缺嚴重阻礙經濟和

14、社會發(fā)展。審計處認為，如果UFW降低到2010年的35％的目標可以實現，沒有其他主要水資源有被利用。 UFW高水平的原因主要是承包商表現不佳，監(jiān)測他們的工作不足，自來水公司，大量使用不合格的材料，普遍短缺，材料，設備，和熟練的勞動力，和有限的工作規(guī)范。最后一個例子是一個審計的西貢的美國狀態(tài)（2000），其中的重點是政策信息。西決定是否在信息國家水質庫存的環(huán)境保護局（美國環(huán)保署）是可靠的和有代表性的全國水質條件。此外，它審查現有的數據，以

15、確定它們是否是足以讓政府官員使密鑰管理決定水質。</p><p>　　這是不可能的“水政策”，這些報告的基礎上制定的一般性結論。在科目和審計問題的變化太寬。當然，這從來沒有去過這些審計的目的。然而，有一個元素，這似乎是一個中央政策的實施和組織問題：缺乏足夠和可靠的信息。錢上花的基本信息，活動的開展，輸出交付，取得的影響，可用于密鑰管理和政策決策，往往似乎沒有足夠的。這些類型的問題進行鑒定，在幾乎所有的水的審計報告

16、。</p><p>　　國際協(xié)議及與最高審計機構的合作</p><p>　　環(huán)境問題在自然中通常是跨界的。例如：全球變暖，臭氧層耗竭，海洋污染，和自然資源的開發(fā)，如：石油、天然氣、熱帶森林的木材。再者，一些區(qū)域性問題：主要河流的水質量問題，可持續(xù)利用魚類資源，和調查環(huán)境犯罪往往跨越邊界民族國家。因此，許多國家尋求國際合作解決環(huán)境問題。這導致了越來越多的關于環(huán)境問題的國際協(xié)議。這些協(xié)議有：關

17、于環(huán)境變化的京東協(xié)議書，瀕危動物植物的國際慣例，制定公約防止海洋船舶污染，巴塞爾公約控制越境轉移危險廢物，拉姆薩爾公約保護濕地，和生物多樣性公約。</p><p>　　協(xié)定成員國批準后，各國政府負責實施的國際義務，在本國的政策方案和立法。最高審計機關可以通過審計促進國際環(huán)境合作與國際義務和承諾遵守本國政府。</p><p>　　世界審計組織環(huán)境審計工作組想要刺激這種類型的審計，審核程序及國

18、際協(xié)定的選擇提供指引。工作組已經這樣做了，不僅因為審計本身可能是有用的，但也因為這些審計提供優(yōu)良的可能性的合作和最高審計機關之間的信息交換，審查共同問題，并分享具體審計項目的想法。</p><p>　　最高審計機關國際組織第一個指導交易的主題為“最高審計機關如何合作可能經營的國際環(huán)保協(xié)議”（最高審計機關國際組織，1998年）的審計。最高審計機關國際組織的指導意見“標準和環(huán)境審計指引”（最高審計機關國際組織，200

19、1年）中的方法論問題得到了答復。在選擇環(huán)境協(xié)定審計前，工作小組對文件“國際環(huán)保協(xié)議的審計”（國際審計組織環(huán)境審計工作組，2001b）的交易與風險進行了分析。</p><p>　　大多數最后問卷調查的回應表明，他們樂意在不就的將來同其他國家的最高審計機構就國家環(huán)境審計達成協(xié)議（76%，2102）。越來越多的國家最高審計機關已經在環(huán)境領域的合作審計和/或與審計環(huán)境協(xié)議方面得到了經驗。幾個已經聯合或協(xié)調的國家最高審計機

20、關進行了審計海洋污染。合作主要發(fā)生在區(qū)域一級，他們共有一個水的對象起點。</p><p>　　一些聯合審計的例子已經給定，八個最高審計機關審計“公約”關于保護波羅的海海洋環(huán)境（最高審計機關，丹麥，愛沙尼亞，芬蘭，拉脫維亞，立陶宛，波蘭，俄羅斯，瑞典，2001）。波蘭，捷克共和國和斯洛伐克共和國的最高審計機關聯合審核的實施和履行關于保護波羅的海（2002）注入河流的水質污染的任務。</p><p

21、>　　其他八個主要是歐洲各國最高審計機關的審計協(xié)議污染海域的船舶（以色列，2001年，最高審計機關，荷蘭，2001年，最高審計機關，最高審計機關，英國，2002年，最高審計機關，2002年塞浦路斯，馬耳他，2003年，最高審計機關;世2003年意大利，希臘，2003年，最高審計機關，最高審計機關法國和聯合報告，報告在準備中）。三個斯堪的納維亞的最高審計機構進行審核，“保護東北大西洋海洋環(huán)境公約”，其中涉及海洋污染的陸基源（SAIS

22、丹麥，冰島，挪威，2001）。</p><p>　　其他審計相關的一條河流，跨越（一）邊境（次）。五最高審計機關審計索菲亞公約“關于保護和可持續(xù)利用多瑙河（最高審計機關，保加利亞，2001年，最高審計機關，克羅地亞，2002年，最高審計機關，羅馬尼亞，2002年，斯洛伐克共和國和斯洛文尼亞最高審計機關報告：在準備中），哥倫比亞和委內瑞拉一起工作河上Ta'chira的計劃（最高審計機關，哥倫比亞，2002年

23、）。</p><p>　　此外，發(fā)生其他形式的國際合作，如交換信息和審計方法，審計工作并不受一項國際協(xié)議（如在城市的飲用水供應），或聯合培訓課程和研討會上的一個共享主題合作。</p><p>　　若要稽核一個國際性的的環(huán)境協(xié)定，最高審計機關是之間的的合作不是一個先決條件條件。一些最高審計機關審核符合他們的政府與單獨的國際協(xié)定。一些例子：西加拿大審計“巴塞爾公約”危險廢物（1997），“蒙特

24、利爾議定書”和“維也納公約”臭氧損耗和氣候變化公約“（1998年），”生物多樣性公約“（1998年）。該美國最高審計機關（1999年）之經審核在“京都議定書”上的氣候變化的。荷蘭最高審計機關以及審計（2002年）。新西蘭最高審計機關最高審核管理的多邊協(xié)議，涉及問責制和報告四個國際環(huán)境協(xié)定（2001年）。秘魯世審計野生動植物（2001）在瀕危物種國際貿易公約“。</p><p>　　最近，在歐洲，亞洲，非洲，拉丁美

25、洲和太平洋地區(qū)，區(qū)域環(huán)境審計工作組已經成立。這些團體將繼續(xù)并加強在區(qū)域一級，最高審計機關之間的合作在不久的將來提供一個良好的平臺。</p><p><b>　　結論</b></p><p>　　主要結論可以得出的調查中表示如下。</p><p>　　●環(huán)境計劃和方案的制定，由政府在1993年和1996年之間迅速增長?，F在，大多數國家都建立了某種

26、形式的環(huán)保政策。然而，在許多國家的審計機構，制定環(huán)境政策的清晰度是開放的改善。</p><p>　　●幾乎所有的最高審計機關可以應用到所有的政府部門，包括環(huán)保部門的一般授權。大多數的最高審計機關有權做“事后”的審計，包括正?；蜇攧諏徲嫼涂冃徲嫽蚝夤ち恐凳?。</p><p>　　●最高審計機關越來越多的成為活躍在環(huán)境審計領域。經過定量的增長，績效審計轉變，從規(guī)律性被發(fā)現?，F在，一半以上的最

27、高審計機關的審計工作環(huán)境審計是一項重大的常規(guī)部分。</p><p>　　●最高審計機關可以通過審計促進國際環(huán)境合作與國際環(huán)境的義務和承諾遵守本國政府。世界審計組織環(huán)境審計工作組要激發(fā)這種類型的審計，審核程序及國際協(xié)定的選擇提供了指引。此外，最高審計機關之間的合作是一個很好的方式來交流經驗，互相學習。在過去的5年期間，一些進行聯合環(huán)境審計，主要是在區(qū)域一級。最近成立的區(qū)域工作組將提供一個平臺，以繼續(xù)并加強最高審計機

28、關之間的合作在不久的將來。</p><p>　　最高審計機關國際組織的工作組的調查結果，最高審計機關在環(huán)境審計的發(fā)展提供了一次見識。在未來，這將是有趣的，更詳細地評估對環(huán)境的貢獻，改善環(huán)境治理和政策表現的最高審計機關的審計工作。此外，這將是很有意思的評價最高審計機關的審計國際環(huán)境協(xié)定：聯合和協(xié)調審計項目的核數師的專業(yè)技能的貢獻之間的國際合作優(yōu)勢，與合作的質量的影響審計。這也將是有趣的，以評估是否聯合審計，國際環(huán)境

29、合作做出更大的貢獻比僅僅通過最高審計機構的單項審核。</p><p>　　Environmental Audit Activities of SAIs</p><p>　　A growing number of SAIs are active in the field of environmental auditing. Particularly for the period 1993–1

30、996, the Working Group has detected a firm quantitative growth of environmental auditing activities. First, more SAIs have become active in this field. Second, active SAIs even have become more active: they have allocate

31、d a larger part of their audit resources to his type of work and published more environmental audit reports. Table 1 shows the average figures. However, here are large di</p><p>　　For the period 1996–1999, t

32、he results are not so easy to interpret. First, the number of SAIs active in the field of environmental auditing did not change much. The composition of the “active group” did not remain the same: some SAIs entered, whil

33、e other SAIs left the group. The amount of time spent on environmental auditing increased slightly. Second, however, the number of audit reports dropped slightly between 1996 and 1999. These figures might reflect a shift

34、 from quantity to quality. A sign</p><p>　　In 2000, 62 of the responding SAIs provided the Working Group with more detailed information on their work, published since 1997. In 1997–1999, these 62 SAIs publis

35、hed 560 environmental audit reports. Of course these reports reflect a huge body of experience that can be used by other institutions. A bibliography of environmental audit reports is available on the Web site of the INT

36、OSAI Working Group. Here this information is used to give some more insight into the content of the audit work of SA</p><p>　　Since 1997, a minority of the environmental audits are regularity audits only (87

37、 of the 560 reports, 16%). Most audits are performance audits (304 of the 560 reports, 54%), or a combination of regularity and performance audits (169 of the 560 reports, 30%). As stated before, performance auditing is

38、a broad concept. In practice, performance audits were very often concentrated on the implementation of environmental programs (264 of the 560 reports, 47%) and on compliance with national environment</p><p>

39、　　The environmental policies and programs include a wide range of environmental issues, and so do the audit reports. In the last survey, the most frequently audited issues were internal environmental management by public

40、 authorities or departments (162 of 560 reports, 29%), fresh water (131 of 560 reports, 23%), waste (103 of 560 reports, 18%), and nature and recreation (102 of 560 reports, 18%). These most common topics were roughly th

41、e same in all parts of the world. Besides these</p><p>　　topics, many other issues attracted the attention of SAIs: marine pollution, air pollution, climate change, soil pollution/contaminated sites, the env

42、ironment and human health, noise reduction, biodiversity and ecosystems management, agriculture, pesticides, disaster management and emergency preparedness, industrial pollution, minerals and natural resources, mining, f

43、ishery, transport, radioactivity, and so on.</p><p>　　To get a better understanding of the environmental audit work of SAIs in practice, about 50 reports related to water issues were gathered. The theme “wat

44、er” was chosen because it was frequently audited by SAIs and it was the central theme for the exchange of experiences within the Working Group during the past 6 years. The reports collected all have a different focus.<

45、;/p><p>　　Some deal with financial control and management issues, and have water issues as a secondary subject. Nearly all reports have water problems in society as a starting point, such as the lack of access

46、to clean water, or the pollution of rivers and lakes. To give an idea of the wide variation of environmental audits in practice, some examples are briefly described.</p><p>　　An example of a regularity audit

47、 is an audit focused on the operating funds of a wastewater treatment plant, conducted by the SAI of China (1999). It was found that the wastewater treatment fee level was low, and a rather big gap existed between the su

48、bsidy the plant receives and the operating funds available to the plant. The Chinese SAI recommended that the fee for wastewater treatment should be raised step by step to ensure normal operation of the plant.</p>

49、<p>　　The following audits examples are performance audits.</p><p>　　Compliance to the Ramsar Convention on the Protection of Wetlands and two related European Union directives was the subject of an au

50、dit by the SAI of The Netherlands (1999). In this audit, the implementation of national environmental programs related to wetlands was also included. The main findings were that The Netherlands had drafted many plans for

51、 the management and restoration of wetlands, but in practice the implementation of these plans was often problematic or extremely slow. The internat</p><p>　　In the audit by the SAI of Egypt on the preventio

52、n of pollution of the Nile River (2000), compliance to national rules and regulations was the most important aspect. The audit was focused on compliance with environmental rules, legislations, and standards that safeguar

53、d</p><p>　　protection of the Nile River and other fresh waterways, the actions taken against violations, and the state of the sanitation system.</p><p>　　The SAI of France did an audit on the po

54、llution of water that is intended for human consumption (2002). The audit report illustrates the dilemma of sustainable development— balancing the economic and social objectives with the environmental objectives. The mai

55、n conclusion of the audit was that despite public expenditure since 1993, there has been no significant improvement</p><p>　　in water quality. The regulations designed to reconcile water protection with agri

56、cultural activities</p><p>　　were ignored in favor of the latter. Moreover, the regulations were poorly monitored and were primarily designed to avert accidental pollution and not pollution</p><p&

57、gt;　　from diffuse sources.</p><p>　　In 2000, the SAI of Mauritius conducted an audit on leakage in potable water storage and distribution systems. The reason for this audit was a large volume of unaccounted-

58、for-water (UFW) (around 47 percent of total production in 1998 and 1999) that led to the classification of Mauritius as a “water stressed” country. The decrease in rainfall in combination with an estimated increase in th

59、e demand for potable water by more than 20% by 2010 poses an urgent problem for the country. This shortage ca</p><p>　　The last example is an audit of the SAI of the United States (2000), which is focused on

60、 policy information. The SAI determined whether the information in the National Water Quality Inventory of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was reliable and representative of water-quality conditions nationwide.

61、 Moreover, it reviewed available data to determine whether they were sufficient to allow state officials to make key management decisions regarding water quality. </p><p>　　It is not possible to formulate a

62、general conclusion on “water policy” based on these reports. The variation in subjects and audit questions is too wide. Of course, this had never been the purpose of these audits. Nevertheless, there is one element that

63、does seem to be a central problem of policy implementation and organization: the lack of sufficient and reliable information. Basic information on money spent, activities carried out, outputs delivered, and impacts achie

64、ved, to be used for key ma</p><p>　　International Agreements and Cooperation Between SAIs</p><p>　　Environmental problems are often transboundary in nature. Examples of global environmental prob

65、lems are global warming, depletion of the ozone layer, ocean pollution, and the exploitation of natural resources such as oil and gas or wood from tropical forests. Also, regional problems such as the water quality in ma

66、jor rivers, sustainable use of fish stocks, or the investigation</p><p>　　of environmental crimes often cross the borders of national states. Therefore, many countries seek international cooperation to solve

67、 environmental problems. This has resulted in a growing number of international agreements on environmental issues. Examples of international environmental agreements are the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change, the Convent

68、ion on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Ships, the Basel </p><p>　　After ratification of the agreements by the member

69、 countries, national governments are responsible for implementing the international obligations in their national policy programs and legislation. SAIs can contribute to international environmental cooperation by auditin

70、g the compliance of their national government with international obligations and commitments. </p><p>　　The INTOSAI Working Group on environmental auditing wants to stimulate this type of audit and has provi

71、ded guidelines for the audit process and the selection of international agreements. The Working Group has done this not only because the audit itself might be useful, but also because these audits provide excellent possi

72、bilities for cooperation and the exchange of information between SAIs, to examine common issues, and to share ideas on specific audit topics.</p><p>　　The first INTOSAI Guidance deals with the subject “How S

73、AIs may co-operate on the audit of international environmental accords” (INTOSAI, 1998). Methodological questions were answered in the INTOSAI Guidance “Standards and guidelines on environmental auditing” (INTOSAI, 2001)

74、. The Working Group Paper “The audit of international environmental accords” (INTOSAI Working Group on Environmental Auditing, 2001b) deals with the risk-analysis, preceding the selection of an environmental agreement to

75、 aud</p><p>　　The majority of SAIs that responded to the last questionnaire indicated that they were interested in cooperation with another SAI to audit an international environmental agreement in the near f

76、uture (76%, N=102). A growing number of SAIs already have experience with cooperation in the field of environmental auditing and/or with auditing an environmental agreement. Several joint or coordinated audits were perfo

77、rmed on marine pollution. Cooperation mainly occurred on a regional level, with a share</p><p>　　Some examples of joint audits are given. Eight SAIs audited the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Env

78、ironment of the Baltic Sea (SAIs of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and Sweden, 2001). The SAIs of Poland, the Czech Republic, and the Slovak Republic jointly audited the implementation and

79、fulfilment of tasks concerning the protection of water pollution of rivers emptying into the Baltic Sea (2002).</p><p>　　Eight other—mainly European—SAIs audited agreements on pollution of the sea by ships (

80、SAI of Israel, 2001; SAI of The Netherlands, 2001; SAI of the United Kingdom, 2002; SAI of Cyprus, 2002; SAI of Malta, 2003; SAI of Greece, 2003; SAI of Italy, 2003; report of the SAI of France and joint report, in prepa

81、ration). Three Scandinavian SAIs performed an audit on the OSPAR Convention, which deals with pollution of the sea by land-based sources (SAIs of Denmark, Iceland, and Norway, 2001).</p><p>　　Other audits we

82、re related to a river that crosses (a) border(s). Five SAIs audited the Sofia Convention on the Protection and Sustainable Use of the River Danube (SAI of Bulgaria, 2001; SAI of Croatia, 2002; SAI of Romania, 2002; repor

83、ts of the SAIs of Slovak Republic and Slovenia: in preparation), and Colombia and Venezuela worked together on the River Ta´chira Project (SAI of Colombia, 2002). </p><p>　　Also, other forms of internat

84、ional cooperation occurred, such as the exchange of information and audit methods, cooperation on audit work on a shared subject not regulated by an international agreement (such as drinking-water supplies in cities), or

85、 joint training courses and seminars.</p><p>　　To audit an international environmental agreement, cooperation between SAIs is not a prerequisite condition. Several SAIs audited the compliance of their govern

86、ment with international agreements alone. Some examples: The SAI of Canada audited the Basel Convention on Hazardous Waste (1997), the Montreal Protocol and the Vienna Convention on Ozone Depletion, and the Convention on

87、 Climate Change (1998), and the Convention on Biological Diversity (1998). The SAI of the United States (1999) audited t</p><p>　　Recently, in Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Pacific, regional w

88、orking groups on environmental auditing have been established. These groups will provide a good platform to continue and enhance the cooperation between SAIs at the regional level in the near future.</p><p>

89、　　Conclusions</p><p>　　The main conclusions that can be drawn from the survey among SAIs are as follows.</p><p>　　● The formulation of environmental plans and programs by governments grew rapidl

90、y between 1993 and 1996. Now, most countries have established some form of environmental policy. However, according to the audit institutions in many countries, the clarity of the environmental policy formulation is open

91、 to improvement.</p><p>　　● Nearly all SAIs have a general mandate that can be applied to all sectors of the government including the environmental sector. Most SAIs are entitled to do “ex post” audits, incl

92、uding regularity or financial audits and performance audits or value for money audits.</p><p>　　● A growing number of SAIs became active in the field of environmental auditing. After a quantitative growth, a

93、 shift from regularity to performance audits was noticed. Now, environmental auditing is a substantial and regular part of the audit work of more than half of the SAIs.</p><p>　　● SAIs can contribute to inte

94、rnational environmental cooperation by auditing the compliance of their national government with international environmental obligations and commitments. The INTOSAI Working Group on environmental auditing wants to stimu

95、late this type of audit, and has provided guidelines for the audit process and the selection of international agreements. Moreover, cooperation between SAIs is a good way to exchange experiences and to learn from each ot

96、her. During the last 5 years, s</p><p>　　The results of the survey of the INTOSAI Working Group provide a first insight in the development of environmental auditing by SAIs. In the future it would be interes

97、ting to evaluate in greater detail the contribution of the environmental audit work of SAIs to the improvement of environmental governance and policy performance. Also, it would be interesting to evaluate the added advan