Day 1 - Environmental Change and Indigenous Knowledge
Opening Session
Prof Eeva Primmer is the Research Director of the Finnish Environment Institute (Syke) where she is responsible for the quality, integrity, and impact of Syke's research. She is also a Bureau Member in the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and a Panel member of the United Nations International Resource Panel (UN-IRP), an adjunct professor (Docent) of Environmental Policy at the University of Helsinki, a member of the Council of Alternet, a European science-policy interface on biodiversity and ecosystem services as well as a member of the Finnish Forest Council. Previously Prof. Primmer, has been an Associate Editor at the Elsevier journal Ecosystem Services.
The substance focus of Eeva Primmer’s research has been on ecosystem services, biodiversity, forests, natural resources, energy, and sustainable development. In her work, she has studied how institutions, networks of public and private actors as well as constant; and sometimes abrupt, environmental change shape policy and management at different governance levels. Prof. Primmer’s research work has been carried out in projects ranging from short evaluations to multi-year large collaborations. Her research has been published in academic peer-refereed journals, monographs, and conference proceedings.
Anni Koivisto or by her Sámi name Koivu-Jusse Ánne is a member of Sámi Parliament in Finland and has also worked as its vice-president during the past four-year term. She has been working especially on issues related to education, languages, youth, social and health care services, fishing regulations in river Teno and truth and reconciliation process.
Petteri Vuorimäki was appointed Finland’s Ambassador for Arctic Affairs as from 1 September 2019. He was also the Finnish Senior Arctic Official in the Arctic Council. Until the fall of 2022 also Ambassador for Antarctic Affairs. Before his current post he served in diplomatic postings for Finland in Moscow, Pristina, Strasbourg and Brussels. Before his MFA career he worked for the International Organization for Migration in Geneva (Coordinator for Russia and the CIS Countries) and Helsinki and held various positions in the Finnish Labour Administration.
During his tenure in Brussels, he worked in the Finnish Permanent Representation to the EU in charge of the COEST Working Party (Russia, CIS, Arctic and Northern Cooperation, European Neighborhood Policy, Black Sea cooperation), in the External Relations Directorate General of the European Commission (Unit for Relations with Russia) and in the European External Action Service, where he was 2011 appointed as the first permanent chairperson for the COEST and COSCE Working Parties and subsequently as from 2015 a Senior Russia Expert. In Brussels his primary fields of interest and responsibility were related to EU-Russia relations, Union’s Eastern Neighborhood and various regional cooperation structures in the North, including the Arctic cooperation. He was also selected as the Chair of the Vision Group for the Council of the Baltic Sea States which was a group of independent experts which submitted a report to the CBSS Ministerial meeting on the future of the CBSS and the Baltic Sea region cooperation.
Dr Hannu Takkula is a Finnish Member of the European Court of Auditors (ECA). Since joining the ECA in March 2018, Dr Takkula has been a member of Chamber 3, which is responsible for EU spending on external actions, security and justice. Dr Takkula has been the reporting member on various audit topics related to, for instance, EU spending on Morocco, humanitarian aid for education and the programming of EU Neighborhood and Development Instrument (NDICI). One of his most recent audit reports related to Global Climate Change Alliance. He also chairs the ECA Internal audit committee.
Prior to joining the Court, Dr Takkula served as a longstanding politician both as a Member of the European Parliament (2004-2018) and of the national Parliament of Finland (1995-2004). In the European Parliament Dr Takkula‘s work focused on issues related to international trade, education and culture, agriculture and rural development.
Dr Takkula holds a Doctorate Degree in Education from the University of Lapland.
Arctic Environmental Change
Prof Petteri Taalas is specialised in climate change, disasters, water, change management/efficiency gains and the UN affairs. He was born in 1961, and he has a PhD in Meteorology from the University of Helsinki. Prof. Taalas has an extensive professional career both in scientific as well as in leadership positions in the field of Atmospheric Science. Prior to his 8-year term as the Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in Geneva, he worked as the Director General of the Finnish Meteorological Institute for 11 years and he has now returned as of beginning of 2024 to this position.
He has wide experience on positions of trust in several national and international organizations (Member of the Climate Core Group of the UN Secretary-General, Chairman of the Board of European Meteorological Satellite Organization, Vice-Chair of the EC Atmospheric Science Panel, Delegate in the IPCC and Chairman of the National IPCC Committee), academia (e.g. the Chairman of the Board of the University of Eastern Finland) as
well as in private sector (e.g. in the Board of Directors of Fortum energy company).
Under his leadership, a historically comprehensive reform process was made at WMO to modernize its structures, partnerships as well as its role as the global authoritative voice in climate, disasters and water science. Taalas was nominated as the European of the year in 2021 by the Readers Digest, Ex-pat of the year by the Finland Society in 2019, Alumni of the year of Helsinki University in 2012 and the Friend of UN in 2022.
Leena Ylä-Mononen is Executive Director of the European Environment Agency since 1 June 2023. She has a master’s degree in environmental sciences, specialising in ecotoxicology and chemicals risk assessment and management.
Before joining the EEA, Leena was Director General at the Ministry of Environment of Finland, managing the Climate and Environmental Protection Department.
Before joining the Ministry in 2019, Ms Ylä-Mononen worked for over 11 years in management positions in the European Chemicals Agency in Helsinki. Prior to ECHA, she worked in the European Commission, Directorate-General for Environment, on chemicals and pesticides policy files.
Earlier in her career she worked in the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE) on environmental risk assessment and management of industrial chemicals, biocides and pesticides.
Ms Ylä-Mononen has been involved in international cooperation at the Nordic, European, OECD and global levels, and in negotiations and implementation of multilateral environmental agreements on chemicals, waste and climate change.
Dr Sanna Kopra is a Senior Researcher at the Arctic Centre of University of Lapland, where she leads the Arctic International Relations research team. She is also a Senior Fellow at The Arctic Institute –Center for Circumpolar Security Studies in Washington D.C., and an adjunct professor (docent) in International Politics at University of Turku, Finland. Sanna Kopra’s research focuses on Arctic geopolitics and global environmental politics. She is the author of China and Great Power Responsibility for Climate Change (Routledge 2019) and a co-editor of Chinese Policy and Presence in the Arctic (Brill Publishing 2020, with Timo Koivurova). Currently, Kopra leads three research projects: Rethinking International Relations in an Era of the Planetocene: Case Arctic Ocean Up to 2050 (Research Council of Finland, 2023-2027), A Planetary Approach to Global Arctic Politics (University of Lapland’s internal strategy funding, 2022-2024), and Climate Responsibility as a Cornerstone of Multilateral Cooperation? (Kone Foundation, 2022-2025).
Jerry V. DeMarco has served as Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development since February 2021. A lifelong interest in nature and a 25-year career devoted to working in the environmental field have positioned Mr. DeMarco as a leading Canadian expert in environmental policy and law.
Before joining the OAG, from 2019 to 2021, Mr. DeMarco served as Commissioner of the Environment and Assistant Auditor General at the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario.
In addition to a bachelor’s degree from the University of Windsor, Mr. DeMarco has a law degree from the University of Toronto and master’s degrees in environmental studies (York University), management (McGill University), and science (University of Toronto). He also holds a diploma in French studies from the Université de Savoie and certificates in adjudication and alternative dispute resolution. He is a member of the Law Society of Ontario and a Registered Professional Planner and member of the Canadian Institute of Planners.
Michael Kuur Sørensen is from Denmark. He has been working with environmental audits since 2017. He has expertise in the fields of regulation on pesticides, agricultural support, PFAS and various topics related to energy security.
Indigenous Knowledge
Florian Stammler, Research Professor of the Arctic Centre, University of Lapland
Florian Stammler is Research Professor at the University of Lapland’s Arctic Centre (Finland), established and coordinates its anthropology research team. He has led Finnish and international research projects and consortia and published extensively on Arctic human social and cultural diversity and similarity across national borders. One of his key topics is the relation between humans and their environment in the Arctic. This also includes the analysis of relations to the spirits, between the advance of (extractive) industries and rural/indigenous livelihoods, notions of community well-being among indigenous herders as well as Arctic urban industrial youth, and relations between states and their remotest Arctic human subjects. Stammler is a well-known expert on the Russian Arctic, where he has lived for years. Through cooperation with international TV he has also helped popularising Arctic Science, such as on the BBC, (“Arctic with Bruce Parry”, “Frozen Planet”) Discovery (“Tribe”), ZDF/arte (“Terra X”), and others.
Olivier Rukundo, Head of Peoples and Biodiversity Unit, Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity
Olivier Rukundo has over 15 years of progressively responsible experience in project and programme management and policy development in the areas of biodiversity, agriculture and sustainable development.
Rukundo currently serves as the Head of the Peoples and Biodiversity Unit at the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity where he oversees all matters related to Article 8( j) and related provisions as well as the gender and biodiversity portfolio.
Prior to his appointment at the Secretariat of the CBD, Mr. Rukundo worked as legal and technical advisor for the FAO International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. He has also served in numerous other agencies including WIPO, UNDP, GIZ and IDLO
Antti-Oula Juuso, Sámi Climate Council
Antti-Oula Juuso has lived his whole life in Enontekiö, a municipality in outermost northwest of Finland. He works as reindeer herder and therefore spends a lot of time in the Arctic hills (tunturi). He is an indigenous knowledge holder and a member of the Finnish Sámi Climate Council.
Klemetti Näkkäläjärvi, Chair of the Sámi Climate Council
President of Sámi Climate Council, PhD Klemetti Näkkäläjärvi is a Sámi researcher from Enontekiö, Finland. His research projects address climate adaptation, indigenous youth perceptions of climate change, biodiversity, indigenous participation, co-production of knowledge in Sámi reindeer herding culture and climate justice for Sámi. In 2019 he worked as co-project leader in a research project SAAMI – adaptation of Sámi people to the climate change at the University of Oulu. He has also worked in International Centre for Reindeer Husbandry (ICR) in Norway, Kautokeino as a project leader and as full-time president of Sámi Parliament of Finland in 2008-2016. His current position is senior researcher at the University of Helsinki.
Kritsanu Thipnoy, SAI Thailand
Kritsanu Thipnoy has worked as a public auditor for almost 15 years, gaining experience in public-sector auditing, especially performance auditing.
He has been interested in rural development and local community empowerment since his undergraduate study in Development Economics.
Prior to his current role at SAI Thailand, he attended the Graduate Volunteer Programme on improving the quality of life of stateless persons and ethnic groups in northern Thailand.
After completing his master’s in Environmental Sciences, major in Environmental Economics and Natural Resources, he has engaged with INTOSAI WEGA’s projects since 2020.
Michael Malabeja, Chief External Auditor, SAI Tanzania
Master's degrees in Environmental Sciences and Management, specialising on Environmental Technologies for Sustainable Development.
Michael Malabeja was a pioneer who was instrumental in driving an environmental auditing Agenda in Africa. From 2008 to 2014, he was the environmental audit coordinator for the working group on environmental audit in the African Organization for Supreme Audit Institutions (AFROSAI), and he actively supported approximately (30) African countries in conducting their first environmental audit. He continues to support various SAIs in Africa in developing their capability in environmental auditing. Michael is also a qualified Performance Auditor.
For the past 16 years, Michael has worked as Performance Auditor responsible for Environmental Auditing at the National Audit Office of Tanzania. He is currently the Chief External Auditor (Performance Audit Manager) at the National Audit Office of Tanzania.
Indigenous Knowledge: Audit Cases and SAI Practices
John Ryan, Auditor General of SAI New Zealand
John Ryan is New Zealand’s Controller and Auditor-General. Since beginning his term in 2018, Mr Ryan has placed an emphasis on enhancing SAI New Zealand’s impact with Māori, New Zealand’s indigenous population. This includes building meaningful relationships with Māori leaders and stakeholders, seeking Māori input into the SAI’s annual work programme planning, and integrating Māori perspectives into how the SAI works and what it focuses on. SAI New Zealand has developed a strategy and framework to guide this work, researched how the Office’s historical work impacted Māori communities, and has published reports about Māori perspectives on public accountability and how the public sector is delivering improved outcomes for Māori.
Bachelor or Laws (Australian Indigenous Studies)
Carla Ware is a proud Mualgal woman. She has extensive public sector experience, including as Acting Deputy Ombudsman in the Aboriginal Engagement and Programs division, and with the Department of Juvenile Justice. Her work across oversight agencies has had a focus on representing and elevating issues experienced by First Nations people. Her role at the Audit Office of New South Wales is to design and lead performance audits on issues impacting First Nations communities. She also provides advice and support across other audits where First Nations issues are a cross-cutting consideration, and across the office more broadly on engagement and capability uplift in this space.
Mark Gaffigan, Managing Director, SAI USA
Mark Gaffigan is the Managing Director of the US Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) Natural Resources and Environment (NRE) team. The NRE team is responsible for GAO’s oversight of federal efforts to sustain the nation’s land and water resources, fulfill its responsibilities for tribal and Native American issues, protect the environment, ensure food safety, manage agricultural programs, ensure a reliable and sustainable energy supply and address US and international nuclear security and cleanup. He also leads GAO’s collaboration and knowledge sharing efforts with other national audit offices on environmental and extractive industries auditing. Mark joined GAO in 1987. He holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Illinois. In 1999, Mark passed the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam in the State of Maryland. Mark is assigned to GAO’s Washington, DC office and lives near Frederick, Maryland with his wife and family.
Adriano Martins Juras, Governmental Auditor, SAI Brazil
Adriano Martins Juras, Governmental Auditor at SAI Brazil (TCU) for 10 years, holds degrees in Law, Constitutional Law, and Control of Public Policies. Coordinator of the 2nd and 3rd editions of the Coordinated Audit on Protected Areas in countries of Latin America, Caribbean, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Member of the ClimateScanner coordinating team. Currently, advisor at the Specialized Audit Unit of Environment, Agriculture and Economic Development at SAI Brazil. Soon joining the INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI) as Manager Professional and Relevant SAIs.
Normas Andi Ahmad, Senior Auditor, SAI Indonesia
Normas Andi Ahmad is a senior auditor of the Audit Board of the Republic of Indonesia (BPK) who holds a master degree in Environment and Sustainable Development from University of Glasgow. He regularly leads a team of performance audit related to environmental matters, such as audit of energy transition, audit of sustainable urban transport, as well as audit of climate change mitigation and adaptation in forestry sector. He is also experienced as instructor in training of SDGs audit held by BPK Training Institute, guess faculty in training of environmental audit organized by International Centre for Environment Audit and Sustainable Development (iCED), as well as speaker in other events related to environmental audit in public sector. In addition to that, he was a Subject-Matter Expert on Environmental Audit in the Cooperative Environmental Audit on Water Management of Mekong River Basin who provided consultation, advice, and training on environmental audit to participating SAIs.
Mona Fahmy, Administration Undersecretary, SAI Egypt
Mona Fahmy Abdel Wahab, General Manager ,with more than 20 years experience in Financial and Environmental auditing, working at The Central Department for Financial Auditing of the Presidential, Economic and Service Ministries, SAI EGYPT (ASA) earned a Master degree in Business Administration (MBA) from Arab Academy for Science & Technology, Egypt. Majoring in Strategic Management.Also, a member of the Working Group of Environmental Auditing at SAI Egypt.
Claudia Migotto, Assistant Auditor-General, Audit Office of New South Wales, Australia
Bachelor of Arts (Honours), Master of Public Health, Master of Policy Studies, Graduate Australian Institute of Company Directors
Claudia Migotto has over 20 years’ experience across Australian and NSW government agencies in policy and program development, implementation, and evaluation. Claudia has also held leadership roles in agencies tasked with providing independent information to the community on the performance of governments – including the COAG Reform Council and the National Mental Health Commission. Her work in reporting on the performance of governments has touched on a diverse range of sectors including health system performance, disability, mental health, drug and alcohol issues, gender equity, Indigenous communities, and housing.
Day 2 - Parallel Sessions: Work Plan Projects and Other Workshops
Aeree Joy Kim has been working in the nexus between economic and environmental policies for over 20 years. Since she joined UNEP, she has been working on green economy policy including fiscal policy and public finance. Since 2014, she has been supporting economic and financial transformations initially through the Green Economy Advisory Services in Africa as well as the Partnership of Action on Green Economy (PAGE). She is currently leading GEF-8 project on Net Zero Nature Positive (NZNP) Accelerator and supporting the development of countries’ national strategy and plan on NZNP. Before joining UNEP, she worked as an economist/senior policy analyst at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), supporting global negotiations on climate change and trade through analytical work. Prior to that, she worked at the United Nations University in Tokyo as a Programm Coordinator, the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research in the UK and the Korea Institute on Economic Policy as a research fellow. She was a leadership fellow at Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She holds a doctoral degree from the University of East Anglia in the UK.
Charles Karangwa, International Union for Conservation of Nature
Marie-Pierre Grondin, SAI Canada
Johanna Pakarinen is Senior Statistician and product owner of Environmental Accounts at Statistics Finland. In addition to Environmental Accounting, she has worked with statistical fields such as National Accounting, Enterprise Statistics, Trade in Services and Globalization. Pakarinen is also the Chair of the UNECE Task Force on Measuring Circular Economy.
Dr Katharina Bryan is Head of Sustainability Reporting Policy at Amazon and leads engagements in the EU, UK and internationally (ISSB). She combines strong sustainability policy, performance reporting and auditing expertise to advise on public policy at national and supranational level. Before joining Amazon, she worked for the European Court of Auditors (ECA), an EU institution based in Luxembourg, for 13 years, five of which as Head of Private Office of an ECA Member. She signed responsible for strategy, oversaw audit work and stakeholder relations. Throughout her career she specialised in sustainability and climate change. Before joining the ECA, she managed EU Funds for economic and social development in her native region, Burgenland (Austria). She holds a Doctorate in Economic and Social Sciences from Vienna University of Economics and Business, a Master in European Law from the University of Liverpool and a Master in International Business Relations from the University of Applied Sciences, Burgenland.
Alex Metcalfe leads ACCA’s global public sector strategy – driving the organisation’s public sector brand building, qualification development, and fostering communities of good practice.
Prior to ACCA, he worked across central, provincial and local government in the UK and Canadian civil service, including as a senior economist - specialising in tax policy - at the Ontario Ministry of Finance. He has published material across a breadth of public sector topics, including infrastructure finance, financial reporting, public procurement, fiscal policy, immigration and skills, and adult social care.
Metcalfe is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), member of the public sector committees of the Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants (CAPA) and Accountancy Europe, and sits on the editorial board for the academic book series Public Service Accounting and Accountability.
He studied at Oxford, Cambridge and Queen's universities.
Khalid Hamid has over 30 years’ experience in public audit, having held leadership positions in the UK, South Africa and the UAE.
Throughout his career, he has been involved in an array of projects, including standard setting and capacity development, across the supreme audit institution community. Khalid has also been a member of several influential committees, including chairing the Financial Audit and Accounting Subcommittee of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI). He is currently a member of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) Professional Accountancy Organization Development & Advisory Group (PAODAG). He is currently an Honorary Professor at the University of Durham.
Over the past four years, he has served as the International Director at the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), growing the institute’s global footprint, with a particular focus on integrating CIPFA’s offering for financial managers, accountants, auditors and other public finance professionals.
Peter Welch has worked in the SAIs of the United Kingdom, Bolivia and the European Union, and on the external audit teams of several UN agencies. At the European Court of Auditors, he was the Director responsible for successively the audit of the consolidated financial statements of the European Union and the Sustainable Use of Natural Resources. He is currently a senior advisor at the OECD, within the Public Management and Budget division.
Jade Quarrell, IDI
Jade Quarrell started her career in public sector accounting and auditing in UK local government. Quarrell’s interest in accounting and auditing was coupled with a passion for capacity development and professional education. After leaving local government Jade worked first as a senior trainer for a professional accounting organisation before joining IDI to work as a Senior Manager in the Professional and Relevant SAIs department delivering initiatives such as Professional Education for SAI Auditors (PESA) and SAI Young Leaders (SYL). Throughout her career, she has been constantly learning and adapting to new technologies and trends. She is passionate about innovation and believes that it is the key to unlocking success in any sector. Jade has contributed to the IDI work on public sector sustainability oversight developed in partnership with ACCA and IFAC.
Chomprang Wongrusmeeduan, SAI Thailand
Chomprang Wongrusmeeduan has joined SAI Thailand in 2018 and presently serves for the International Academic Division. She is in a research team which has developed auditing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Thailand and has engaged with various international working groups in environmental audit.
According to the academic background, she graduated with M.A. in Development Economics major at Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands supported by the Royal Thai Government scholarship. She had professional experience at FMO-Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank as a sustainability reporting intern. She is now working as part of the project lead team in sustainability reporting for INTOSAI WGEA.
Ashari Budi Silvianto, Deputy Director, SAI Indonesia
Ashari Budi Silvianto holds the position of Deputy Director of Audit on Environment and Forestry, leveraging his expertise in regional planning, with a master's degree from Gajah Mada University. His educational background has equipped him with a deep understanding of the intricacies of regional planning, which he applies to his current role. He is passionate about the management and environmental impact of public activities as well as the reconciliation of various facets of public sector reporting, including financial reporting, performance reporting, and sustainability reporting. Through his position, he actively contributes to the oversight and evaluation of environmental and forestry initiatives, ensuring that public activities align with sustainable practices.
Fery Irawan, Senior Auditor, SAI Indonesia
Fery Irawan has been working for the Audit Board of Indonesia (BPK) since 2007. Currently he is supervising a performance audit team on the climate change adaptation and mitigation policies in the forestry and other land use sectors. He has wide range experiences in leading some environmental-related audits including the development of renewable energy, city gas network, SDGs audit on sustainable urban transport and energy transition. Internationally, he was assigned as part of external audit team for one of UN organizations namely International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 2016-2021. His work at the public sector audit focusing on performance audit on environmental matters align with his academic background in MSc of Environmental Management for Business graduated from the University of Hertfordshire and Bachelor degree in industrial engineering from Bandung Institute of Technology. In the current performance audit projects, he intends to integrate systemic thinking and initiate the development foresight methodology to improve audit impacts for public sector entities.
Bachelor of Information and Communications Technology, Master of Evaluation, Graduate Australian Institute of Company Directors
Michael Thistlethwaite has broad experience across performance auditing, program evaluation, portfolio, program and project management, organisational change, organisational strategy, risk management and governance in both the private and public sectors. With over 10 years’ experience in performance auditing, and over 40 published reports, His work has examined government performance across a wide range of sectors including education, health, community services, justice, transport, and the environment.
The INTOSAI Working Group on Environmental Auditing (WGEA) aims to increase the expertise in environmental auditing and to enhance environmental governance with high-quality contribution and visibility by both members of the Working Group and non–member SAIs. Currently the INTOSAI WGEA consists of 86 member countries.
