Marine pollution including chemicals and microplastics harms marine life, disrupts ecosystems, and affects coastal communities. Overfishing and ocean acidification also threaten marine environments. The concept of blue economy promotes sustainable use of ocean resources. As United Nations Environmental Programme notes, blue ecosystems are critical to the achievement of the Global Biodiversity Framework and all SDGs.
Water issues are interconnected with climate change and biodiversity loss. On the one hand, climate change disrupts weather patterns and affects water availability leading to droughts and floods. On the other hand, the degradation of freshwater ecosystems is a driver for climate change and biodiversity loss, resulting in heatwaves and wildfires, among other things. Nexus perspectives like water-climate-biodiversity and water-energy-food help understand these interlinkages
The initiative of hosting a young environmental auditors' lunch aims at fostering collaboration and knowledge-sharing among young professionals in the environmental audit field. The Secretariat presented the proposition to support young auditors in the field of environmental auditing in the 20th WGEA Steering Committee meeting. The initiative provides a network for environmental auditors under the age of 35 to exchange best practices and innovative approaches in the field of environmental auditing.
The young environmental auditors' lunch will take place on Tuesday 1 July at 12:30-14:00.
Water is vital for ecosystems and human health, providing drinking water, food security, climate regulation, and supporting habitats. According to the UN World Water Report 2024, 2.2 billion people were without access to safely managed drinking water. Droughts, worsened by climate change, lead to water shortages, crop failures, and economic distress, impacting human security and causing conflicts. Poor water management worsens the problems.
To complement the discussion, Secretariat calls for audit cases on water to be presented during the session. We welcome submissions, including cooperative audits, especially on marine pollution and marine protection, droughts and drinking water.
Selected audit cases/examples will be presented during the session. All received or presented audit cases will be listed below.
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.
