The document points out clearly the guiding ideology, main tasks, and goals of resources and environmental auditing in China, and requires audit institutions at various levels to be fully aware of the importance and urgency of conducting resources and environmental auditing. It also calls on audit institutions to take up the historical responsibility of promoting sustainable development in China.
The document requires audit institutions of various levels to audit: the exploitation, management and protection of land resources, minerals, forests and water; the prevention and control of water, air, soil and solid wastes pollutions; the implementation of key eco-construction projects; and the protection of eco-fragile regions.
The document calls on audit institutions to keep exploring new audit approaches and methodologies for resources and environmental auditing, and to carry out pilot cooperative audits and whole-process tracking audits on cross-regional environmental issues, key resources exploitation and environmental protection projects, and the implementation of important resources and environmental management policies or strategic plans.
The document also encourages audit institutions to carry out resources and environmental system audits with information technology and methodologies. Audit institutions shall also establish and improve their environmental auditing operational mechanisms, which is efficient both in internal and external communication and collaboration, so as to constitute an integrated auditing setup in China together with other specialized audit types, like public finance audits, monetary audits, enterprises audits, investment audits, accountability audits and foreign fund application audits.
In the meantime, the document recommends that audit institutions further strengthen their audit teams for environmental auditing and their research on environmental auditing theories through various ways, like institutional improvement, audit capacity building, and the use of external experts.
