{"id":35305,"date":"2025-05-12T04:23:03","date_gmt":"2025-05-12T02:23:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/?p=35305"},"modified":"2025-05-12T07:27:51","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T05:27:51","slug":"nku-and-green-deal-control-of-public-finances-in-the-context-of-the-climate-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/2025\/05\/12\/nku-and-green-deal-control-of-public-finances-in-the-context-of-the-climate-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"SAO and the Green Deal: Auditing public finances in the context of the climate crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"In the context of a dynamic and complex world, the Supreme Audit Office of the Slovak Republic (SAO SR) focuses not only on long-term problems of sustainability of public finances, but also on global problems, such as climate crisis<\/strong>The issue of controlling the economy and effectiveness of the use of public resources, which is the core of the SAO's activities, is taking on fundamental importance in the context of the current unfavorable development of public finances. sustainable development of the Slovak Republic<\/strong>The SAO began to focus more on systemic problems of public resources, focusing mainly on the control of the implementation of public policy objectives and the efficiency and effectiveness of the resources spent.<\/p>\n

The topic of sustainability is crucial for national auditors, which is why the SAO has decided to devote more attention to this issue in 2024 and create platforms for its discussion. The SAO plays a key role in ensuring transparency, efficiency and accountability in public administration and actively approaches the implementation of ESG principles (Environmental, Social, Governance). Although the SAO does not fall into the group of organizations with an ESG reporting obligation according to legislation, it wants to be model office and set an example for other state institutions<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In terms of the environmental aspect, the SAO not only focuses on audits, but also actively supports measures to improve environmental sustainability, tries to minimize its own ecological footprint, implements measures to reduce paper and energy consumption and supports the digitalization of processes. The Office has implemented several cost-saving measures, such as replacing lighting with modern LED lamps, installing energy-efficient radiators, reducing the heating temperature by 2 \u00b0C and optimizing the operation of the heating system. The cost-saving measures also included replacing boilers with more energy-efficient models and modernizing elevator systems. The Office has achieved 29.7 percent energy savings<\/strong> in particular by contracting new suppliers and installing photovoltaics at the Bojnice training center. These steps led to a reduction in both energy consumption and operating costs.<\/p>\n

In 2024, the SAO included in its plan audits focused on environmental pollution prevention and climate protection. The planning also includes Round Tables, where SAO experts discuss with external experts the risks to the achievement of public policy objectives, including the Round Table on the Environment organized in 2024. The SAO's audit activity in 2024 in the environmental protection segment confirmed that Slovakia lags behind in strategic management in this area<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

One of the key audits was action 028\/2024 Climate Protection Audit using the international Climate Scanner methodology. Using this methodology, the SAO examined the system of coordination and management of the climate protection policy of the Slovak Republic at the Ministry of the Environment (MoE SR), focusing on legislation, strategic documents, monitoring of objectives and fulfillment of international obligations. The auditors found that the ministry failed to implement a key draft climate law, which was supposed to increase the legal enforceability of objectives and adaptation measures. The lack of a valid climate protection law represents, according to the SAO, an obstacle to the enforceability of sectoral greenhouse gas emission reduction targets<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Another inspection action 020\/2024 focused on the prevention of environmental pollution and the enforcement of environmental law, with the SAO inspecting the Slovak Environmental Inspection (SI\u017dP). The inspection revealed lack of comprehensive supervision by the Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic over the activities of the SI\u017dP<\/strong> a lack of conceptual management and strategy in inspection<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The SAO also pointed out the problem illegal waste dumps<\/strong>, of which there are more than 11 thousand in Slovakia. The system for detecting the perpetrators does not work effectively and the penalties are ineffective. At the same time, the state does not have enough funds to remove these landfills, which pose a significant environmental and health risk. The SAO recommended that the Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic create a working group to improve the detection of landfills and set up a system for financing their removal, for example through a fund concentrating revenues from fines. The Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic is also creating such a group with a representative of the SAO.<\/p>\n

As part of international cooperation, the SAO is actively involved in the development of the tool Climate Scanner<\/strong> within the INTOSAI organization, which will help audit measures for adaptation and mitigation of climate change. Slovak experts contribute to the development of a global methodology. Climate Scanner will allow assessing the implementation of climate measures worldwide and comparing "green data". Brazil, as the INTOSAI chairman, initiated the adoption of a resolution at the UN emphasizing the importance of supreme audit institutions in monitoring the achievement of the goals of the 2030 Agenda, including the fight against climate change, while the Slovak SAI actively commented on the text of the resolution. The SAI also organized an international conference "Current Trends in ESG Reporting and Practical Applications in the Slovak Republic" in September 2024 under the auspices of EUROSAI, which brought together experts from different sectors and countries to discuss sustainability.<\/p>\n

In conclusion, the SAO confirmed its commitment to addressing climate change and environmental sustainability issues in 2024 through its audit and analytical activities, as well as its active involvement in international initiatives. The identified shortcomings in government policies and management highlight the need for systemic changes and responsible access to public resources<\/strong> in the interest of sustainable development of Slovakia. Spring<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Report on the results of the audit activities of the SAO SR for 2024<\/a><\/span><\/h4>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the context of a dynamic and complex world, the Supreme Audit Office of the Slovak Republic (SAO SR) focuses not only on long-term problems of sustainability of public finances, but also on<\/p>","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-klimaticka-zmena"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35305\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}