Legarda calls for environment audit of states

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Loren Legarda has called on state auditors from around the world to ensure accountability and judicious use of natural resources by leading an environmental audit in their respective nations.

Speaking at the recent assembly meeting of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions Working Group on Environmental Auditing (INTOSAI-WGEA) at EDSA Shangri-La in Mandaluyong, Legarda noted that the urban population contributes to 80 percent of global carbon emissions.

Environmental audits, she said, were key to halting environmental degradation.

“Environmental audit here in the Philippines and in other nations is a vital step in achieving our sustainable development goals. We need an audit not merely to know how well or how bad we are doing. We need to audit to exact accountabilities and to establish environmental stewardship as a way of life,” Legarda said.

The senator last week told 150 officials from audit institutions worldwide they needed to look at how nations were carrying out their commitments and implementing policies towards sustainability.

“Our ecosystems have been altered rapidly in the name of development, but the poor have remained poor and their numbers are increasing notwithstanding the emergence of megacities and the increasing GDP of nations,” Legarda said. 

Legarda, the UN Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation for Asia-Pacific, also underscored the need to establish accountability for environmental issues.

In the 24 ecosystems examined during the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment between 2001-2005, around 60 percent were degraded or used unsustainably.