How the Audit of Climate Change Adaptation Actions (CCAA) Contributed to SAI Capacity Development

Author: Shofiqul Islam, Senior Manager Professional and Relevant SAIs, INTOSAI Development Initiative

Under the Cooperative Audit of Climate Change Adaptation Actions (CCAA), the INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI), in partnership with the INTOSAI Working Group on Environmental Auditing (WGEA), supported 54 Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) of seven INTOSAI regions –  ASOSAI, AFROSAI-E, ARABOSAI (ongoing), CAROSAI, EUROSAI, OLACEFS, and PASAI – to strengthen their capacity to audit government responses to climate change adaptation. The initiative combined ISSAI-based cooperative performance audits with structured capacity development, enabling the 287 auditors of the participating SAI audit teams to enhance professional competencies while delivering nationally relevant audit results.

Climate change adaptation presents methodological and governance complexities. It requires analysis of cross-sectoral planning, long-term risk management, scientific data, financing mechanisms, and institutional coordination. Many participating SAIs had limited prior experience in auditing climate change adaptation. At the same time, SAIs were required to conduct the audit based on the ISSAI-based performance audit methodology. IDI therefore structured its support to address both methodological rigour and extensive subject-matter knowledge of climate change.

Thematic Professional Education as the Foundation for Audit Quality

Professional education formed the foundation of the CCAA capacity development model. Through its Integrated Education and Audit Support (IEAS) model, IDI delivered systematic learning that was aligned, on one hand, with academic knowledge and international practices on the subject matter, and on the other hand, with the different phases of the audit process. Since climate change affects countries in different ways, IDI and WGEA identified four thematic areas that, to a large extent, capture the diverse ways in which climate change adaptation actions are implemented across different regions of the world. These themes were designed to provide participating SAIs with options that could best match their national contexts and adaptation priorities. SAIs could choose among the four themes when scoping their climate change adaptation (CCAA) audits.

These thematic education tracks provided a common analytical framework for examining climate change adaptation issues. They covered key dimensions of adaptation governance, effectiveness, inclusion, planning, implementation, and monitoring. The learning modules strengthened auditors’ understanding of climate risk concepts, national adaptation commitments, performance audit methodology aligned with the ISSAIs, and the development of appropriate audit questions, criteria, and evidence-based findings. IDI provided audit question banks for the four thematic areas to assist the SAIs in scoping their audits to best suit their contexts.

 IDI’s online Independent Evaluation and Audit Services (IEAS) platform, eLearning modules, and webinars provided the framework for SAI learning. The process was directly linked to practical audit milestones, including audit design, fieldwork and reporting. This ensured that knowledge acquisition translated into improved audit practice within each SAI. 

Integrated Mentoring and Methodological Support

The education component was complemented by sustained mentor engagement throughout the audit process. The selected group of climate change specialists who supported the SAI teams as mentors provided valuable technical guidance from risk assessments and audit planning through to draft report review.

Mentor support combined methodological expertise with subject matter knowledge related to the four thematic areas. They assisted audit teams in refining audit questions, strengthening criteria, assessing evidence and formulating clear recommendations. Regular feedback enhanced the consistency and analytical depth of the audits across participating SAIs.

By grounding their findings in recognised standards and conducting contextual analysis, SAIs were able to formulate recommendations to address gaps in adaptation planning, coordination, and monitoring. The strengthened methodological basis enhanced the relevance of audit outputs within national policy frameworks. 

Regional Collaboration and Support to Small Island Developing States

A significant number of participating SAIs were from Small Island Developing States (SIDS), from the ASOSAI, CAROSAI, PASAI, and OLACEFS regions, where climate change adaptation is closely linked to national development and resilience. These SAIs often operate with limited resources and small audit teams.

In the Pacific region, the PASAI Secretariat collaborated closely with IDI to coordinate participation and support member SAIs. Mentors from the SAIs of New Zealand and Australia worked alongside IDI mentors to provide technical and methodological guidance to PASAI SAIs. This collaboration strengthened regional coordination while ensuring alignment with the global CCAA audit framework.

Tailored mentoring and structured follow-up enabled SIDS SAIs to participate effectively in the cooperative audit and get the reports published within the timeline. For several Pacific SAIs, the CCAA represented their first performance audit focused on climate change adaptation. Through the thematic education and mentor support, audit teams strengthened their capacity to assess national adaptation plans, water resources management, disaster risk reduction measures and climate-related programmes in line with performance audit standards. See the SIDS SAIs here. 

Sustaining Capacity and Supporting Accountability

The CCAA contributed to capacity development at both individual and institutional levels. Participating SAIs strengthened their application of performance audit standards to complex policy areas and reinforced internal processes for planning and supervising such audits.

The combination of thematic professional education and subject-matter-informed mentoring enabled SAIs to produce audit reports grounded in sound methodology and contextual analysis. This strengthened the credibility of audit findings related to areas of risk assessment, adaptation planning, coordination, inclusiveness, implementation, resources, and monitoring and evaluation and supported their consideration within national accountability processes.

Through the CCAA audits, IDI and INTOSAI WGEA demonstrated how structured, integrated capacity development can enhance audit quality and reinforce SAIs’ roles in examining government action on climate change adaptation, including in resource-constrained contexts such as SIDS.