Implementation audit; and
SDG N° 1, target 1.2
SDG N° 5, target 5.5
SDG N° 8, target 8.6

What we examined: This audit focused on whether Employment and Social Development Canada and selected organizations were implementing a national approach for achieving the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and had made progress toward achieving selected national targets that would result in more inclusive and sustainable outcomes for Canadians.

Why we did this audit: This audit is important because the 2030 Agenda is a global commitment to a better future for all. Canada, along with other countries, agreed to implement the 2030 Agenda by adopting policies and implementing actions domestically in the pursuit of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, which commit to leaving no one behind.

Overall message: Since our 2018 report, departments and agencies had taken some steps toward a national approach for implementing the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

The government had not established an implementation plan that would clearly define how all federal departments and agencies would support the national implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

Federal departments and agencies did not have the tools they needed to coordinate their work on the Sustainable Development Goals.

There were gaps in assessing and reporting on national progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals.

Qu'avons-nous examiné ? Cet audit visait à déterminer si Emploi et Développement social Canada et les organisations retenues avaient mis en place une démarche nationale de mise en œuvre du Programme de développement durable à l’horizon 2030 des Nations Unies et avaient réalisé des progrès dans l’atteinte de certaines cibles nationales qui pourraient se traduire par des résultats inclusifs et durables pour la population canadienne.

Pourquoi avons-nous effectué cet audit ? Cet audit est important parce que le Programme 2030 représente un engagement mondial de bâtir un avenir meilleur pour tous. Le Canada, à l’instar d’autres pays, a accepté de mettre en œuvre le Programme 2030 en adoptant des politiques et en prenant des mesures à l’échelle nationale en vue de réaliser les objectifs de développement durable des Nations Unies, qui visent à ne laisser personne de côté.

Message général :

Depuis notre rapport en 2018, les ministères et organismes avaient pris certaines mesures visant à établir une démarche nationale pour la mise en œuvre du Programme de développement durable à l’horizon 2030 des Nations Unies et l’atteinte des objectifs de développement durable.

Le gouvernement n’avait pas établi de plan de mise en œuvre décrivant clairement les mesures que prendraient tous les ministères et organismes fédéraux pour appuyer la mise en œuvre du Programme 2030 à l’échelle nationale.

Les ministères et organismes fédéraux n’avaient pas les outils nécessaires pour coordonner les efforts déployés en vue de réaliser les objectifs de développement durable.

L’évaluation et la communication des progrès réalisés à l’échelle nationale pour mettre en œuvre les objectifs de développement durable présentent des lacunes.

Implementation audit; and
SDG N° 1, target 1.2
SDG N° 5, target 5.5
SDG N° 8, target 8.6

The audit recommended that the government:

• Establish an implementation plan that would clearly articulating roles and responsibilities for effective cooperation, measureable targets, and defining the reporting process
• Improve policy coherence, by improving tools and processes that would support sustainable development
• Provide more disaggregated data about vulnerable groups and make it publically available
• Identify lead departments to improve stakeholder engagement, policy coherence for sustainable development and track progress

L'audit a recommandé que le gouvernement :

• établisse un plan de mise en œuvre qui définirait clairement les rôles et les responsabilités pour encourager une coopération efficace, des objectifs mesurables et un processus de rapportage.
• Améliore la cohérence des politiques, en améliorant les outils et les processus qui soutiennent le développement durable.
• Fournir plus de données désagrégées sur les groupes vulnérables et les rendre accessibles au public.
• Identifier les ministères chefs de file pour améliorer l'engagement des parties prenantes, la cohérence des politiques en faveur du développement durable et le suivi des progrès.

Implementation audit; and
SDG N° 1, target 1.2
SDG N° 5, target 5.5
SDG N° 8, target 8.6

All work in this audit was performed to a reasonable level of assurance in accordance with the Canadian Standard on Assurance Engagements (CSAE) 3001—Direct Engagements, set out by the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA Canada) in the CPA Canada Handbook—Assurance.

The audit was conducted through examination and analysis of documentary evidence provided by the selected federal organizations and verbal information collected during interviews with federal officials and some relevant stakeholders. The audit also included examples of other countries’ implementation of the 2030 Agenda. We selected these countries on the basis of their performance on the Sustainable Development Goals.

Tous les travaux effectués dans le cadre du présent audit ont été réalisés à un niveau d’assurance raisonnable conformément à la Norme canadienne de missions de certification (NCMC) 3001 — Missions d’appréciation directe de Comptables professionnels agréés du Canada (CPA Canada), qui est présentée dans le Manuel de CPA Canada — Certification.

L’audit a comporté des examens et des analyses des preuves documentaires transmises par les organisations fédérales retenues, ainsi que des renseignements obtenus de vive voix lors d’entretiens avec des fonctionnaires fédéraux et certaines parties prenantes. Nous avons aussi examiné des exemples de stratégies de mise en œuvre du Programme 2030 dans d’autres pays. Nous avons sélectionné ces pays en fonction de leur rendement à l’égard des objectifs de développement durable.

SDG N° 13a

International climate finance is part of Finland’s official development assistance administrated by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland (MFA).

In 2017–2019, the climate finance reported by Finland amounted to approx. EUR 47–147 million and accounted for around 6% to 15% of the total spent on development cooperation. The policy of the current Finnish Government is to scale up Finland's climate finance and to direct one half of it to climate change adaptation.

The National Audit Office of Finland has assessed the preconditions provided by the steering of Finland's international climate finance for its effectiveness. The audit found that the MFA does not have a published plan regarding the amount, allocation and effectiveness of the increasing climate finance. The recently updated theories of change and indicators of development policy as well as the case management system of the MFA provide a good basis for results-based management, collection of statistics and reporting on climate finance. However, the climate finance statistics and reporting are susceptible to errors. Moreover, the MFA produces and receives information on the effectiveness of climate finance to a variable degree from various funding instruments and organisations that channel funding. The information on the effectiveness of climate finance is partly inconsistent and inadequate, which makes it difficult to obtain an overview of it. The MFA has used the information on the results of climate finance relatively little in its decision-making, evaluations, reporting and communications. The steering of climate finance has been decentralised to several units of the ministry without overall coordination. The MFA’s human resources for the steering of climate finance are partly meagre, which is a risk to the quality of the steering.

The MFA should:

• i) draw up a public plan for Finland’s climate finance, justifying the choices made;
• ii) justify its funding decisions on climate finance from the perspective of climate results;
• iii) ensure that climate objectives and indicators will be included in the results frameworks of climate finance programmes and projects;
• iv) ensure that the climate results of the finance are monitored, recorded and reported as systematically and consistently as possible, and particularly ensure that in the new interventions recorded as climate finance their response to climate objectives is properly justified;
• v) define clearly the roles of its relevant actors in the planning, coordination and monitoring of the climate finance, and ensure an appropriate balance between the relevant tasks and resources in its operating units.

The audit document materials consisted of planning, decision-making, monitoring, evaluation, statistical, reporting and communication documents related to climate finance produced by the MFA and other organisations that channel and use Finland’s climate finance. Further information was additionally received from the MFA, Finnfund and the Nordic Development Fund via e-mail and at remote meetings. To analyse the data, a qualitative content analysis of the documents and discussions was produced. Both deductive analysis (based on looking for certain themes and entities in the documents) and inductive analysis (based on examining the documents without predetermined categories) were used.

The mining industry is directly or indirectly linked to several SDG goals. These include for example goals N° 7, 8, 9, 12, 13 and 15.

The economic, social, and ecological sustainability of mining is debated in Finland, in the EU and around the world. In the report Perspectives on sustainable mining in Finland this topic is approached from the following perspectives: the connection between sustainable mining and central government finances, objectives and implementation of Finland’s mining policy, increasing the added value of battery minerals and battery industry, circular economy solutions for mining operations, local acceptance of mining operations (social licence to operate, SLO), and the management of environmental risks arising from abandoned and closed mines.

Even though mining is a commercial activity, it is connected with the state and central government finances in many ways. Environmental protection and ecologically sustainable mining have also been major themes in Government Programmes in the 2010s. The Finnish Mineral Strategy published in 2010 and the Sustainable Extractive Industries Action Plan presented in 2013 are the two key strategies guiding Finland’s mining and mineral policy. The Sustainable Mining Network and the mining responsibility system created by it were established on the basis of the recommendations set out in the Sustainable Extractive Industries Action Plan. Mining sector actors have been mostly satisfied with the networked activities and the responsibility system. On the other hand, it seems that the 2010 Mineral Strategy and the Sustainable Extractive Industries Action Plan of 2013 do not otherwise necessarily guide the activities anymore. In fact, the question arises whether these strategies should be updated or overhauled. National and various EU-level strategies could also be coordinated with each other more effectively.

Finland presented its national battery strategy in early 2021. Batteries play a key role in the achievement of climate targets. Finland has also worked to improve the added value of battery minerals and battery industry. The key strategic objective of the state-owned Finnish Minerals Group is to develop an electric car battery value chain in Finland.

Circular economy solutions for the mining sector can be used to implement circular economy policy objectives. However, most of the circular economy solutions are still on a trial basis. The problem is to make these solutions more widely and systematically available.

In order to be commercially successful, a mining company must gain the acceptance of the local community (social licence to operate, SLO).  Gaining local acceptance is not always a straightforward matter. There may be major differences between operating practices of mining companies and they sometimes fail to receive the social licence to operate.

In the past, many Finnish mines were abandoned and closed using methods that do not meet today’s environmental and safety standards. In Finland, the state of closed and abandoned extractive waste sites has been examined in the KAJAK projects since the 2010s. A number of projects to reform the environmental liability legislation applicable to mining operations are also under way.

This is not an audit report. Instead, it is a landscape review that examines sustainable mining from many different perspectives. The report therefore does not present audit recommendations. However, the last subsection of each chapter of the report discusses opportunities for development.

Written material was used as sources and a large number of interviews with mining and mineral industry experts were carried out. Mining companies and experts also provided the NAOF with valuable information in writing. Written material was used as sources and a large number of interviews with mining and mineral industry experts were carried out. Mining companies and experts also provided the NAOF with valuable information in writing. Written material was used as sources and a large number of interviews with mining and mineral industry experts were carried out. Mining companies and experts also provided the NAOF with valuable information in writing.

Deutsch — Umsetzung der deutschen Nachhaltigkeitsstrategie durch die Bundesministerien

1. Die Bundesregierung hat in ihrer Nachhaltigkeitsstrategie dargelegt, wie und womit Deutschland zum Erreichen der Nachhaltigkeitsziele der Vereinten Nationen (Agenda 2030) beitragen möchte. Kernelement ist dabei, dass Nachhaltigkeit als Leitprinzip bei allen Entscheidungen in sämtlichen Politikfeldern berücksichtigt werden soll.
2. Die federführende Zuständigkeit für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung obliegt dem Bundeskanzleramt. Zentrales Organfür die Umsetzung der Nachhaltigkeitsstrategie ist aber der Staatssekretärsausschuss für nachhaltige Entwicklung (Staatssekretärsausschuss), in dem alle Ressorts vertreten sind. Die Ressorts sind dafür verantwortlich, die Nachhaltigkeitsstrategie in ihrem jeweiligen Bereich in praktisches Verwaltungshandeln umzusetzen (Ressortprinzip).

Der Bundesrechnungshof hat übergreifend – anhand von mehr als 50 Prüfungsberichten zu Maßnahmen und Programmen – ausgewertet, wie die Ressorts die Nachhaltigkeitsstrategie in die Praxis umsetzen.

English — Implementation of the German Sustainability Strategy by the federal ministries

1. In the German Sustainability Strategy, the federal government sets forth what contribution Germany intends to make towards achieving the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by the United Nations. The Strategy is a guiding principle applicable to all and any policy actions and administrative decisions.

2. The Federal Chancellery has lead responsibility for sustainable development. The central body in charge ofimplementing the Strategy is the State Secretaries’ Committee for Sustainable Development. All federal ministries are represented on the Committee. As a rule, the federal ministries decide themselves how and by what means they intend to deliver their contribution to the Strategy (departmental autonomy principle).

We did a horizontal audit and studied more than 50 audit reports on projects and programmes to explore whether the federal ministries have implemented the Sustainability Strategy within their remit.

Deutsch — Umsetzung der deutschen Nachhaltigkeitsstrategie durch die Bundesministerien

Das Bundeskanzleramt sollte, gemeinsam mit dem Staatssekretärsausschuss und den Ressorts, noch stärker darauf hinwirken, dass die Ressorts in ihrem jeweiligen Verantwortungsbereich

1. ein Bewusstsein für die Berücksichtigung von Nachhaltigkeitsaspekten in der Verwaltungspraxis schaffen;
2. die einschlägigen Regelungen und geeigneten Methoden bekannt machen und deren Anwendung sicherstellen;
3. die notwendigen Strukturen für eine kohärente Umsetzung der Nachhaltigkeitsstrategie schaffen;
4. eigene Strategien und Konzepte zur Umsetzung der Nachhaltigkeitsstrategie entwickeln; sowie
5. nach innen und nach außen deutlicher als bisher herausstellen, dass Nachhaltigkeitsaspekte bei allen Entscheidungen zu berücksichtigen sind bzw. berücksichtigt werden.

English — Implementation of the German Sustainability Strategy by the federal ministries

In our report, we demand that the Federal Chancellery engage with the State Secretaries' Committee and take more rigorous leadership to ensure that within their respective remit the federal ministries should

1. raise awareness for the need to embed sustainability aspects in their daily mission performance;
2. issue guidance on and ensure compliance with applicable rules and adequate methods;
3. put into place the structures needed for consistently implementing the Sustainability Strategy;
4. develop their own departmental strategies and approaches for implementing the Sustainability Strategy; and
5. make clearer both internally and externally that sustainability aspects are and must be embedded in all decision-making.

Deutsch — Umsetzung der deutschen Nachhaltigkeitsstrategie durch die Bundesministerien

1. Analyse relevanter Unterlagen und Berichte (Deutsche Nachhaltigkeitsstrategie, Monitoringberichte usw.)
2. Übergreifende Auswertung einzelner Berichte des Bundesrechnungshofes

English — Implementation of the German Sustainability Strategy by the federal ministries

1. Analysis of relevant documents and reports (German Sustainability strategy, monitoring reports etc.)
2. Across-the-board analysis of selected German SAI's reports