Supreme Audit Institutions play a critical role in ‘transforming our world’ , and new types of decision-making by governments are needed if SDG targets are to be met, says ACCA’s new report.

The 2020s have been called ‘the decade of action’ for the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) if they are to be achieved by the deadline of 2030. ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) highlights today in a new report Auditing the SDGs: Progress to 2030 the importance of measuring progress given the scale of the challenges at hand.

The report states that the systems, institutions and outcomes generated at present are insufficient to build the type of socially just and environmentally sustainable prosperity that’s needed now and in the future. As current events demonstrate with the Covid-19 outbreak, better access to public goods and stronger support for those most vulnerable to shocks – all underpinned by climate action – must become the norm.

To tackle this, ACCA recommends a shift in focus to ensure the interconnection of social, environmental, economic and institutional issues become a priority for policymakers. It recommends that Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) are vital to this due to their commitment to assessing the integration of the SDGs into governments’ national plans and their ongoing work to measure progress against SDG targets.

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