The Research On Government Environmental Audit In China

Public awareness of environmental responsibility is gradually emerging in China about the problems of excessive exploitation of natural resources,continuous ecological degradation,and worsening environmental pollution.The public empowers the government to assume responsibility for the environment,and the government assumes duties that include regulating the use of ecological resources,protecting the natural environment,investigating and responding to environmental malfeasance,improving environmental governance,and reporting the status of environmental regulations.These duties have developed into governmental audit of the environment,which is an external institutional requirement for managing so-called government failures as well as an internal logical assessment of environmental governance.China's environmental audit began relatively late,but it has rapidly developed.There are new offices and functions arising from the strategic top-level design of ecological civilization and the Green Development concept.To protect citizens'environmental rights,maintain China's environmental security,and boost environmental protection and governance,national auditing bodies are obligated,within the boundaries of legitimate authority,to examine,evaluate,and affirm the fulfillment of the government's environmental duties entrusted in it by the public in terms of impartiality,legitimacy,and efficiency.It oversees the government's functions relative to the natural environment,restricts its powers for environmental regulation,refines the environmental regulatory system,and,thereby,enhances China's ability to govern regarding the environment.Because the relatively weak foundation of China's governmental auditing of the environment is not aligned with its rapidly increasing practical needs,systematic and in-depth research is urgently needed on this topic from the perspectives of theory and practice.From the perspective of public administration,this study's methods employ normative research,comparative analysis,and empirical study on governmental auditing of the environment.It analyzes the developmental pattern of China's governmental auditing,investigates its current problems,and addresses lessons learned from foreign practices.The Immune System Theory,which is the latest theory that examines the nature of national auditing,guides the research.This study employs the theory to discuss the logical starting point,framework construction,and basic elements of China's environmental auditing and the logical relationships among elements of the general framework of the theory.Regarding practice,this study starts from the basic elements of the theoretical framework and targets the problems that block the practical development of governmental auditing of the environment,and it proposes goals,ideas,and approaches for reform and innovation.This study's results lead to the following conclusions.First,by examining key elements and risky links in China's governmental auditing of the environment based on its historical development,status quo,and characteristics,through the new theoretical framework,this study finds that the current governmental auditing of the environment is simultaneously influenced by the external environment and the internal mechanisms.Prominent problems,such as insufficient theoretical bases,unclear duties,blocked information,a monotonous approach,weak technologies,and lack of professionalism significantly obstruct governmental auditing of the environment.While facing the pressures of eradicating long-term problems and staying abreast of developmental advancements,and driven by the nature of and reasons for said auditing,China's environmental auditing must,and will,be reformed.Second,research on governmental auditing of the environment should begin with the construction of a theoretical framework that reflects the universal requirements of the government's auditing theory while considering the particularities of environmental auditing.This study innovates by proposing a dual approach to analyzing logical starting points,namely,using the nature of and reasons for governmental auditing of the environment as the logical starting point.The approach acknowledges that this governmental auditing serves national governance,and,based on its public-entrusted environmental duties,combines development with the demands of governmental auditing of the environment to build a theoretical framework for governmental auditing comprising basic theory and applied theory.Specifically,basic theory concerns the nature of auditing and delves into the theoretical foundation and general patterns and principles of governmental auditing of the environment.Applied theory centers on the reasons for auditing by exploring the goals,targets,content,technical methods,and administration.The interaction between basic and applied theories is beneficial in that guidance and clear direction could be obtained from basic theory,and accumulated experiences and problems could be derived from applied theory.Theoretical and practical approaches repeatedly test and verify each other while developing together.Last,reform of the governmental auditing of the environment marches forward with the guidance and by the light of the keynote determined by the concepts of new public administration and the strategic top-level design of national ecological civilization.It proceeds against the backdrop of the reforms of the state administrative system,the transformation of governmental functions,and the institutional improvements being made to governmental auditing.Employing the theory of the new public administration,this study proposes a pathway for reform based on the government's auditing system and starting from norms,goals,and control of auditing within the governmental auditing of the environment's theoretical framework to recommend reformative goals and paths.There are five aspects:(1)refining the legal basis of environmental auditing,(2)expanding the targets and scope of governmental auditing of the environment,(3)devising innovative organizational configurations for governmental auditing of the environment,(4)improving the administrative process,and(5)recruiting teams of professional staff to implement said auditing.A series of practical approaches to implementation are explored to fully establish the government's function in environmental auditing,oversee the fulfillment of governmental public-entrusted environmental duties,and efficiently increase national capacity for environmental governance.