Government Environmental Audit Study

The environmental problems have become increasingly prominent in the modern world, and people in today's society have gradually recognized the importance of environmental protection. Countries around the world have been formulating laws and regulations applicable to their national environmental protection, and comprehensively carrying out various measures on environmental treatment. As an important component of environmental management, environmental auditing enforced by the government assumes the functions of independent supervison and evaluation, thus playing an irreplaceable role in environmental governance.Since 1998, the National Audit Office of China has set up specialized agencies on environmental audit, which have developed a number of environmental audit projects.Ten years of explorations and experience have seen developments achieved on the theory and practice of environmental auditing. However, compared to the developed countries, the environmental audit study in China is yet to enter into a more sophisticated stage, and the environmental auditing practice shall also have to be deepened. In-depth study and exploration of environmental auditing forms an important mission for audit workers and researchers in our country. The great significance and urgency of it can not be overstressed.Based upon the research results both in China and other countries, this paper theoretically analyses the governmental environmental audit from the perspective of public accountability theory and the theory of sustainable development. In accordance with the empirical analysis of the environmental auditing of Wenruitang River in Wenzhou City, it explores the current situation and hanging problems of environmental auditing in Wenzhou. With reference to the experience of environmental auditing in developed countries, it further explores the causes plaguing the development of environmental auditing and suggests measures on impoving the governmental environmental audit in our country.