On 27 October, the representatives of the State Audit Office of Latvia, the Office of the State Comptroller of Israel, and the European Court of Auditors shared case studies and experiences in a panel discussion. The panel was named "Lessons learned from government renewable energy policies: an Auditor's  Perspective, as part of an international conference, "Accelerating the Transition to Clean Energy through Renewable Energy Investments," in Tbilisi, Georgia.

The panel discussion focused on the results and recommendations of the audits carried out by the EUROSAI members and the European Court of Auditors to improve operational efficiency in implementing energy policies.  

Opening the panel discussion, Mr. Rolands Irklis, Audit General of Latvia, emphasized various support policies to stimulate growth in the use of renewable energy. He also stressed the role of SAIs as critical public auditors t evaluating how governments deal with energy issues, facilitating spending money in an accountable manner. He presented the results of the audit "Is a purposeful renewable energy policy implemented in Latvia"?" He noted that, while acknowledging Latvia's achievements in increasing its share of "green" energy, it is also essential to make informed decisions on the sector's development. It is necessary to demonstrate the public benefits of using green energy.

Mr. David Bar, Senior Department Manager of the Office of the State Controller of Israel, presented the case study on advancing renewable energy sources and reducing the dependence on fossil fuels. Mr. Bar explained that there is a growing awareness that the transition to renewable energy should be encouraged – solar energy, wind energy, and additional renewable sources in place of fossil fuels. However, there is a gap between the targets set and their implementation regarding energy generation from renewables. The Office of the State Comptroller recommends that government agencies remove obstacles to renewable energy generation and promote cooperation among government agencies.

Meanwhile, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) spoke on how to support sustainable investments and delivered recommendations from the  EU's external auditor's perspective. Dr. Katharina Bryan, Head of Cabinet, ECA, explained the urgent need for sustainable investment to achieve energy & climate objectives and presented the EU auditor's recommendations on mobilizing private and institutional capital for sustainable investments.

The Conference is organised by the Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER) on behalf of the EU4Energy Programme, the Energy Regulators Regional Association (ERRA), and the Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulatory Commission (GNERC) in partnership with the Energy Community and the International Energy Agency (IEA). It gathered decision-makers, regulators, investors, and experts in green energy from all over Europe.

Renewable Energy Investment Conference webpage: https://www.res-investmentconference.com//en/home

Involvement of EUROSAI in the event was organized within the Portfolio on Relations with non-SAI stakeholders which the State Audit Office of Latvia leads since 2021.

Source: Energy Regulators Regional Association (ERRA)