G20 nations to set up international auditing rules for blue economy

National auditors of G20 countries Wednesday agreed to develop international auditing guidelines and comprehensive tool kits for the audit of the blue economy.

A communique released after the conclusion of the Supreme Audit Institutions-20 (SAI20) Engagement Group meeting held in Goa from June 12-14 stated that the members had agreed to invest in capacity development on artificial intelligence within SAIs through targeted training in tools, technologies, and know-how for incorporating AI in audits and auditing AI frameworks.

India's comptroller and auditor general (CAG) convened the second summit with two priority areas of blue economy and Responsible AI. Earlier in March, senior officers of auditing institutions of G20 members had set the agenda for this year's meeting of supreme audit institutions.


"As the blue economy gains primacy, so will its audit," CAG Girish Chandra Murmu had pointed out in his inaugural address to the Goa summit on Monday.

The communique added that institutions agreed to "support research, collection and collation of accounting data, sustainable utilisation data and social data from sources such as non-governmental and civil society organisations, as well as statistics agencies on blue economy that aid evidence-based policymaking". They also agreed to capacity building and collaboration to support audits of blue economy.

On the responsible AI front, the communique noted that AI, despite its disruptive nature, could also positively impact the delivery of all 17 goals and 169 targets recognised in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.