Practice of External Audit for Environmental Performance in Sudan: The Determinants and expectations for changing the current practice

Practice of External Audit for Environmental Performance in Sudan: The Determinants and expectations for changing the current practice

Fatihelelah M.A. Mohammed a  ,     Mohammed I. A. Eisa b  ,   Salim E. S. Elagab c

King Khalid University – KSA

Abstract

The study examined the current practice of external auditing of environmental performance in Sudan. It is aimed to identify the relationship between, the organizational determinants, the determinants related to the auditors themselves and the determinants related to the external environment and government legislations, and the level of the practice of external auditing fields in Sudanese business environment. Then, the study introduced some procedures and practices that can contribute to the development of the environmental performance auditing process in Sudan. To achieve these purposes a questionnaire has been prepared to collect the data from external auditors in Khartoum State, where the sample size was (200) external auditors. The main finding of the study is that the most important determinants were the lack of interest of business organization to review environmental performance and reflect it in the financial reports and statements. Indeed, the auditors lack of experience and skills to carry out their duty professionally at environmental performance review, which led to the lack of a clear vision towards environmental performance audits. In addition, the absence of laws and legislation adequate environmental and binding issued by the competent authorities in the state which contributed to the weak interest of business enterprises in adequate disclosure of their environmental performance and environmental review. The study recommended that professional organizations and auditing offices in Sudan must adopt a policy of continuous training for auditors and educate the investor public about paying attention to the dimension of sustainable development when making their investment decisions.

Keywords: Environmental Performance, External auditing, Sudanese Business Environment.

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