On October 7, the President of the Brazilian Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) and Chair of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI), Minister Bruno Dantas, met with the Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol. The meeting focused on the contribution of Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) to the global debate on energy transition and sustainability.

During the meeting, the Minister emphasized that Brazil's chairmanship of INTOSAI has focused on strengthening SAIs' ability to contribute effectively to discussions on climate change by assessing national efforts to implement the Paris Agreement and energy transition policies. Dantas suggested that TCU and the IEA collaborate during the COP29 meetings in Azerbaijan in November, as well as COP30 in Brazil in 2025.

“Supreme Audit Institutions play a key role in ensuring transparent implementation of energy policies and meeting climate commitments, benefiting society as a whole, especially the most vulnerable populations," Dantas noted.

The president also presented ClimateScanner, a TCU-led project that provides a methodology for audit institutions to monitor and assess government actions on climate change. ClimateScanner was launched in 2022 during the INTOSAI Assembly in Rio de Janeiro, INCOSAI.

In 2023, 17 audit institutions came together to form an executive group responsible for developing and validating the evaluation methodology based on three pillars: governance, financing, and public policies. In March 2024, with support from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), INTOSAI gathered 74 heads of SAIs at UN headquarters in New York for the "Global Call" meeting.

From April to August, six workshops were held, covering different regional organizations of INTOSAI, in Mexico City, Prague, Fiji, Rabat, Jaipur, and Pretoria. Last week, TCU hosted the Last Call in Rio de Janeiro. So far, 141 audit institutions have joined the initiative, and the results from the first countries to complete the assessment will be presented at COP29. Nearly 50 countries have already submitted their results.

The president explained that, as a continuation of ClimateScanner, the Court is developing an audit guide on energy transition. The aim is to equip audit institutions with the tools to conduct in-depth audits on the implementation of energy transition policies. The manual, developed within the context of the INTOSAI Working Group on Extractive Industries, addresses governance, financing, just and inclusive transitions, and other key energy transition topics. The document will be launched at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.