SEOUL—February 19, 2014: The Global Green Growth Institute today released detailed responses to three assessment reports carried out by Deloitte, commissioned by the Government of Norway. The assessments looked at GGGI’s corporate functions at Headquarters level, as well as the Indonesia and Ethiopia country programs/offices.
According to the assessment reports of Ethiopia and Indonesia, the primary objective was to assess the effectiveness of internal controls related to the financial management of the Norwegian funding to GGGI.
GGGI received the three assessments on February 4 and agreed to a February 12 deadline to offer detailed responses, which were submitted to the Government of Norway.
Following the release of GGGI’s comments to the assessments, GGGI Director General Howard Bamsey issued the following statement:
“We welcome the overall positive assessment of our operations in the Seoul Headquarters and integrity in the management of our funds. The assessment shows that we have successfully addressed the issues raised in an earlier audit, covering the period before GGGI was an international organization. This success has been acknowledged by the Government of Norway by its decision to release to us funds that had been temporarily frozen.
“We also welcome the recommendations for improvements in our financial management system that links with and supports the projects in Ethiopia and Indonesia. We view this as an important contribution to the continuing progress that GGGI, as a new organization in its establishment phase, has made and continues to make towards being managed according to best practice among international organizations.
“We emphasize that the assessment covered the nine months to September 2013, while we were rolling out many significant changes to our accounting and controls. By the last quarter of 2013, we had already addressed many of the issues raised by the Deloitte team.
“By October 2013, GGGI had already begun implementing new and enhanced internal controls and procedures in the areas of budget management, procurement, contract monitoring, and accounting. This includes the issuance of a new finance policy, a procurement policy with detailed guidelines, developing a detailed work plan as part of the budgeting process, monitoring the budget against actual cash flow on a monthly basis, and implementing a new accounting system. The substance of these changes is described in our detailed comments to the reports.
“We look forward to continuing to improve operations across the whole of our new and growing organization.”
About GGGI
Based in Seoul, GGGI is a new intergovernmental organization founded to support and promote a new model of economic growth known as “green growth.” The organization partners with developing and emerging countries to help them build economies that grow quickly and are more efficient and sustainable in the use of natural resources, less carbon intensive, and more resilient to climate change. GGGI’s experts are already working with governments around the world, building their capacity and working collaboratively on green growth policies that will impact the lives of millions. To learn more, see www.gggi.org and visit us on Facebook and Twitter.