A SUGGESTED FRAMEWORK FOR AUDITING THE ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTS IN LIGHT OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE (FIELD STUDY)

The emergence of the concept of sustainable development has led companies to become more aware of the importance of disclosing the environmental and social performance aspects of their activities .Therefore ,companies prepare special reports or parts of their annual reports to disclose their environmental and social performance ,in order to enhance the credibility of these reports,companies present their reports to external auditors to approve it.
 The main objective of the research is to evaluate the profession of auditing the environmental reports as a regulatory tool in the field of corporate  governance.
The research draws attention from the growing interest in sustainable development, the new trend to address the important environmental issues in the preparation of financial reports ,the audit profession recognition of the importance of disclosing the environmental issues, the increasing demand for expanding the role of the Auditor to include the environmental performance ,the good corporate governance will be achieved through the establishment of the safety and environmental responsibility committees that monitor the environmental impact within the company , the confirmation of many studies on the need to establish an integrated framework of the concept of corporate governance.
The study population was represented by the Accountability state Authority, the data were collected through a survey questionnaire ,the sample consisted of 233valid forms collected from 14 Accountability state Authority accounts,All hypotheses were tested and all hypotheses were accepted.
The most important results of the study’s analysis are the principles and mechanisms of corporate governance ,which are represented in (the principle of disclosure and transparency- independence and size of the board of directors –the ownership of the board members…etc) positively affect the quality of environmental reports and the effectiveness of environmental auditing, and the motives of applying environmental governance in companies, which are(consumer awareness-investor pressures-the need of banks for environmental information….etc )positively affect the quality of environmental reports and the effectiveness of environmental auditing, but to varying degrees.
Recommendations
-The need for governments to enact serious and strict laws and regulations relating to the protection of the environment from the negative effects resulting from the activities of companies  
- Scientific conferences and symposia for experts and specialists in this field
- Developing corporate governance strategies and adapting their principles and mechanisms to support disclosure and environmental reporting
-The need for the Egyptian Association of Accountants and Auditors to issue accounting and auditing standards for environmental performance
-The contribution of the accountability state authority in its capacity as a supreme regulatory body and the small and large accounting and auditing offices in activating the role of the auditors in auditing the environmental performance
-To encourage researchers in the field of the environment to prepare research and field studies and applied on environmental auditing and the effects of governance
-Establishing accounting and auditing departments in universities and scientific research centers in Egypt for new departments (for accounting and environmental auditing)
-Trying to benefit from the international auditing standards and adapt them to serve the field of environmental auditing
-Develop an application of self-disclosure policies for companies and organizations that have activities related to the environment by establishing a central portal (for electronic disclosure) on the Internet
-Enhancing the role of the media in spreading awareness among the accounting and auditing companies, setting up media campaigns to raise the awareness of society about the importance of preserving the environment and forming environmental groups to pressure companies that cause pollution to the environment