Integration of Environmental Auditing into Public Policy

Abstract

This study aims to understand the meaning of environmental audit integration into public policy. Environmental audit has a strategic function as a bridge between regulation and environmental management practice, yet its implementation faces obstacles. A qualitative method with Edmund Husserl’s phenomenology was employed to explore the subjective experiences of three informants: a QHSE practitioner at PT Charoen Pokphand Indonesia Tbk, a supervisor from the Environmental Agency, and a certified environmental auditor. Data analysis was conducted through epoché, horizontalization, meaning units, and textual-structural descriptions to reveal the essence of the phenomenon. The findings show that the meaning of environmental audit varies according to informants’ positions and experiences. Audit is understood as an instrument for ensuring compliance, supervision, and systematic assessment, but its integration into public policy remains unsystematic. Barriers include unclear follow-up mechanisms, overlapping authority, limited resources, and weak coordination. The essence of the phenomenon is the tension between formal compliance and substantive improvement, mediated by power relations, economic interests, and institutional capacity. This study concludes that strengthening regulation, inter-actor coordination, institutional capacity, transparency, and adaptive-participatory audit standards is necessary for environmental audit to truly reinforce public policy and sustainable development.