A new report by CSF titled, 'Acronyms and Accountability: Strategic Insights on Corporate Environmental Disclosures in Sri Lanka' offers a deeper examination of corporate environmental disclosures and their significance for Sri Lanka’s sustainability journey. It aims to provide practical recommendations for decision-makers, businesses, and stakeholders to adopt more effective and impactful disclosure practices.

While ESG seeks to channel investment towards companies that are environmentally responsible, socially conscious, and well-governed, their true sustainability impact remains debated. Several issues have been highlighted in recent reports. For Sri Lankan firms, a critical look at ESG is timely, to make meaningful progress on charting a greener, climate-resilient economic future.

Sri Lankan stakeholders need to view the new UNFCCC COP29 deal that set new rules for carbon markets, objectively. While it offers a new global framework for blue carbon projects - an area of emerging interest for Sri Lanka - it does come with many gaps and risks. Understanding the limitations of the deal, and indeed the complexities of blue carbon projects, is crucial for meaningful action.

Is Sri Lanka ready for debt instruments linked to nature? This was the focus of a knowledge sharing and engagement session that CSF held last month, at the 'Festival of Ideas' organised by the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies (BCIS). The session titled, ‘Debt and Dugongs’, was led by CSF Research Associate Ashani Basnayake, and joined by CSF Director Anushka Wijesinha. Participants were drawn from civil society, private sector, development partners, and government.

Environmental disclosures are essential for accountability and transparency, but navigating the complex reporting landscape remains a challenge in Sri Lanka. From carbon accounting frameworks to sustainability standards, a myriad of acronyms shapes corporate accountability. As regulations tighten, understanding this evolving landscape and aligning with global expectations has become increasingly critical.

Green finance is getting greater attention in Sri Lanka, as banks and finance companies see it as a new area for lending, and the number of potential projects that need finance keep growing. CSF collaborated with Biodiversity Sri Lanka to better understand what this space is like right now. We surveyed 20 financial institutions to understand multiple aspects of their engagement with green finance.

Sri Lanka is highly vulnerable to climate risks, with heat, sea level rise, floods, landslides, and droughts posing significant threats to its ecosystems, economy, and communities. Local drivers such as pollution and land management exacerbate these risks, impacting agriculture and food production, cities and infrastructure, water availability, local biodiversity, and human health and well-being. This document consolidates key datapoints on climate risks and its socio-economic and environmental impacts, offering a useful source of reference for diverse stakeholders.

Several pioneering businesses in Sri Lanka are addressing waste management challenges through innovative and sustainable solutions, and their business models demonstrate circular economy approaches. The Centre for a Smart Future (CSF) identified three such businesses and explored their entrepreneurial journeys and business models. Each of the case studies exemplify a unique approach to managing waste and provides learnings relevant to waste management strategies in the country. Their narratives are also indicative of gaps and opportunities for policy change that would foster entrepreneurship and innovation.

Sri Lanka's next Parliament has many issues to contend with, but underpinning many of these is the looming threats to our nature and biodiversity. Elected members of Parliament at the forthcoming General Election need to understand what these issues are, and what priorities need to be tackled. CSF contributed to a document that is released today on selected critical environmental issues facing Sri Lanka, aimed at informing prospective legislators in our next Parliament.

Sri Lanka needs to become much more open to, and informed about, the new sources and mechanisms that are available for biodiversity financing. With the right domestic mechanisms, a credible policy commitment, open-mindedness among government and non-government stakeholders, and a nuanced view of the financing options, Sri Lanka can rise up to meet the challenge.

CSF recently hosted a panel discussion with three national and international experts on the role of nature-linked sovereign debt instruments in Sri Lanka’s economic recovery, amidst debt distress and acute environmental pressures. This Analytical Note summarises the 10 key messages.

Short-term and unsustainable plans for a tourism recovery, with narrow views on destination identity, can threaten the natural assets that Sri Lanka's tourism is branded on. On World Tourism Day 2024, we argue that its time for Sri Lanka to re-define tourism destination identities through an inclusive and imaginative approach. With examples from Kalpitiya and Yala, based on ongoing research, this article suggests the need to 'co-discover' destination identities with local stakeholders.