Sri Lanka has launched updated National Green Reporting System guidelines backed by the European Union, aiming to bring local sustainability reporting in line with international standards.
The EU said it supported the Ministry of Environment in revising the National Green Reporting System (NGRS) guidelines through an EU-funded project called “Accelerating Industries' Climate Response in Sri Lanka (AICRSL)”, implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO).
The revised guidelines were launched on 5 June at Sri Lanka’s National Environment Day celebrations at Temple Trees by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the the European External Action Service reported on Friday.
The NGRS was first introduced in 2011 with support from the EU-funded SWITCH-Asia programme and has now been updated to reflect newer sustainability reporting practices.
The updated guidelines are based on Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards — a widely used framework for organisations to report on sustainability — and are intended to help organisations report environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance using globally recognised approaches.
Dr Johann Hesse, Head of Cooperation at the EU Delegation to Sri Lanka, said aligning the NGRS with GRI standards would support Sri Lankan companies in generating “robust, comparable” ESG data and showing compliance with “evolving EU and global sustainability requirements.”
Voluntary reporting platform for businesses
The NGRS is a voluntary reporting platform for organisations in manufacturing, commercial and service sectors to measure, manage and disclose sustainability performance, the EU said.
Dr Jagathdeva Vidanagama, Chief Technical Specialist of the AICRSL Project, said the revised NGRS provides organisations with a way to align with international standards as “global markets increasingly value transparency and sustainability performance.”
The EU said it would continue working with the Ministry of Environment and UNIDO on Sri Lanka’s transition towards a “greener” and more resource-efficient economy.
