Environmental reporting practices of the private sector business organizations in Sri Lanka

Abstract

During the past two decades environmental reporting has received increasing attention in the literatures of accounting, business management and environmental law. Recent surveys on environmental reporting suggest that, although the reporting of firms' impacts on the physical environment has dramatically increased the existing environmental reporting is found deficient and not of a standard to satisfy the information needs of various groups of report users. Tliis study involves an evaluating of existing environmental reporting practices of private sector business organizations in Sri Lanka. The published annual reports for the financial year 1998/99 of randomly selected 123 quoted public companies in Sri Lanka were reviewed. Study found tliat, existing environmental reporting practices in Sri Lanka is very narrow and does not provide material information to users of financial information.