Purpose The purpose of this paper is to extend the New Public Financial Management concept and the contingency model approach to an analysis of the determinants of the accrual-based International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) adoption process as a financial management reform in Sri Lanka, a developing country in Asia. Design/methodology/approach Based on the prior literature, this paper develops a framework to highlight the importance of accrual-based reforms in public sector accounting policies to enable better transparency and accountability. It shows the extent to which Sri Lankan public sector institutions have adopted IPSAS-based accounting standards and the limitations of adopting these standards in a developing country, using documentary analysis. Findings In developing countries, the public sector faces practical problems when adopting reforms due to limited institutional capacity, high political involvement and bureaucracy in decision making. This paper concludes that significant policy changes towards the adoption of international accounting standards have gained momentum over the last decade in Sri Lanka while the much larger economies in Asia are still studying this process. However, the prevailing political uncertainty in Sri Lanka has negatively impacted the implementation process. Originality/value Relatively little is known about the diffusion of, and the difficulties in, implementing accrual-based IPSAS in the Asian region. This paper is an attempt to fill this gap by exploring the Sri Lankan experience. This could be applied by other developing countries in Asia, including the high-growth nations, for policy adoption and accounting harmonisation.

Today, companies across all industries around the globe face the challenges of unprecedented disruption due to climate change and other social disruptions. It is the responsibility of standard setters and regulators of the financial sector to constantly encourage industries to adopt and respond instead of ignoring the disruption. Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) risk disclosure is one of the main emerging corporate disclosures of rising importance. Specifically with new Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) listing rules companies listed in the ASX are expected to comply with new Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) risk discloser requirements from the year 2016 and if they do not comply, the 'if not, why not' rule applies. This study seeks to provide insight into the current ESG risk disclosure practices in the Australian context giving particular reference to the extractive sector companies for which ESG disclosure has become a crucial reporting requirement.

Asia is the fastest growing economic region that has attracted significant economic and infrastructure development. With increasing development, this region has become one of the main environmental polluters with significant environmental degradation, reduced water and air quality, and imperilled biodiversity. Traditional international donor and funding agencies such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank have strict environmental safeguard policies drawn from Sustainable Development Goals, to ensure borrowing countries and projects comply with environmental sustainability. However, with an increasing shift to non-traditional donors such as China, environmental safeguards are not a key priority in developmental projects. The public sector plays a significant role in ensuring environmental sustainability and accountability, and is increasingly being pressured to revisit their concept of sustainability. Robust public sector accountability frameworks are paramount to achieve environmentally sustainable development. However, environmental sustainability research in developing country context is limited, public sector research is even scarce. This paper aims to fill this gap by clarifying the concept of environmental accountability of public sector entities in pursuing internationally funded development projects in Sri Lanka as a fast developing country in the south Asian region. This further analyses the roles and responsibilities of public sector agencies in relation to the environmental sustainability practices and the impact of international development funding agencies, including donor agencies on public sector accountability. The analysis indicates that despite the existing environmental sustainability guidelines and principles set by international agencies, environmental degradation continued to be a significant challenge in the country.

Implementation of Sustainable development Goals (SDGs) for better environmental sustainability in developing countries in Asia has taken centre stage in response to the major environmental and social degradation created through rapid economic development in the region. Further, lack of clarity in environmental accountability of traditional economic developmental activities and internationally funded infrastructure development projects has resulted in reduced water and air quality and imperilled biodiversity. SDG related research in developing country context is limited and the impact of the funding bodies on public sector governance and accountability is scarce. This paper aims to fill this gap by addressing environmental accountability of public sector entities in internationally funded development projects in Sri Lanka, as a fast-developing country in Asia. The results indicate that environmental degradation is a continuing issue in Sri Lanka despite the efforts of traditional donor agencies monitoring and implementing environmental sustainability guidelines and SDG principles in infrastructure projects. The drastic change in the donor landscape experienced in the country with the rise of non-traditional donors and the deficiencies in public sector governance and accountability structures pose a significant threat to attainment of SDGs, including environmental sustainability in Sri Lanka.