HSBC scales up Clean Waterways program

Western Province Governor Hanif Yoosuf (centre), HSBC Sri Lanka CEO Mark Surgenor, Beira Lake Restoration Task Force Chairman Chathura Kahandawaarachchi along with members and partners at the launch

• Kicks off community-led behaviour change initiative 

HSBC will scale up its Clean Waterways project, a public -private partnership launched in January 2026 to help restore Beira Lake, a key urban waterway in the heart of Colombo. The expansion will be delivered through a series of programs aimed at reducing incorrect waste disposal at source, supported by community -based education and a youth empowerment initiative.

The expanded program will introduce two connected components: a Nature Literacy and a Green Enterprise Finance Literacy stream. Together, they are designed to build long -term awareness, shift

everyday actions to support correct waste disposal and equip young people to build economic opportunities created through the program support ing a blue -green economy in Sri Lanka.

The Nature Literacy component , focusing on behaviour change and awareness , will be delivered in partnership with Asia Pacific Alliance for Disaster Management Sri Lanka (A -PAD SL) , aiming to:

•  Train over 25 university students as project leads through a ‘Youth Guardians model ’
• Run awareness programs targeting 1 million+ people
•  Drive over 2 million reach through print, electronic and social media
•  Monitor progress through waste reduction tracking and water quality testing
•  Support efforts to reduce illegal dumping through collaboration with relevant authorities in selected areas
• Convene stakeholders via an annual conference, quarterly gatherings and monthly meetings
• Green Enterprise, Green Jobs and Finance Literacy (youth economic empowerment)

The Green Enterprise component is a partnership with British Council and introduces a youth economic empowerment dimension to the Clean Waterways program. Drawing on the British Council’s global Inclusive Economic Empowerment (IEE) framework, this initiative will help young people build skills, financial capability and professional networks to pursue entrepreneurship and employment opportunities in the blue -green economy.

Through this partnership, the program will:

• Reach over 500 young people through awareness and outreach
• Support 250 young people to complete foundational skills, financial literacy, and career orientation/counselling
• Enable over 60 young people to enter green enterprise pathways
• Support over 140 young people to become employment -ready for blue -green sectors

A second solar-powered, zero-emission waste collection boat, will start operating in the ‘Kuda Beira’ area adjoining the Gangaramaya temple, strengthening collection operations by intercepting floating debris. By increasing day-to-day collection capacity in this location, the program will remove more plastic and floating debris before it spreads across Beira Lake, while also generating better data to support community action and at-source reduction behaviour change.

HSBC Sri Lanka CEO Mark Surgenor said: “HSBC understands the importance of Beira Lake to Colombo’s urban environment. Supporting cleaner waterways is a vital step towards restoring this ecosystem. We’re pleased to expand the initial phase that began on 21 January 2026 into a larger and more impactful public-private partnership, with additional partners joining the effort. The British Council and A-PAD SL bring further expertise to strengthen community and youth outreach, which is critical to making this a sustainable venture. Through this public-private partnership to support the restoration of Beira Lake, multiple stakeholders are coming together to protect and restore this iconic lake and we look forward to continuing that over the next few years.”

HSBC launched the Clean Waterways project in January 2026 in partnership with the Beira Lake Restoration Task Force, convened Western Province Governor, to restore Beira Lake. Initially, the Bank in partnership with Clean Ocean Force, launched a solar-powered, zero-emission waterway cleaning boat to support the restoration of the Beira Lake ecosystem and its surrounding environment. During the first seven months of operation, the solar-powered boat collected and removed more than 21 tonnes of wet garbage and floating debris from ‘Maha Beira Lake.’