ESG APPROACH IMPLEMENTATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS OF UZBEKISTAN: INSTITUTIONAL-LEGAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL-ECONOMIC CONDITIONS ANALYSIS

Аннотация

The accelerating adoption of sustainability frameworks in global higher education has placed
ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) principles at the centre of institutional performance
assessment. This article presents a comprehensive analysis of the institutional-legal and
organizational-economic conditions for ESG implementation in higher education institutions
(HEIs) of Uzbekistan for the period 2020–2025. Drawing on three complementary data sources —
official statistical data from the Agency of Statistics and the Ministry of Higher Education, Science
and Innovations (MHESI), expert interviews with 42 purposively selected HEI administrators and
researchers across 18 institutions spanning seven regions and three institutional types, and direct
monitoring of 18 universities — the study addresses four core research questions regarding the
regulatory framework, quantitative-qualitative indicators, institutional variation, and financial
readiness for ESG investment. The findings reveal an 'implicit ESG regulatory environment' in
which the updated Constitution (2023), the Education Law (2020), and the Green Economy
National Strategy (2022) collectively establish a normative ESG foundation without explicitly
mandating sustainability reporting. A pronounced Tashkent–region disparity in ESG readiness (74
vs. 24–52 points on a 100-point composite scale) and deep governance transparency gaps (22 vs.
a regional target of 70 points) are documented. The Social component analysis reveals particular
deficits in inclusive education infrastructure for students with disabilities and in community–HEI
partnership mechanisms — dimensions receiving less policy attention than environmental and
governance challenges. International benchmarking against Kazakhstan, Türkiye, South Korea,
and Finland situates Uzbekistan's trajectory within a realistic 20-year reform horizon. The article
concludes with a three-phase ESG roadmap and targeted recommendations for each ESG
component