COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ESG AND SDG APPROACHES AND THEIR APPLICATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION MANAGEMENT
Keywords:
ESG, SDGs, sustainable development, higher education management, comparative analysis, university rankings,, UzbekistanAbstract
Sustainability has become a central issue in modern higher education, yet the two main
assessment frameworks – ESG and SDG are often confused with each other. In this article, we
compare these two approaches and explore their place in higher education governance. Based on
a qualitative methodology, we conducted a comparative and thematic analysis of scientific
literature and official statistics from international organizations (UN, PRI, THE, QS, UI
GreenMetric) after 2020. Our results show that the two frameworks differ in their origins,
governance level, and measurement mechanisms, but complement each other in their
environmental and social dimensions. While ESG represents a measurable framework at the
organizational level, the SDGs set a global direction. In the case of Uzbekistan, it was found that
higher education institutions have made progress in environmental sustainability but lag in the
academic integration of the SDGs. The article recommends the parallel development of the two
frameworks for universities and the systematic integration of sustainable development principles
into the educational process.
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