The Diffusion of Sustainability Reporting for Higher Education Institution Worldwide

Abstract

This study examined the diffusion of higher education institutions (HEIs) sustainability reporting (SR) around the world. It also compares the sustainability reporting (GRI database) and sustainability performance (SP) of HEIs by adopting the UI Green Metrics. Two hundred and forty-nine sustainability reports for the period 2010-2020 were analyzed to measure sustainability reporting practices. This research was a population study. The data analysis was performed using inferential and descriptive statistics. The results represented the number of SRs for HEIs was remain very weak. The comparative analysis represented that there were differences in sustainability reporting according to geographical region, but not according to size and sustainability performance. Sustainability performance has increased at the international level, but it has not been tracked by the trend of sustainability reporting, with developed and developing countries having different results. The implication of this finding suggests that it is necessary to improve the GRI standard indicators to match HEI characteristics. Future research should test the quality of reporting.