The objective of this study is to analyze scientific productivity on the topic of sustainable development education in higher education. Ecological conflicts are among the most important phenomena for humanity. They have repercussions in educational spaces, demanding an education committed to teaching respect for the planet at all education levels, including at the university level. A bibliometric assessment is conducted based on the review of 322 scientific articles published from the years 1970 until 2019. The results reveal growing research productivity on sustainable development education in recent years, showing the relevance acquired by this topic in the scientific community. It is concluded that even though there is evidence of scientific productivity on sustainable development education for some time, research on this line of investigation gained relevance only recently.