Researchers and practitioners in logistics and supply chain management have devoted considerable efforts to the development of green logistics practices (GLPs). To accelerate the evolution of GLPs in the context of the growing climate crisis, this research delved into the intersection of academic and business realities, comparing their responsiveness to sustainable logistics needs over time. A systematic literature review on the development of GLPs in academic journals was therefore conducted, combined with a content analysis of annual and sustainability reports published by leading global logistics service providers over the past three decades. The research reveals that all GLPs discussed in the academic literature have already been consistently applied and documented by practitioners over a long period of time. Academic progress appears to be hindered by empirical methodologies characterized by slow development, lengthy funding and recruitment processes, and extended peer review times. In addition, it emerges that there is a tendency toward reactive knowledge creation rather than proactive knowledge transfer, blurring the role of academics in guiding the sustainable advancement of the field. Consequently, the research proposes several recommendations in order to foster better collaboration in sustainable logistics research and increase its responsiveness to global events. The identified gaps suggest a transformative paradigm for academia-industry collaboration, combining a proactive, knowledge-transfer-oriented strand of research with a more traditional, knowledge-creation-focused one.
