The main objective of this study was to determine the extent to which students' critical thinking skills can be improved through the implementation of a guided inquiry learning model based on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). This study used a quasi-experimental approach with a post-test only control group design. The study population consisted of 5 classes with a total of 190 students. From this population, the researcher took a sample of 68 students through a simple random sampling technique. The sample was then divided into two groups, namely 34 students for the experimental class and 34 students for the control class. The research instrument was a critical thinking skills test consisting of 20 objective, reasoned questions. The research data were analyzed using a t-test. Based on the calculation results, the t-value was 3.792, while the t-table value at a significance level of 0.05 was 2.037. This indicates that Ha is accepted and Ho is rejected. Thus, there is a significant difference between the critical thinking skills of students who participated in learning with a guided inquiry model based on ESD compared to conventional learning. In addition, the improvement in critical thinking skills was also analyzed through the N-Gain calculation. The results showed that the experimental class achieved a 65% improvement, categorized as moderate, while the control class achieved a 59% improvement, also categorized as moderate. These findings indicate that guided inquiry learning integrated with ESD principles provides a more effective way to foster students' critical thinking skills compared to traditional methods. Therefore, ESD-based guided inquiry learning can be an alternative, innovative learning strategy to improve the quality of the learning process in secondary schools.