Does Green Finance Development Enhance the Sustainability Performance of China’s Energy Companies?

The achievement of China’s “dual-carbon” standard has been devoted to the green transformation and the sustainable growth of energy firms, both of which can be financed by the growth of green financing. This study aims to investigate how the development level of green finance influences the sustainable development performance of listed energy companies in China. It seeks to delve into the underlying mechanisms connecting green finance with financing constraints and, subsequently, with sustainability performance, as well as exploring the relationship between green finance and green total factor productivity in relation to sustainability performance. Additionally, this study will provide strategies and recommendations to enhance the sustainable development capabilities of energy enterprises. This study empirically evaluates the four aspects of sustainable development performance: economic, social, environmental, and innovative performance—as well as its mechanism of action using the fixed-effects pattern with two ways and the mediated-effects pattern using unbalanced panel data from Chinese-listed energy firms spanning from 2011 to 2020. The study discovered that (1) energy firms’ performance in sustainable development is greatly enhanced by the progression of green finance; (2) the advancement of green finance effectively boosts the sustainable development performance of energy companies by reducing financing constraints and enhancing green total factor productivity; (3) a more distinct relationship is evident between the extent of green financing development and the performance of sustainable development within state-owned enterprises. While green finance development has a stronger role in innovative performance for larger energy firms, it has a noticeable proactive impact on the economic, social, and environmental performance of smaller energy enterprises. Based on the study’s findings, this paper presents recommendations for the enhancement of green financing policies and the sustainable enhancement of energy enterprises in China.