Road to sustainable development: How does green finance affect cultivated land green and low-carbon use efficiency?

Growing evidence indicates that conventional cultivated land use practices aimed at maximizing grain production have resulted in land degradation, declining productivity, and increasing environmental pressures. Improving cultivated land green and low-carbon use efficiency ( CLGUE ) is therefore critical for achieving a balance between food security and ecological sustainability. Based on panel data from 202 prefecture-level cities in China during 2011 to 2023, this study employs a difference-in-differences (DID) model to empirically examine the impact of green finance ( GF) on CLGUE . The main findings are as follows: (1) CLGUE in China demonstrates an overall upward trend, rising by 39.34% during the study period. High-efficiency areas are concentrated in northeast China and central–western transitional zones, while low-efficiency clusters are predominantly distributed in eastern coastal regions. (2) GF significantly promotes CLGUE , increasing it by 0.0494 on average. The finding remains valid under a set of robustness tests. (3) GF generates significant positive spatial spillover effects on CLGUE , with the spatial spillover range extending approximately 450 km (4) Mechanism analysis reveals that agricultural infrastructure construction ( AIC ), agricultural green enterprises ( AGE ), and digital inclusive finance ( DIF ) may serve as potential mechanisms through which GF enhances CLGUE . (5) The positive impact of GF exhibits significant heterogeneity. Specifically, the positive effects are stronger in resource-based cities, non-major grain-producing areas, regions with higher agricultural insurance coverage, and areas located east of the Hu Line. These findings provide valuable insights for policymakers seeking to optimize green finance policies and accelerate the green and low-carbon transformation of cultivated land use.