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ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Green Finance: An Emerging Driving Force
for Low-Carbon Transformation
of China’s Energy Structure
1
School of Economics and Management, Liaoning Petrochemical University, Fushun, China
2
Academic Affairs Division, Liaoning Petrochemical University, Fushun, China
Submission date: 2024-03-06
Final revision date: 2024-04-27
Acceptance date: 2024-05-17
Online publication date: 2024-10-25
Publication date: 2025-04-04
Corresponding author
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2025;34(4):3729-3739
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Energy is the driving force behind economic development. The low-carbon transformation of the energy
structure (the following may be referred to as LCT) contributes to balancing development and emission
reduction. Green finance serves as a significant financial tool for LCT, yet relevant academic research in this
area remains scarce. Based on panel data from 30 provinces in China spanning from 2007 to 2021, this paper
analyzes the impact of green finance on LCT. The study draws the following conclusions: Green finance
has significantly promoted LCT. Using green finance and green innovation as threshold variables, the
impact of green finance on LCT exhibits a single threshold effect. Beyond the threshold value, green finance
significantly enhances its role in improving LCT. Moreover, green finance exhibits spatial spillover effects
on LCT, concurrently improving local and other regions’ LCT. Lastly, the study provides corresponding
policy recommendations focusing on vigorously developing green finance, continuously enhancing green
innovation capabilities, and leveraging the regional spillover effects of green finance.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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