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There is little research on the intrinsic mechanisms between environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance and green technology innovation among firms in developing countries. Utilizing a dataset comprising Chinese A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen for 2015–2020, this study employs a two-way fixed-effects modeling approach, accounting for industry- and time-specific effects. The results demonstrate an affirmative relationship between firms’ ESG performance and green technology innovation, which is reinforced by state-owned enterprises and firms with dual CEO positions. This study offers a scholarly foundation for the broader transition toward a greener economy and society in China.

To enhance the environmental benefits of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) in coal-fired power plants (CFPPs), the government has implemented carbon trading and tax policies. These policies aim to encourage green technological innovations in these plants. Consequently, CFPPs have increased their investments in emission reduction and carbon capture technologies, alongside accumulating knowledge from these investments. Understanding the relationship between these technology inputs is crucial to help plants balance their efforts and to guide government regulation to foster green innovation. This paper constructs a dynamic optimal control model that incorporates the dual carbon policy’s impact on emission reduction and carbon capture technology inputs, factoring in knowledge accumulation. It examines changes in inputs and benefits under profit and social welfare optimization. A comparative analysis using numerical simulation reveals that the two inputs have a complementary substitution effect, knowledge accumulation enhances input stability, and social incentives are more effective than monopoly incentives. Additionally, the impact of carbon trading and tax policies on these inputs varies with policy intensity.

Green technology innovation is an important approach to addressing environmental pollution and achieving high-quality development. In the context of the booming digital economy, whether and how corporate digital transformation can promote green technology innovation is a significant theoretical issue that urgently needs to be addressed. We use data from China’s A-share listed companies from 2011 to 2020 to explore the impact of digital transformation on corporate green technology innovation, based on the construction of measurement indicators for digital transformation through textual analysis methods. It is found that digital transformation can significantly promote corporate green technology innovation, and this conclusion is still valid after a series of robustness and endogeneity tests. Mechanism testing shows that reducing financing cost and enhancing collaborative research are the two effective pathways for digital transformation to promote green technology innovation. Further analysis also reveals that for state-owned enterprises, non-foreign-invested enterprises, high environmental responsibility enterprises, and non-heavy-polluting enterprises, digital transformation plays a more significant role in promoting green technology innovation. Our research findings are conducive to promoting the integrated development of digital transformation and green economy, and provide theoretical reference for the formulation and implementation of digital transformation policies.

Realising the customers’ demands for green products, green technology innovation (GTI) serves as the way for businesses to grow, seek continued profit, and attain a competitive edge. Based on a paper-based survey of 337 respondents from Chinese hi-tech companies, this study utilised PROCESS Macro to analyse the impact of green transformational leadership (GTL) style on GTI through green innovation capability (GIC). Also, the study examined the adjustment effect of green market orientation (GMO). The findings indicated a statistically significant and favorable relationship between GTL and GTI through GIC. It also provided evidence to support the notion that GMO has a constructive role in moderating the association between GIC and GTI. These findings provide valuable insights into sustainable practises within Chinese high-tech enterprises, thereby enhancing our comprehension of this subject. Additionally, the study offers practical implications for leadership tactics that promote green innovation.

This paper discusses the effects of green technology innovation, renewable energy consumption and renewable energy investment on environmental quality. Panel data covering 81 countries from 2001 to 2020 are used to estimate the effects. The results indicate the following: First, at the total sample level, the effect of green technology innovation, renewable energy consumption and renewable energy investment on Carbon dioxide (CO${}_2)$ emissions is significantly negative at the level of 10–1%; Second, at the subsample level, the green technology innovation and renewable energy consumption of non-Belt and Road (B&R) and high-income countries significantly affect CO₂ emissions; while the green technology innovation and renewable energy consumption of middle- and low-income and B&R countries have no significant effect on CO₂ emissions; Third, the endogeneity and robustness tests of the model verified that this empirical process is credible. Based on the above results, this paper proposes a series of policy implications needed to achieve carbon emission reduction and environmental quality improvement.

Based on the panel data of listed Chinese manufacturing enterprises from 2007 to 2019, this study uses the difference-in-differences-based propensity score matching method (PSM-DID) to explore the policy effect of carbon emissions trading on green technology innovation in manufacturing from the perspective of independent innovation of enterprises. The conclusions of this study show that: (1) Carbon emissions trading has significantly improved the level of green technology innovation of manufacturing enterprises; (2) the policy effect of carbon emissions trading on the green patent application is more than twice as much as on green utility model patent application. Compared with green utility model patent, the pilot policy of carbon emissions trading has a more significant and greater policy effect on the green invention patent application; (3) the private enterprises are more sensitive to the pilot policy of carbon emissions trading than state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The carbon emissions trading in China effectively promotes low-carbon and green development of enterprises.