IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eneeco/v123y2023ics0140988323002554.html

Role of ESG investments in achieving COP-26 targets

Author

Listed:
  • Wang, Xiaoyuan
  • Wang, Jiahaoran
  • Guan, Weimin
  • Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the relationship between Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and the goals of COP-26 (reduction of greenhouse gas emissions) in China by applying the Autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing technique with annual data from to 1990–2021. The main findings confirmed that, in the long term, with a 1% improvement in ESG investment, GHG emissions of greenhouse gases in China will decrease by 0.0046%. Simultaneously, ESG had a negative and significant effect in the short term. With a 1% increase in this variable, China's greenhouse gas emissions will decrease by 1.391%. The recommended practical policies in this study are establishing an ESG-investing network (ESGIN), introduction and implementation of ESG investing law, improving digital ESG investing, and enhancing an ESG-oriented culture in business.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Xiaoyuan & Wang, Jiahaoran & Guan, Weimin & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad, 2023. "Role of ESG investments in achieving COP-26 targets," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:123:y:2023:i:c:s0140988323002554
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2023.106757
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140988323002554
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eneco.2023.106757?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Liu, Yang & Wang, Jianda & Dong, Kangyin & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad, 2023. "How does natural resource abundance affect green total factor productivity in the era of green finance? Global evidence," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    2. Zhang, Dongyang & Mohsin, Muhammad & Rasheed, Abdul Khaliq & Chang, Youngho & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad, 2021. "Public spending and green economic growth in BRI region: Mediating role of green finance," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    3. Dwivedi, Yogesh K. & Hughes, Laurie & Kar, Arpan Kumar & Baabdullah, Abdullah M. & Grover, Purva & Abbas, Roba & Andreini, Daniela & Abumoghli, Iyad & Barlette, Yves & Bunker, Deborah & Chandra Kruse,, 2022. "Climate change and COP26: Are digital technologies and information management part of the problem or the solution? An editorial reflection and call to action," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    4. Narcisa Medranda-Morales & Roberto Sánchez-Montoya & Josselyn Vanessa Ayuy Cevallos & Joselyne Andrea Soria Rojas, 2022. "Challenges for the Construction of Environmental Journalism in Ecuador and the COP26 in Digital Media," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-13, October.
    5. Metawa, Noura & Dogan, Eyup & Taskin, Dilvin, 2022. "Analyzing the nexus of green economy, clean and financial technology," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 385-396.
    6. Peng, Wei & Xiong, Langyu, 2022. "Managing financing costs and fostering green transition: The role of green financial policy in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 820-836.
    7. Dogan, Eyup & Chishti, Muhammad Zubair & Karimi Alavijeh, Nooshin & Tzeremes, Panayiotis, 2022. "The roles of technology and Kyoto Protocol in energy transition towards COP26 targets: Evidence from the novel GMM-PVAR approach for G-7 countries," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    8. Tien Cao Minh & Niki Naderi, 2022. "Unleashing the Role of Green Finance, Clean Energy, and Environmental Responsibility in Emission Reduction," Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management (JEAPM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 24(03), pages 1-12, September.
    9. Francesco Cesarone & Manuel Luis Martino & Alessandra Carleo, 2022. "Does ESG Impact Really Enhance Portfolio Profitability?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-28, February.
    10. Zhang, Dongyang & Mohsin, Muhammad & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad, 2022. "Does green finance counteract the climate change mitigation: Asymmetric effect of renewable energy investment and R&D," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    11. Pedersen, Lasse Heje & Fitzgibbons, Shaun & Pomorski, Lukasz, 2021. "Responsible investing: The ESG-efficient frontier," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 572-597.
    12. Naqvi, Bushra & Rizvi, Syed Kumail Abbas & Mirza, Nawazish & Umar, Muhammad, 2023. "Financial market development: A potentiating policy choice for the green transition in G7 economies," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    13. Bertrand Kian Hassani & Yacoub Bahini, 2022. "Relationships between ESG Disclosure and Economic Growth: A Critical Review," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-23, November.
    14. Marielle Jong & Steve Rocco, 2022. "ESG and impact investing," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 23(7), pages 547-549, December.
    15. Kilbourne, William E. & Thyroff, Anastasia, 2020. "STIRPAT for marketing: An introduction, expansion, and suggestions for future use," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 351-361.
    16. Dai, Xiao-wen & Sun, Zhanli & Müller, Daniel, 2021. "Driving factors of direct greenhouse gas emissions from China’s pig industry from 1976 to 2016," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 20(1), pages 319-329.
    17. Li, Jiaman & Dong, Kangyin & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad & Wang, Kun, 2022. "3G in China: How green economic growth and green finance promote green energy?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 1327-1337.
    18. Wang, Quan-Jing & Tang, Kai & Hu, Hai-Qing, 2022. "The impact of digital finance on green innovation: Evidence from provinces in China," Innovation and Green Development, Elsevier, vol. 1(1).
    19. Zaheer Allam & Ayyoob Sharifi & Damien Giurco & Samantha Sharpe, 2022. "Green new deals could be the answer to COP26’s deep decarbonisation needs," Post-Print hal-03997478, HAL.
    20. Kim, Y. Han (Andy) & Park, Junho & Shin, Hojong, 2022. "CEO facial masculinity, fraud, and ESG: Evidence from South Korea," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Beckmann, Joscha & Rogmann, Jennifer, 2024. "Determinants and effects of country ESG controversy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    2. Chen, Jinyu & Luo, Qian & Tu, Yan & Ren, Xiaohang & Naderi, Niki, 2023. "Renewable energy transition and metal consumption: Dynamic evolution analysis based on transnational data," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PB).
    3. Li, Haichao & Su, Yuqi & Ding, Chante Jian & Tian, Gary Gang & Wu, Zhan, 2024. "Unveiling the green innovation paradox: Exploring the impact of carbon emission reduction on corporate green technology innovation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    4. Tiwari, Sunil & Shahzad, Umer & Alofaysan, Hind & Walsh, Steven T. & Kumari, Pooja, 2024. "How do renewable energy, energy innovation and climate change shape the energy transition in USA? Unraveling the role of green finance development," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    5. Hanan Qudah, 2026. "Tracing the development of environmental, social and governance (ESG) performs: a systematic review and bibliometric analysis," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-20, December.
    6. Guo, Kun & Li, Yichong & Zhang, Yunhan & Chen, Yingtong & Ma, Yanran, 2024. "Cross-country risk spillovers of ESG stock indices: Dynamic patterns and the role of climate transition risks," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 95(PB).
    7. Tan, Juan & Zou, Xing-Yun & Zhang, Xin & Chang, Chun-Ping, 2025. "Does national ESG performance move together with climate warming?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 19-29.
    8. Yao, Xiaoyang & He, Wenjing & Li, Jianfeng & Le, Wei, 2023. "Climate policy uncertainty through production networks: Evidence from the stock market," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    9. Liu, Bing & Sun, Huimin & Xiao, Siqing, 2024. "Potential of pension funds and insurance companies for investment in resources: Policies for sustainable transition," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    10. Zhao, Weigang & Chen, Jianmin & Yan, Ying & Wei, Yi-Ming, 2025. "Provincial heterogeneity effects of electrification on carbon dioxide emissions in China and the moderating effect of power supply mix," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 337(C).
    11. Dil Jan & Maaz Ahmad & Xiao Gu, 2026. "Understanding the complex dynamics of climate change in BRICS countries: Analyzing the COP26 and COP27 agendas," Energy & Environment, , vol. 37(2), pages 925-959, March.
    12. Mustafa Tevfik Kartal & Serpil Kılıç Depren & Ugur Korkut Pata & Dilvin Taşkın & Tuba Şavlı, 2024. "Modeling the link between environmental, social, and governance disclosures and scores: the case of publicly traded companies in the Borsa Istanbul Sustainability Index," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 10(1), pages 1-20, December.
    13. Liang, Yuchao & Tan, Qi & Pang, Jun, 2024. "Bless or curse, how does extreme temperature shape heavy pollution companies' ESG performance?-Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dunbar, Kwamie & Treku, Daniel N., 2025. "Do energy transition investment flows aid climate commitments?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    2. Liu, Yang & Zhao, Xiaomeng & Dong, Kangyin & Jiang, Qingzhe, 2023. "Assessing the role of green finance in sustainable energy investments by power utilities: Evidence from China," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    3. Madiha Kiran & Muhammad Abubakr Naeem & Mustafa Raza Rabbani, 2025. "Evolving Dynamics of Ecological Sustainability: Investigating ESG Investments and Governance Quality in G8 Nations," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 16(6), pages 17755-17783, December.
    4. Li, Jiaman & Dong, Kangyin & Wang, Kun & Dong, Xiucheng, 2023. "How does natural resource dependence influence carbon emissions? The role of environmental regulation," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    5. Zaman, Mubasher & Ullah, Atta & Qin, Quande & Kashif, Muhammad, 2026. "Technology-society nexus in post-COP 27 era: How digital innovation, energy transition, and green finance drive net-zero pathways in OECD countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).
    6. Liang, Yuchao & Tan, Qi & Pang, Jun, 2024. "Bless or curse, how does extreme temperature shape heavy pollution companies' ESG performance?-Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    7. Lu, Xiaomeng & Zhang, Xianjun & Guo, Fusen & Li, Feng, 2024. "Evaluating ESG Investment Profitability: From the Perspective of Sophistication in Investment Decision-Making," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 69(PA).
    8. Chen, Fuyong & Zeng, Xiao & Guo, Xiang, 2024. "Green finance, climate change, and green innovation: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    9. Mayank Joshipura & Nohade Nasrallah & Nikita Kedia, 2025. "Green and Climate Finance for Sustainability: Hybrid Review and Framework Development," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(3), pages 3618-3634, March.
    10. Huang, Haiping & Huang, Baolian & Sun, Aijun, 2023. "How do mineral resources influence eco-sustainability in China? Dynamic role of renewable energy and green finance," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PA).
    11. Qadri, Hussain Mohi ud Din & Ali, Hassnian & Abideen, Zain ul & Jafar, Ahmad, 2024. "Mapping the Evolution of Green Finance Research and Development in Emerging Green Economies," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    12. Imma Lory Aprea & Gianni Bosi & Gabriele Sbaiz & Salvatore Scognamiglio, 2025. "Bi-Objective Portfolio Optimization Under ESG Volatility via a MOPSO-Deep Learning Algorithm," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-31, October.
    13. Ma, Li & Li, Danna, 2024. "Would macro policy promote green and low-carbon transformation of energy companies?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PB).
    14. Naeem, Muhammad Abubakr & Appiah, Michael & Karim, Sitara & Yarovaya, Larisa, 2023. "What abates environmental efficiency in African economies? Exploring the influence of infrastructure, industrialization, and innovation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 186(PB).
    15. Diana Barro & Marco Corazza & Gianni Filograsso, 2025. "Tracking-Based Green Portfolio Optimization: Bridging Sustainability and Market Performance," Working Papers 2025: 21, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    16. Xu, Bin & Lin, Boqiang, 2025. "How does green credit effectively promote green technology innovation?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    17. Borojo, Dinkneh Gebre & Yushi, Jiang & Gong, Xueting & Zhang, Hongyu & Miao, Miao, 2024. "The heterogeneous impacts of climate finance on energy efficiency and renewable energy production in developing countries," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 236(C).
    18. Rui Dong & Shengnan Wang & Muhammad Awais Baloch, 2024. "Do green finance and green innovation foster environmental sustainability in China? Evidence from a quantile autoregressive-distributed lag model," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(10), pages 25995-26017, October.
    19. Chen Han & Lu Yang, 2024. "Financing and Management Strategies for Expanding Green Development Projects: A Case Study of Energy Corporation in China’s Renewable Energy Sector Using Machine Learning (ML) Modeling," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-33, May.
    20. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Wang, Chang-song & He, Zhiwen & Xing, Wen-wu & Wang, Keying, 2023. "How does green finance affect energy efficiency? The role of green technology innovation and energy structure," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 219(P1).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • Q40 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - General
    • C32 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes; State Space Models

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:123:y:2023:i:c:s0140988323002554. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/eneco .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.