The Impact of Green Finance and Renewable Energy Development on the Low-Carbon Transition of the Marine Industry: Evidence from Coastal Provinces and Cities in China

The marine industry’s low-carbon transition is critical to enhancing industrial competitiveness. This study empirically investigates how green finance, renewable energy development, and their synergistic effects influence the marine industry’s low-carbon transition, utilizing data from 11 Chinese coastal provinces and cities from 2006 to 2022 and employing fixed effects, moderating effects, and panel quantile regression models. The findings reveal the following: (1) Green finance and renewable energy development can promote the marine industry’s low-carbon transition. (2) Green finance and renewable energy development exhibit positive synergistic effects in driving the marine industry’s low-carbon transition. (3) Regression results across various stages of the marine industry’s low-carbon transition reveal that the influence of green finance and the synergistic effects intensify over time, whereas the effect of renewable energy development gradually weakens. (4) The heterogeneity results indicate that the influence of green finance and the synergistic effects on the marine industry’s low-carbon transition are more pronounced in the northern and eastern marine economic zones, while the impact of renewable energy development and the synergistic effects are stronger in provinces with moderate economic development levels. This study enriches the theoretical system of the low-carbon economy, expands the scope of application of green finance and renewable energy, provides scientific basis and policy recommendations for China to promote the green development of the marine economy under the goal of “dual carbon”, and provides practical experience for reference to countries for addressing climate change and promoting the low-carbon transition of the marine industry.