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Green finance is an effective policy instrument in mitigating climate change, but to date little is known about its impact on carbon dioxide (CO 2) emissions. This study extends the literature on the relationship between green finance and CO 2 emissions while taking trade openness and economic development into consideration to comprehensively explore the conservation/feedback hypothesis using the Autoregressive-Distributed Lag–Error Correction Model (ARDL–ECM) on data collected from 2000 to 2019. By constructing a green finance index comprising green credit, green securities, green insurance, and green investment, results include the following. (1) Support was found for the conservation hypothesis running from green finance, trade openness, and economic development to emissions per capita; the conservation hypothesis also was supported for the unidirectional relationship running from trade openness and economic development to green finance. (2) Green finance is found to be significantly and negatively related to emissions per capita in both the short and long term. (3) Trade openness shows a positive effect on emissions per capita. Robustness tests are provided. This study deepens policy implications of green finance in the post-pandemic era and highlights the moderating role of renewable energy in the green finance impact on carbon mitigation. • This study constructs a green finance index for China. • The autoregressive distributed lag–error correction model is employed. • Green finance contributes to carbon mitigation in both the short and long run. • CO 2 emissions are Granger result of green finance, trade openness and economic growth. • Trade openness and economic growth are Granger causes of each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The motivation of this study stems from the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals on clean and responsible energy consumption, climate change mitigation and sustainable economic growth (UN-SDGs-7, 11, 12 and 13). The present study examines the impact of institutional quality on CO 2 emissions in the presence of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) framework using data on CO 2 emissions and the six dimensions of institutional quality from the World Governance Indicators (WGI). The current study focuses on selected 30 Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries over the annual period from 2000 to 2021. The EKC hypothesis revealed CO 2 emissions are substantially reduced by corruption control, regulatory quality, and the rule of law. Findings from the Dumitrescu and Hurlin causality test showed a one-way causality running from CO 2 emissions to industrialization. Similar uni-directional causality is observed between economic growth, and energy consumption. On the other hand, we observed a two-way causality flow from CO 2 emissions to population growth and all indices of institutional quality over the investigated period. These findings indicate that government agencies should efficiently implement acceptable strategies for pollution control and enact public benefit environmental regulations in the form of a healthier climate for the entire population. • We examined the impact of institutional quality on CO 2 emissions in the presence of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) framework. • 30 Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries are selected for empirical investigation. • We reveal that CO 2 emissions are substantially reduced by corruption control, regulatory quality, and the rule of law. • Meanwhile, one-way causality runs from CO 2 emissions to industrialization. • A two-way causality flow from CO 2 emissions to population growth and all indices of institutional quality are reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]