Can green finance policy curb corporate ESG report “green washing”? — Experiential evidence from Chinese listed companies

In recent years, 'green washing' in ESG reports emerge more intensely, which seriously interferes with normal capital investment behaviour. This paper takes the Chinese A-share listed companies in 2013–2020 as a research sample and explores the relationship between investors' attention and the 'green washing' of the enterprise ESG report. Research shows that green financial policies significantly encourage the ESG report 'green washing' behaviour of heavy-polluting enterprises. The primary cause is heavy-polluting enterprises are more motivated to relieve financial pressure through ESG report 'green washing' under the pressure of green financial policies. The conclusion of this paper shows that green financial policies to promote the green transformation of enterprises may negatively induce enterprises to falsely disclose ESG information.