{
  "abstract": "Green finance is widely used to support electricity-sector decarbonization, but conventional assessments often ignore upstream embodied emissions. Using a balanced panel of 30 Chinese provinces from 2011 to 2023, this study examines how green finance affects the annual growth of direct carbon intensity and lifecycle carbon intensity in the electricity sector. Two-way fixed-effects estimates show that green finance reduces direct carbon intensity growth by about 3.1 percentage points but increases lifecycle carbon intensity growth by about 3.4 percentage points. The divergence is robust to alternative measurements, sample restrictions, coefficient-stability tests, jackknife resampling, and supplementary instrumental-variable estimates. Mechanism results indicate that green finance improves the power mix and dispatch efficiency, while the lifecycle effect persists, consistent with upstream embodied emissions from clean-energy equipment and materials. The effect weakens within about 2 years at the provincial level. These findings highlight the need to incorporate lifecycle carbon accounting into green-finance evaluation. Science for society: The transition to clean electricity is often evaluated by measuring carbon emissions released directly from power plants. This approach can miss emissions generated earlier in the supply chain, such as those from producing steel, solar panels, wind turbines, batteries, and transmission equipment. Using provincial data from China’s electricity sector, this study shows that green finance can produce two effects at the same time. It helps reduce direct emissions from electricity generation by supporting cleaner power sources and more efficient dispatch. However, it can also increase lifecycle emissions in the short term because large-scale clean-energy investment requires carbon-intensive equipment and materials before the resulting emission savings are realized. This does not mean that green finance is ineffective. Instead, it reveals that the timing and accounting boundary of evaluation matter. The lifecycle increase weakens within about 2 years at the provincial level, suggesting that early embodied-carbon burdens may be offset as clean-energy assets begin operating. For society, the findings imply that green finance should not be judged only by emissions at the power plant boundary. Financial institutions, regulators, and project developers could improve decision-making by considering lifecycle carbon footprints, encouraging lower-carbon manufacturing, and coordinating responsibility across provinces connected through energy and supply chains. A broader accounting framework would help ensure that green investment supports genuine decarbonization rather than merely shifting emissions upstream or across regions.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "National Academy of Economic Security, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China",
    "School of Economics and Management, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China",
    "School of Carbon Neutrality and Environment, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China; Corresponding author"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 4,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Jingcheng Li"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Tianyang Wang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Menggang Li"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Junjie Li"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/bw88qnxwva91p.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1016/j.crsus.2026.100818",
  "fulltext_url": "http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949790626001874",
  "id": "bw88qnxwva91p",
  "issns": [
    "2949-7906"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crsus.2026.100818",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "lcc",
      "GE1-350"
    ],
    [
      "lcc",
      "QH540-549.5"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2002|Energy, Environment, Economic Growth"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7203700907",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-25",
  "publisher": "Elsevier",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/bw88qnxwva91p.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T13:44:53Z",
      "native_id": "4695ed245ad74bfeba5438a16688571c",
      "source": "doaj",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crsus.2026.100818"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "lcc:QH540-549.5",
      "subfield": "ecology"
    },
    {
      "field": "earth",
      "origin": "lcc:GE1-350",
      "subfield": "environmental-science"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Green finance curbs direct carbon emissions but exacerbates lifecycle carbon emissions in China’s electricity sector",
  "title_text": "Green finance curbs direct carbon emissions but exacerbates lifecycle carbon emissions in China’s electricity sector",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T13:44:53Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/bw88qnxwva91p",
  "venue": "Cell Reports Sustainability",
  "versions": []
}