This paper explores the relationship between carbon emissions reduction and corporate financial performance, leveraging a rich dataset of 14,866 observations from 2768 companies across 36 countries and regions, and 35 industries over the period 2002–2022. We find that carbon emissions reductions improve company financial performance, as measured by return on assets and return on equity, with this effect being even more pronounced for companies with higher carbon intensity. Additionally, country carbon regulations are positively associated with a company's financial performance, while higher ESG scores negatively impact it. Notably, we find no significant role for CSR reporting in driving financial gains. Overall, our findings suggest that companies can enhance financial performance by intensifying their carbon emission reduction efforts while also contributing to environmental stewardship. We recommend that businesses adopt tailored sustainability strategies that account for country, firm, and industry-specific factors to maximize these benefits across different regional and sectoral contexts.

中文翻译：

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绿色驱动：公司碳减排的财务效益


本文利用 2002 年至 2022 年期间来自 36 个国家和地区、35 个行业的 2768 家公司的 14,866 次观察的丰富数据集，探讨了碳减排与企业财务绩效之间的关系。我们发现，以资产回报率和股本回报率衡量，碳减排可以改善公司的财务业绩，这种影响对于碳强度较高的公司来说更为明显。此外，国家碳法规与公司的财务业绩呈正相关，而较高的 ESG 分数会对其产生负面影响。值得注意的是，我们发现 CSR 报告在推动财务收益方面没有重要作用。总体而言，我们的研究结果表明，公司可以通过加强碳减排工作来提高财务业绩，同时也为环境管理做出贡献。我们建议企业采用量身定制的可持续发展战略，考虑国家、公司和行业的具体因素，以便在不同的区域和行业环境中最大限度地发挥这些优势。