China's energy system building toward an era of resilience: How green fintech can empower?

Green fintech, with its dual attributes of digitization and environmental sustainability, offers significant potential for enhancing energy resilience in the current era. This study employs panel data from 30 provinces in China, spanning from 2011 to 2023, to measure the development levels of green fintech and energy resilience using the entropy method. The study empirically examines the impact of green fintech on energy resilience from a multidimensional perspective. The findings are as follows: First, both green fintech and energy resilience in China have shown a continuous upward trend in recent years, though regional disparities remain significant. Second, green fintech significantly enhances energy resilience, with notable positive effects on both the economic and environmental dimensions, though its impact on the social and energy endowment dimensions has not yet materialized. Third, innovations in green low-carbon technologies and digital technologies play a critical role in how green fintech improves energy resilience. Fourth, climate policy uncertainty, command-and-control environmental regulations, and market-driven environmental incentives amplify the positive effects of green fintech on energy resilience, while extreme cold weather weakens these effects. Fifth, a threshold effect exists in the relationship between green fintech and energy resilience, with marginal effects increasing once a certain level of marketization is reached. Sixth, the impact of green fintech on energy resilience shows heterogeneity based on geographical location, functional orientation, and innovation levels. The conclusions of this study offer valuable insights for enhancing energy resilience and promoting sustainable development in the energy sector, with specific implications for China.