Green finance level and energy consumption paradox in industrial enterprises: evidence from the effectiveness of green funds

Exploring whether industrial enterprises’ green finance level (IEGFL) promotes energy conservation is particularly important. This paper constructs an evaluation index system for IEGFL to measure green finance development. It empirically tests the impact of IEGFL on energy consumption, and further explores its transmission mechanism and the moderating effect from the perspective of green fund effectiveness. The findings show that: (1) IEGFL exhibits a ‘U-shaped’ pattern, with a maximum value of only 0.11. (2) IEGFL effectively drives up enterprises’ energy consumption, leading to an energy rebound effect. The incentive effect on energy consumption is only 0.35%. (3) IEGFL increases energy consumption by expanding production scale and replacing green innovation with the adoption of environmental protection equipment. (4) Considering effectiveness of green funds, enterprise ‘greenwashing’ behavior strengthens the stimulating effect of IEGFL on energy consumption, while enterprise financial level weakens such effect. The findings provide reference for deepening green finance policies.