The Role of Natural Resource, Carbon Finance, FinTech, Financial Inclusion in Advancing Energy Efficiency: Does the Synergy Promise a Greener Future?

There has been a substantial body of research examining the relationship between resource growth and resource finance; limited attention has been devoted to the resource-energy interface. This gap has motivated the current study, which examines the relationship between resources, finance, and energy in the context of China. However, China has undertaken extensive efforts to diversify its energy portfolio; coal remains a dominant source of energy to meet national demand. China has been actively pursuing alternative pathways for achieving its target of carbon neutrality by 2060. Drawing attention towards an extensive literature review, this research has posited that natural resources, eco-financing, fintech, and financial inclusion are key determinants of energy efficiency. Using annual data spanning 2000 to 2023, the study employs the Quantile Autoregressive Distributed Lag (QARDL) model to examine the heterogeneous impacts of these determinants across the distribution of energy efficiency. Empirical findings reveal that fintech consistently enhances energy efficiency in both the short- and long-run across multiple quantiles. On the other hand, financial inclusion and natural resource availability negatively affect energy efficiency, suggesting the presence of structural and behavioural inefficiencies. Moreover, carbon finance is found to have no statistically significant effect on energy efficiency across all quantiles and time horizons. Based on these insights, the study proposes targeted policy recommendations to advance China’s transition toward a more sustainable, energy-efficient economy.