Research On The Relationship Between Environmental Responsibility And Financial Performance Of Power Generation Enterprises Under Carbon Peak And Neutrality

In 2020,General Secretary Xi Jinping put forward the "Carbon Peak and Neutrality" for the first time at the Climate Ambition Summit,that is,China will strive to reach the peak level of CO2 emissions by 2030 and achieve neutrality by 2060.Combining the carbon emission ratio of power generation industry and the necessity of electric energy substitution development,it is clear that carbon emission reduction in power generation industry is undoubtedly the top priority for the country to achieve the carbon peak and neutrality.However,the environmental responsibility of power generation enterprises for the achievement of the carbon peak and neutrality goal necessarily requires a large amount of cost investment,which is contrary to the goal of maximizing enterprise value and leads to a lack of initiative in environmental performance of enterprises.Therefore,this paper investigates the relationship between environmental responsibility and financial performance of power generation enterprises in China in the context of the carbon peak and neutrality,and proposes policy recommendations on how to promote the environmental responsibility of enterprises and improve their performance in the context of the carbon peak and neutrality,so as to provide a theoretical basis for enterprises to formulate corresponding environmental cost management and control strategies,and promote the realization of the dual carbon goal while achieving sustainable development.From the perspectives of CSR theory and stakeholder theory,this paper selects listed enterprises in China’s power generation industry as the research object and studies the evaluation of environmental responsibility of power generation enterprises and the relationship between environmental responsibility and financial performance based on their panel data from 2017-2021.Firstly,the theories and research results related to the environmental responsibility and corporate performance of power generation enterprises are compiled,and the current situation and governance of environmental pollution in the power generation industry are analyzed in the context of the evolution and development of China’s environmental policies,which lay a rich theoretical foundation for studying the relationship between corporate environmental responsibility and financial performance.Secondly,the environmental responsibility evaluation index system of power generation enterprises is constructed in the context of the proposed carbon peak and neutrality target,and the level of environmental responsibility of power generation enterprises is quantitatively evaluated using the SBM-DEA model that considers non-expected output by taking CO2 emissions per kWh of electricity as non-expected output.The results show that the environmental responsibility level of China’s power generation enterprises during the sample period is good and the overall trend is increasing,which shows that the propagation of lowcarbon environmental protection concept in the power generation industry has been quite effective in the past five years,and the enterprises have made substantial contributions in the fields of carbon emission reduction and carbon neutrality.Thirdly,the correlation between environmental responsibility and financial performance of China’s power generation enterprises is empirically analyzed,and the results show that,on the one hand,the impact of environmental responsibility of China’s power generation enterprises on the financial performance of enterprises has a U-shaped relationship.Since the assumption of environmental responsibility requires the allocation of corporate resources to corresponding technological investment and process improvement,it will inevitably lead to a reduction in operating performance in the short run,and has a significant contribution to corporate operating performance in the long run.On the other hand.the impact of financial performance of Chinese power generation enterprises on corporate environmental responsibility is positively correlated.The better the financial performance of a company,the more likely it is to make environmental responsibility and environmental protection investments.This shows that the assumption of environmental responsibility is a choice in response to historical and social development,but environmental protection is a long-term investment process,and companies should weigh environmental benefits against economic benefits and establish long-term environmental strategies and plans.