Does corporate climate risk promote climate response actions? Empirical evidence from China
Document Type
Research-Article
Journal Name
Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change
Keywords
Carbon emission reduction, Climate response actions, Climate risk, Environmental protection, Green innovation
Abstract
As primary contributors to climate change, corporations face significant climate risk (CR) and are required to undertake various climate response actions (CRA). Understanding whether corporate CR promotes corporate CRA is crucial for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Using data from Chinese A-share listed companies spanning 2007–2022, the CR index was constructed through machine learning and text-mining methods, while the CRA index was developed across three dimensions: carbon emission reduction (CER), environmental protection (EP), and green innovation (GI). Subsequently, an industry–year fixed effects model was employed to examine the relationship between CR and CRA. Results indicate that corporate CR significantly enhanced CER and GI, whereas its effect on EP was statistically insignificant. The mechanism analysis suggests that the proportion of executives with overseas experience and financial expertise positively moderated the impact of CR on GI. Moreover, media attention significantly strengthened the positive effect of CR on CER and GI, whereas the moderating effects of market and legal environments were statistically insignificant. The heterogeneity analysis reveals that the effect of CR on CER was more pronounced in state-owned and labor-intensive corporations, while its influence on GI was stronger in privately-owned and technology-intensive corporations. These findings enrich the literature on corporate CR management and offer valuable insights for companies, investors, policymakers, and other stakeholders to address climate change. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2026.