Is green finance really a blessing for green technology and carbon efficiency?

The environmental crisis and resource dilemma are serious challenges exposed to the world, which has placed sustainable development on the priority agenda. This research applies the wavelet-based quantile on quantile method to explore the impact of green finance (GF) on two basic drivers of sustainability: green technology (GT) and carbon efficiency (CE). We find mixed results between them across different market sizes and conditions in the short to medium term. Concerning the scenario of the long run, the positive effects can be captured in the bull GF market, while it performs the negative influence in the bear market. Therefore, our findings reveal that the GF is not always a blessing for GT and CE. The results are corroborated by the related theoretical mechanism, which highlights their inherent interaction. In this regard, the government should act as a catalyst to accelerate the establishment of an evaluation system and information disclosure criteria that are compatible with GT and CE, thereby improving the accuracy of GF support and promoting sustainable development.