Public Perception of Climate Risk, Environmental Image, and Corporate Green Investment

Abstract

Climate risk has garnered greater attention in recent years, increasing the public’s demand for climate change information. Public attention to climate risk has also increased corporate environmental governance pressure, which inevitably has an impact on the green investment of enterprises. To deepen the understanding of the issue, this article uses Chinese A-share listed manufacturing companies as a research sample from 2018 to 2022 to investigate the impact of public climate risk perception on corporate green investment. This research found that public perception of climate risk can help to promote green investment among enterprises; its route of action is generally achieved through green technological innovation; and an environmentally conscious image can strengthen the promotion effect of the public perception of climate risk on green investment. Further, public perceptions of climate risk contribute more to corporate green investment and the moderating effect of environmental image is more significant in regions with low levels of environmental regulation. This study not only helps to improve the level of public participation in climate governance, but also accounts for environmental regulation limitations. Clear enterprise differentiation and preventive green investment have a positive impact on enterprises and has the ability to improve climate governance and help companies consciously fulfill their environmental responsibility.