ABSTRACT The Chinese government has faced the challenge of striking a balance between environmental sustainability and economic growth. Nevertheless, it has been recognized that sustainable development is intricately linked with economic, financial, and technological factors. Recently, the Climate Action Tracker has labeled China’s sustainability actions and policies as ‘Highly Insufficient’; thus, it is imperative to explore innovative sustainability drivers and develop effective policy measures to achieve sustainable development. Consequently, this study aims to empirically investigate the interrelationship between eco-innovation, economic growth, financial development, urbanization, and CO2 emission in China by utilizing quarterly data from 1980 to 2020, and employing Wavelet approaches for empirical analysis. The findings derived from Wavelet correlation and Wavelet coherence reveal that eco-innovation and urbanization reduce CO2 in the short- and medium-term. Conversely, financial development and economic growth increase CO2 across all frequencies from short- to long-term. The results from wavelet cohesion further corroborate the findings from wavelet coherence. Finally, the research reveals convincing evidence of feedback causality between CO2, and its underlying factors. The study recommends promoting eco-innovation, sustainable urbanization, and implementing policies that decouple financial development and economic growth from CO2 emissions to achieve long-term sustainability goals.