With the purpose of risk management for fossil energy investors, this paper examines the dynamic spillover effect and asymmetric connectedness between fossil energy, green financial and major traditional financial markets in China. By employing the spillover index model of Diebold and Yilmaz, a weak correlation between green financial and fossil energy markets is verified, and the market connectedness remains relatively calm despite the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. Specifically, green bonds receives fewer shocks from crude oil than coal, green stocks receive fewer shocks from coal than crude oil. In addition, rather than the safe-haven characteristics presented by gold, this paper further proves that green bonds also have the potential to act as safe-haven assets, due to the fact that the connectedness between green bonds and energy markets is at low levels. Finally, the magnitude of return spillovers between markets would vary significantly during different periods. The results obtained in this paper have practical implications for both investors and policymakers.

To achieve sustainable economic growth, a significant amount of private capital must be invested in green industries. However, risk management in the green industry stock market has drawn much attention recently due to the uncertainty and high risk present in this market. By applying the spillover index model of Diebold and Yilmaz, the frequency-domain spillover approach developed by Baruník and Křehlík, and the dynamic conditional correlation (DCC) model, this paper focuses mainly on the heterogeneity of the volatility spillovers among six green industry equities and other financial assets in China, under various market economy situations. Based on the empirical results obtained in this paper, we find that the green industry stock markets have the least impact on the gold and energy futures markets. Additionally, based on asymmetric analyses, it can be concluded that the green bond market has experienced the smallest shocks from the six green industry stock markets. By utilizing frequency-domain analyses, the energy futures market experiences the least amount of volatility from green stocks. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic affects the interconnectedness of markets. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, energy futures were the most suitable portfolio instrument for green industry stocks. When the COVID-19 pandemic occurred, however, gold proved to be the most advantageous portfolio asset. The research findings of this paper demonstrate the impact of COVID-19 on the selection of the best investment instruments for green industry stocks, which is beneficial for reducing the investment risk of green financial market participants and increasing the demand for green stock markets, while also providing practical advice for environmentally conscious investors and policymakers.

Developing new energy is one of the most important measures to implement global carbon neutrality. Under the constraints of carbon emission reduction, the question of how to achieve the sustainable development of new energy enterprises has become an important issue among managers and investors. This study selects Chinese listed companies in the new energy industry as the research sample, employs the DID method and uses panel data to explore the role of carbon neutrality commitment in the sustainable growth of new energy companies. The results show that the carbon neutrality commitment has greatly improved the sustainable development of Chinese new energy companies, with the internal profitability and external investor sentiment of the enterprises being important mediating variables. Moreover, the effect of the carbon neutrality commitment on the sustainable growth of non-state-owned new energy firms is much more significant compared with that of state-owned enterprises, and the effect is more robust in the east than in the central and western regions. Based on the conclusions, this study provides practical implications for managers, investors and policymakers in order to promote the sustainable growth of new energy firms.