Under the guidance of the United Nations SDGs target framework, enterprises' ESG practices of developed countries can effectively promote external investors' ESG investment, thus easing enterprises' financing constraints. Using the data of Chinese A-share listed companies in the Shanghai- and Shenzhen-stock exchange markets from 2013 to 2022, this study explores the causal relationship between enterprises' ESG practices and their financing constraints to provide Chinese experience, examines the mediating effect with corporate transparency and investor sentiment, and analyzes the heterogeneity with external auditor type and earnings management motivation. It is found that enterprise ESG practices can enhance their financing ability by improving corporate transparency and suppressing investor sentiment; for the non-Big 4 audit listed companies and the listed companies with the weak motivation of earnings management, the corporate ESG practice has a more significant effect on their financing ability. This study enriches the research on the relationship between ESG practice and ESG financing by providing Chinese evidence.

Unlike the definition of absolute poverty in international society, rural poverty in China is characterized by farmers’ low ability to increase their income, and the unsustainability of income increases. This study examines farming households’ issues with increasing their incomes via financial aid from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Through quantile regression and stepwise regression models, this paper studies two ways in which IFAD loan projects can affect farmers’ income: by directly promoting increases in farmers’ income and by indirectly promoting increases in farmers’ income through newly operational agricultural entities. This paper uses the entropy weight and comprehensive evaluation methods to construct an IFAD evaluation index system to evaluate the endogenous development ability of farmers participating in IFAD loan projects. Our empirical results show that IFAD projects significantly and positively affect farmers’ income. Our heterogeneity analysis shows that IFAD projects have varied effects on farmers’ income growth at different income levels; the lower the income level, the more pronounced the promotion. IFAD loan projects promote farmers’ incomes through newly operational agricultural entities, the mechanism of which is their ESG performances. On average, the anti-poverty masses and areas participating in IFAD loan projects show a robust endogenous development impetus.

The Chinese government’s “30–60” carbon reduction target demonstrates its NDCs (Nationally Determined Contributions) regarding global climate issues. At the same time, the global food security situation is at risk of a new wave of uncertainty; balancing ecological and economic benefits has become a realistic problem that China’s arable land utilization needs to consider. This study examines the carbon emissions and net carbon sinks associated with cropland utilization across 31 provinces, cities, and districts in China over the period from 1991 to 2022. It provides a comprehensive accounting of these metrics and elucidates their spatiotemporal evolution characteristics. Furthermore, by employing an enhanced Tapio coupling index, the research delves into the intricate relationship between the net carbon sink of cropland utilization and grain yield, offering valuable insights into their interdependencies. The study found that: (1) China’s carbon emissions from arable land use on a downward trend after 2016; Between 1991 and 2022, there has been a notable decline in the number of Tier 1 and Tier 2 carbon-emitting provinces and municipalities in China. Specifically, the count has reduced from 21 provinces and municipalities, which included Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Heilongjiang, and Jilin in 1991, to 13 provinces and municipalities by 2022. (2) China’s net carbon sinks from arable land use are now in a high growth phase; the net carbon sinks of each province have increased significantly compared with the previous one, and the high average annual net carbon sinks are spatially dispersed. (3) Most of the provinces in the main grain-producing regions are located in high-sink and high-yield areas; the net carbon sink has been coupled with grain production since 2004, and the coupling status of each province is more diversified. Based on the above findings, targeted optimization strategies are proposed from the perspective of low-carbon and high-yield use of arable land, and strategies for high-quality development of green agriculture are actively explored and implemented.