The Impact of Public Concern and Negative Sentiment Regarding Climate Risk on Corporate ESG Performance: Evidence from China

Environmental, Social, and Governance practices have emerged as a critical mechanism for mitigating extreme climate risks and achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Against this backdrop, this study focuses on Chinese listed manufacturing enterprises from 2015 to 2023. By incorporating the city-level climate risk expressions of public views index, we examine the impact of public concern and negative sentiment regarding climate risk (CR-PCNS) on corporate ESG performance. Our baseline findings indicate that elevated CR-PCNS significantly enhances corporate ESG performance, particularly within the environmental and social pillars, while exerting no significant effect on the governance dimension. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that this promotional effect is more pronounced among non-state-owned enterprises and firms located in the eastern region, with the most noticeable improvements manifested in their environmental performance. Furthermore, the moderation analysis demonstrates that higher executive educational attainment significantly amplifies the positive impact of CR-PCNS on corporate ESG performance, whereas local protectionism severely attenuates this promotional effect. These findings offer crucial policy implications for how to effectively harness public involvement to incentivize greater corporate engagement in ESG initiatives.