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Industries consume 20% and 50% of global water and energy, contributing 25% of total greenhouse gas emissions. They strive to become more efficient in water and energy usage and reduce carbon emissions. This study analyzed water, energy, and carbon footprints of five manufacturing industries—automobile, cement, chemical, pulp and paper, and steel. Multi‐linear regression was used to analyze the relationship between production, water use, energy use, and carbon emission. The study also explored the potential to reduce carbon emissions by reducing water and energy usage. Among the selected industries, pulp and paper, and steel industries have higher water, energy, and carbon footprints. On average, it takes 5.58 m3 of water and 17.11 GJ of energy to produce a ton of paper, and 4.03 m3 of water and 19.52 GJ of energy to produce a ton of steel. The analysis also shows that water and energy use are closely related to production in all industries. Carbon emission is closely related to the production processes in cement, pulp and paper, and steel, and to reduce the emissions, both water and energy usage have to be reduced. The automobile industry has the highest potential to reduce carbon emissions by reducing water and energy uses, followed by steel and cement industries. By reducing 3% of their water and energy uses, automobile and steel industries, on average, have the potential to reduce 11% and 2.6% of their carbon emissions, respectively. The study explored the existing policies and recommendations for industries to achieve sustainable development goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green credit policy, as an environmental regulation instrument in the financial sector, is gradually having an impact on corporate performance in environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG). Based on the implementation of the Green Credit Guidelines policy, this paper investigates the impact of green credit policies on corporate ESG performance from 2011 to 2019 using the double‐difference propensity score matching method (PSM‐DID) and the Heckman two‐stage method, using a sample of A‐share listed companies. It was found that the implementation of the Green Credit Guidelines effectively improved the ESG performance of firms in green credit‐restricted industries relative to non‐green credit‐restricted industries. It is further found that this is mainly due to the increased green focus of corporate executives, while the incremental effect of green credit policies on corporate ESG performance is further strengthened by the increased quality and quantity of corporate green technology innovation. Finally, heterogeneity analysis reveals that the boosting effect of green credit policy on ESG performance of enterprises in green credit‐restricted industries is more prominent in the sample of enterprises with more analyst attention, less financially developed regions and private ones. How to leverage the green credit policy dividend to enhance the ESG performance of enterprises, further refine, and improve the green credit policy to help enterprises' sustainable development are the most direct policy implications of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]