<p>This study investigates the impact of green finance in promoting energy efficiency and achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs) in developing economies, emphasizing the moderating roles of macroeconomic factors, including economic development, foreign direct investment, and technological advancements. Using panel quantile regression (QRPD) and generalized quantile regression (GENQREG) with fixed effects over 48 developing countries from 2005 to 2022, the research uncovers that the influence of green finance is heterogeneous across the conditional distribution of sustainability outcomes. The results demonstrate that green finance significantly benefits high-performing nations in relation to sustainable development goals, whereas its influence on energy efficiency is pronounced in higher quantiles. However, technological advancements, economic growth, and foreign direct investment significantly moderate these relationships, underscoring the importance of complementary macroeconomic and institutional contexts. The Half-Panel Jackknife Granger causality test validates the existence of bidirectional relationships among core variables. Based on the findings, we suggest that developing countries should improve their green financial systems, support green credit and climate funds, optimize foreign investment structures, guide green investments, and integrate green finance into their macro-policy frameworks. These results advocate the development of effective green financing strategies to facilitate low-carbon transformation and achieve the SDGs.</p>