<p>Enhancing the protection of the ecological environment is a shared responsibility of all humanity. This paper utilizes the survey data (<i>N</i> = 4,516) from China in 2023, employing a mediation model to investigate the effects of rural households’ financial literacy (composed by insurance literacy, debt literacy, and investment literacy) on pro-environmental behavior and its underlying mechanisms. The results suggest: (1) Financial literacy can promote pro-environmental behaviors through perceived responsibility, time aversion, and self-efficacy. (2) Insurance literacy, debt literacy, and investment literacy significantly enhance pro-environmental behavior, with the hierarchy of influence being insurance literacy, followed by debt literacy, and then investment literacy. Both basic and advanced financial literacy contribute to pro-environmental behavior, with the latter having a more pronounced impact. (3) Financial literacy exhibits heterogeneous impacts across different household characteristics. This study introduces a novel perspective by highlighting the financial literacy as a strategic tool to promote environmentally sustainable behaviors among rural households.</p>