Objective <p>This article aimed to identify the impacts of green pilot zones on innovation and sustainability.</p> Design/methodology/approach <p>A Systematic Literature Review (SLR) was conducted in the Web of Science and Scopus databases using the keywords <i>Innovation, Green finance reform, and innovation pilot zone,</i> PZGFRI and GFRI, yielding a final sample of 47 articles.</p> Results <p>This study identified key trends through which green pilot zones policy influences green innovation and sustainability, namely geographical location, market competitiveness, development level, resource heterogeneity, environmental regulation, ownership, firm size and pollution intensity, credit access, and digitalization.</p> Implications <p>This study provides a comprehensive overview of research on green pilot zones, covering the period from their emergence in 2022 to the most recent studies. It traces the evolution of the topic and offers insights that could help policymakers and public officials improve existing sustainable policies in specific contexts and/or implement the green pilot zones model in other regions or countries seeking to replicate it.</p> Originality <p>Although green pilot zones have recently attracted increasing scholarly attention, this SLR is likely among the first to systematically compile and synthesize the existing body of knowledge on the topic. It identifies the main points of convergence among studies, as well as their divergences and contradictions, thereby advancing a more coherent understanding of the field.</p>