The paper is based on data from Chinese A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2004 to 2022, and uses a progressive difference in differences model to examine the impact and mechanism of environmental courts on corporate green innovation. The research findings indicate that the establishment of environmental courts can significantly improve the level of green innovation in enterprises; Environmental courts can promote corporate green innovation through a dual approach of increasing external financing constraints and increasing media attention; When listed companies are located in areas with a high level of rule of law and are technology intensive, highly digitized, and non-state-owned enterprises, the driving role of environmental courts in promoting green innovation in enterprises is more prominent; The environmental background of executives, as an internal contextual factor of the enterprise, strengthens the promoting effect of environmental courts on green innovation in the enterprise. The establishment of environmental courts has significant spillover effects on green innovation of enterprises in adjacent cities. In the future, relevant departments should deepen the specialized reform of environmental justice to empower green innovation in enterprises. Listed companies should actively respond to policies, pay attention to the importance of environmental protection knowledge among executives, and achieve synchronous promotion of economic stability and ecological governance.