In the last decade, green finance has become an important area of tackling the environmental threats associated with climate change and a prerequisite for sustainable development. The Covid-19 outbreak has drawn additional attention to green finance as an economic mechanism for creating healthy living environments. The article examines the impact of COVID-19 on the financial industry, the participation of green finance in the economic recovery after the pandemic in the direction of considering the Paris Agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The authors put forward the provision on the existence of causal relationships between the "green"financial and "green"economy: "green"finance (reason) is a mechanism for the formation of a "green"economy (consequence). The impact of green finance on society can be greatly enhanced through changes in lifestyles, the behaviour of people and companies, legislative initiatives and government decisions aimed at protecting the health and the environment; climate change and the pandemic have increased the overall fragility of development and created additional risks that are factored into green finance. The article substantiates the position that the global pandemic will have a long-term impact on people's attitudes towards the environment and on the financing of this area. As uncertainty grows about protecting people from disease and mitigating climate change, green finance may become the mainstream of finance. © 2021 The Authors, published by EDP Sciences.