<p>Environmental goal constraints (EGC), as a key means of environmental governance and a major guarantee for economic development, play a crucial role in coordinating ecological protection and urban ESG (environmental, social, and governance) development. Based on the data of 251 cities in China from 2010 to 2022, this paper empirically investigates the effects and mechanisms of EGC on urban ESG development. The study finds that: (1) This paper distinguishes EGC into hard EGC and soft EGC, and hard EGC positively enhance the level of urban ESG development, which passes a variety of robustness tests. Moreover, hard EGC have a more obvious effect on the urban ESG development in the eastern and central regions. (2) Technological innovation plays a conduction role in the process of EGC affecting urban ESG development. (3) Intellectual capital plays a positive moderating role between EGC and urban ESG development, in which the moderating effect of human capital is more significant. The existing literature lacks research on the mechanism of how EC affect urban ESG development through technological innovation, especially neglecting the moderating role of intellectual capital. The conclusions of this paper are important for the government to formulate environmental target policies, and offer an empirical basis for the government to advance urban ESG development from the perspective of EGC.</p>