This study aims to examine whether corporate sustainability practices act as a shield ensuring financial performance during times of crisis. Data from 471 European firms during 2018–23 were categorized into three periods: (1) before the Covid-19 pandemic, (2) during the pandemic, and (3) during the Russia-Ukraine War. In this regard, pooled ordinary least squares (POLS), two-step generalized method of moments (GMM), Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney non-parametric tests were performed to examine the impact of crises and whether corporate sustainability practices act as a shield to ensure financial performance. The proponents of the resource-based view have argued that corporate sustainability practices create additional valuable resources that might work as a shield for ensuring financial performance even during times of crisis. While many studies have examined the impact of the recent pandemic, few compare the impacts of the war’s repercussions on business performance. This study found a distinction between natural (Covid) and human-induced crises (war) on corporate financial performance. The results suggest that sustainability practices might work as a shield during a natural crisis but not during a human-induced one.