green-abstract

Sustainability and Competition Law

Businesses face increasing pressure from their investors, customers, employees, regulators, and other stakeholders to promote their ESG goals in the transition to a more sustainable economy. Many businesses look to effect more impactful changes by addressing systemic issues through collaboration with other participants in their industry. This, however, creates risks that require careful management to avoid running afoul of competition laws.
 
Many competition enforcers have provided guidance to help companies resolve this tension and encourage lawful collaboration at the industry level, but others have recognized that there is no sustainability exception to antitrust laws and declined to provide guidance to help businesses navigate the intersection of ESG and competition laws. Still others have threatened and even initiated enforcement action against “climate cartels” on theories that sound in antitrust law.     
 
Businesses engaged in ESG and sustainability efforts need to keep up-to-date with the changing enforcement and regulatory landscape, understand the growing body of guidance across jurisdictions, and distinguish the reality from the rhetoric of some enforcers to fully understand their antitrust risks and ensure that they remain compliant with competition laws. 

Insights

EU scales up green subsidies: How you can benefit from new support for clean investments

EU scales up green subsidies: How to benefit from support for clean investments

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ACCC issues guidance on greenwashing

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) recently published its much anticipated draft guidance on environmental claims, identifying eight key principles to avoid greenwashing.

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Insights
Disciplined ambition: Fair-trading and competition law in ESG

Disciplined ambition: Fair-trading and competition law in ESG

Proactively championing environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals is increasingly popular with companies seeking to take a moral course for employees, customers and communities and as a way to create value for shareholders.

Australia | Publication | June 08, 2023

Insights

Sustainability agreements and competition law: Recent EU and UK developments

Global | Video | April 28, 2022

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EV does it? CMA’s electric vehicles market study and chargepoints investigation

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Sustainability Asia: What does competition law have to do with sustainability?

Marc Waha, Head of Asia Antitrust and Competition Team, explains to David how companies trying to act sustainably could unwittingly be breaching competition law, and what competition authorities in the region are doing about it.

Global | Video | September 28, 2021

Competition law
Climate change and sustainability disputes: Antitrust considerations

Anti-trust and competition perspective

Global | Publication | July 01, 2021

Practice insights


Contacts

Ian Giles
Ian Giles
Head of Antitrust and Competition, Europe, Middle East and Asia
Email
ian.giles@nortonrosefulbright.com
T: +44 (20) 74443930
Marta Giner Asins
Marta Giner Asins
Partner
Email
marta.ginerasins@nortonrosefulbright.com
T: +33 (1) 56595272
Michael Jürgen Werner
Michael Jürgen Werner
Partner
Email
michaeljuergen.werner@nortonrosefulbright.com
T: +32 (2) 2376150
Marc Waha
Marc Waha
Head of Antitrust and Competition, Asia
Email
marc.waha@nortonrosefulbright.com
T: +852 34052508
Chris Hersh
Chris Hersh
Partner, Canadian Head of Antitrust and Competition
Email
chris.hersh@nortonrosefulbright.com
T: +1 416 216 2480

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