18 November 2024: A new ICC report unveils how monopoly power can be used to accelerate climate action and tackle unsustainable practices. The report follows an analysis in 2023 which showed that competition authorities are increasingly offering business guidance on sustainability co-operation agreements. While much has been accomplished since, more remains to be done to transform competition policy from a barrier into an enabler of a sustainable economy.

How far have we come in aligning competition policy with climate goals?

Businesses commonly cite a lack of clear guidelines, experience, debate and legal uncertainty as a reason for dialling back on joint initiatives with competitors aimed at addressing climate change.

In the recent past, several competition authorities have acted on those and other concerns of businesses and followed ICC’s call in 2022 to maximise efforts in aligning competition policies with global sustainability goals.

They have since published guidelines to enhance transparency in antitrust assessments and organised seminars with academic and business representatives.

The new 2024 report highlights several key points:

  • The guidelines on sustainability agreements provided by competition authorities should be updated in the light of practical experience.
  • Businesses need to come forward with more real-life examples of projects they would like to carry out in areas where existing guidelines do not yet provide sufficient guidance.
  • Future guidelines should look beyond climate change and place a stronger emphasis on other existential threats to humanity such as biodiversity loss.
  • The greatest progress in aligning competition policy with climate goals has been made in Europe. While some countries like Australia, Japan and Singapore are catching up, progress in China and the US remains a top priority.

Broader recognition of the benefit of cooperation

A general trend has evolved in the last year towards broader recognition of the potential benefits of sustainability cooperation, even as antitrust authorities stay wary of and keep taking action against greenwashing and collusion.

New green guidelines, case law and studies

The attention given to the topic has increased tremendously since the 2022 United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP27). In the report, ICC highlights that a growing number of competition authorities provide practical guidance to business to help advance green projects. This includes green guidelines and soft law documents clarifying how they assess sustainability agreements, legislative amendments, new case law, sandbox projects and seminars promoted by the agencies to keep the agenda moving forward.

More awareness of the role of competition authorities

There is growing consensus around the world that competition authorities have a key role to play in fostering sustainable development, by allowing businesses to collaborate in initiatives supporting the environment and sustainability. But not everyone is on board yet. The report identifies a particular need for US and Chinese antitrust agencies, among others, to join in the trend.

[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]