The Competition and Markets Authority (‘CMA’) has issued information to help businesses achieve environmental sustainability goals whilst staying on the right side of competition law.
One of the ways in which businesses are striving to meet climate change targets or other environmental objectives is through ‘Sustainability Agreements’. These are arrangements between businesses to work together to do things such as reduce their carbon footprint or improve the environmental standards of their products.
It is important that competition law does not become an unnecessary obstacle to sustainable development, and that businesses are not deterred from taking part in lawful environmental initiatives for fear they may breach competition law. It is also important to make sure that markets remain competitive and open to innovation.
With this in mind, the CMA has issued an information document to help firms navigate competition law as it currently stands. The document outlines the current framework for the self-assessment of competition law risk and sets out the key points that businesses and trade associations should consider when making sustainability agreements.
The CMA will also progress work in relation to its other climate change priorities, including its market study into electric vehicle charging and its investigation to tackle false or misleading environmental claims about products and services that affect consumers.
For more information and how to respond, please visit the CMA’s dedicated webpage - please click this link.