CMA shines a light on legal risks in collaborating over climate change
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) today released guidance to provide clarity about competition laws on environmental sustainability and climate change.
The aim of the report is to help businesses take action on climate change and environmental sustainability without worrying about breaching competition law.
The report says: “This is particularly important for climate change because industry collaboration is likely to make an important contribution to meeting the UK’s binding international commitments and domestic legislative obligations to achieve a net zero economy.”
Sarah Cardell, who was appointed chief executive of the CMA in December, said: “We have developed the Green Agreements Guidance for all companies who are considering collaborating so they can understand how to agree green goals without breaking the law.”
“The guidance goes further than before — it gives firms greater certainty about when agreements that genuinely contribute to addressing climate change will be exempt from competition law,” she added.
Within the report the CMA recognises that collaboration between competitors may be needed to promote environmental sustainability.