Competition Law Climate Change Environmental Sustainability

The consensus is clear - climate change is the defining challenge of our time. Meeting this challenge requires a collaborative and inclusive response from all segments of society - including private businesses. What role then for competition law and policy? This important and timely book gathers academics, enforcers, economists, lawyers, and industry representatives to explore the applications and limitations of EU competition law in achieving environmental sustainability aims in line with the European Commission's Green Deal as well as the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. They identify the challenges of integrating environmental considerations into competition analysis presented by the existing framework, whether through cooperation by businesses, practices by dominant companies, or consideration of sustainability efficiencies in merger assessments. Practical examples across various sectors are also provided, alongside agency views from different jurisdictions, to illustrate how competition policy can facilitate a sustainable economy.

Competition and Sustainability critically examines how the market economy can be preserved without compromising the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN. Serving as a useful overview of the problems and solutions found in one of the most controversial issues in current antitrust doctrine, this topical book offers concrete policy options for EU competition law.

This open access volume of LIDC contributions focuses on how competition and intellectual property laws incorporate sustainability objectives. Businesses are increasingly embracing sustainability objectives, driven by the international community. Although competition and intellectual property law are certainly not the only tools for addressing sustainability issues, they can play a role in moving toward a more sustainable society. Sustainability has gained prominence in competition law in all jurisdictions covered in this volume. The contributions focus on classic questions such as whether sustainability agreements restrict competition and, if so, to what extent businesses can be exempted on efficiency grounds. The papers also raise a number of questions, in particular concerning the treatment of non-market efficiencies. The soft law and case law produced by competition authorities are examined, and the leadership role of some competition authorities in the field – from advocacy to policy papers and sustainability guidelines – is highlighted. The authors call for more individual guidance to provide enhanced transparency and clarity to industry, advisors and society at large on sustainability issues, with guidelines or sustainability-related block exemptions providing even greater legal certainty. With regard to intellectual property, the contributions examine various important issues, such as the need for intellectual property rights to remain technology-neutral, ways to promote the use of sustainable technologies and incentives for licensing, and ways to promote the dissemination of sustainable technologies, including compulsory licensing, cross-licensing, open source or FRAND licensing, and replacing the destruction of counterfeit goods with recycling. The papers also discuss greenwashing and how it can be addressed through revisions to trademarks and related rights.

Energy and Environmental Law and Policy Series #41 We know the science of climate change; we know the economics of climate change; we also know the law of climate change. However, we do not know how countries may come together to cooperate on climate change mitigation. In this connection, the role of international trade in climate change, although universally acknowledged, is not well understood. This groundbreaking book by one of the world’s foremost authorities on international economic law not only investigates this role in great depth, but also explains how free trade agreements can be used as a powerful tool to help mitigate climate change. Focusing on the idea of climate clubs—namely the coalition of the willing—among governments, companies, and/or international institutions, the book offers insightful analysis on aspects of the trade–climate linkage such as: formation of climate clubs; legitimacy and accountability; technological cooperation; green patents; how competition law hinders effective cooperation between companies seeking to produce sustainable goods; domestic policy preferences; recognizing States that should legitimately be allowed to be free riders; and sanctions for noncompliance. Three detailed case studies are included: a comparison of the U.S. and European Union (EU) Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) programs, energy security in the Arab world, and EU–Russia energy trade relations. With the author’s conviction that global access to energy, mitigating climate change, and benefit from international trade and investment all can be achieved, this book offers a fresh understanding of the international trading system as a way to reach a prosperous, modern, and sustainable society that will help decarbonize the economy effectively. It will be welcomed by all professionals and policymakers concerned with climate change mitigation, and particularly by those active at its nexus with international trade.

Article 6 of the EC Treaty requires an integration of environmental protection requirements into the European Community's policies. As a result environmental concerns must also be integrated into Community competition law and policy. Taking Article 6 EC as a starting point, this book begins with the construction of a model of integration. This model requires that environmental concerns are awarded a role that will ultimately result in the internalisation of environmental concerns and therefore lead to a mutually reinforcing relation between competition and environmental protection. After an examination of Articles 81, 82, 86 and 87 of the EC Treaty, the useful effect doctrine (Article 10 in connection with 81 EC) and the Merger Regulation as well as the application of these competition rules in cases that involve environmental protection concerns, some conclusions are drawn with regard to the integration of environmental protection requirements and EC competition law. These conclusions are followed by a comparative legal research in which their validity is tested. On the basis of these findings it is concluded that the model of integration is being applied in parts of EC competition law. In those areas, competition policy towards environmental restrictions of competition actually increases the chances of a competition for the environment coming about. This, it is submitted, is an important step in the direction of achieving sustainable development. About the author: Hans Vedder (1974) graduated from the University of Groningen in 1997. From 1998 to 2001 he worked as a researcher at the Centre for Environmental Law of the University of Amsterdam. Since 2001 he is lecturer in European law at the University of Groningen. He has published several articles and chapters in books on various aspects of competition and environmental law.

Can—and should—participation be a means of achieving sustainability? The concepts of sustainability and participation are both in vogue, and many international, supranational and national legal texts and standards refer to these two concepts. However, there are still several unanswered questions that invite legal inquiry: which sustainability? Which kinds of participation? Participation by whom? How are the two concepts of sustainability and participation effectively interlinked in legal provisions? This book approaches the interconnection between sustainability and participation inductively and precisely in areas of law which are commonly associated with sustainability and sustainable development: national, European and international environmental and economic law.

Many disciplines are relevant to combating climate change. This challenging book draws together legal, regulatory, geographic, industrial and professional perspectives and explores the role of technologies in addressing climate change through mitigation, adaptation and information gathering. It explores some key issues. Is intellectual property part of the solution, an obstacle to change or peripheral? Are there more important questions? Do they receive the attention they deserve? And from whom? This innovative book will play an important role in stimulating holistic discussion and action on an issue of key importance to society. Environmental Technologies, Intellectual Property and Climate Change will appeal strongly to scholars researching IP and climate change, as well as to a range of professionals including venture capitalists, practising lawyers working in IP, environmental and corporate finance law, activists within both climate change and human rights, and policymakers.

This revised edition of Energy Law and the Environment considers how international and national legislation now requires the energy sector to focus more on sustainability and the circular economy in response to new policies at both international and national levels. It explores how environmental law engages with multinational companies regarding energy sources, ownership of those resources, and state sovereignty. Written for all the players in the energy sector, lawyers and non-lawyers alike, this third edition considers the issues of energy sector regulation related to economics and protection of intellectual property associated with the development of technologies for mitigating environmentally damaging emissions. It has been updated throughout and adds new and fully revised chapters on subjects, including climate change, human rights, renewable energy, and energy law in China. Features: Updated throughout and adds new and fully revised chapters Focuses on the global trends and mandates towards environmental sustainability Examines the latest international legislation involving climate change Includes the coverage of oil and gas industries, as well as nuclear and renewable energy