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 is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 License. It is free to read, download and share on Elgaronline.com. This Research Handbook explores the complex interplay between competition law and sustainability, and also provides key insights into the role and limitations that tax, environmental laws, consumer laws, and social laws have in promoting sustainability. A distinguished array of international experts examine core principles of environmental and social sustainability, delve into the economic dynamics that shape this multidimensional relationship, and critically analyse how competition law and policy can both positively and negatively shape sustainability outcomes.

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.

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.

Enhance business performance by using sustainability for competitive advantage The Future of Value reveals what it takes for companies to grow and outperform the competition in today's growth-constrained, sustainability conscious world. The author shows leaders how to use sustainability as a powerful, pragmatic lens to enhance business performance. He also explores how to craft and oversee a portfolio of effective tools, develop competitive strategies, and adjust value chain activities, talent management practices, and corporate policies to help organizations execute powerful sustainability strategies. He provides a systematic, yet instantly familiar, model all companies can use to connect sustainability with their growth and competitive strategies. In this way, the author shows leaders how to shape, color, and own The Future of Value. Outlines the keys to implementing sustainability in organizations to achieve business success today and tomorrow Reveals how to engage stakeholders in day to day sustainability management as a means to shape and fuel efforts to continuously renew their sustainability strategies The author is a 15-year veteran of sustainability and strategy management consulting, having worked with clients in the US, Japan, Australia, and Europe. He has an MBA in Strategic Management from The University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and writes a regular column for Sustainable Life Media and GreenBiz, two of the world's most heavily trafficked sustainability news and thought leadership portals The author draws useful and accessible conclusions from a rich, diverse set of corporate interviewees. A core part of his research was the selection and interrogation of more than 25 Global Fortune 500 companies' sustainability, strategy, and finance leads.

This book provides a business-oriented analysis of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). In order to assess their impact on businesses and corporations, the book addresses all 17 goals and a broad range of industries. Gathering contributions from Africa, Europe and Asia, it presents both critical reviews and case studies. In turn, the book seeks to predict likely developments during the next decade. To do so, it examines evidence from today’s business world and how companies and corporations have been adopting the SDGs since their release. In this regard, it discusses the changes that will be required and how the agenda will affect the continent’s development path. An underlying theme throughout the book is the role of monetary value and investment for sustainable development: whether through financing, enhanced turnaround resulting from a more educated population, or more socially innovative entrepreneurs.