CMA Publishes Green Agreements Guidance

On 12 October 2023 the CMA published the final version of its Green Agreements Guidance (Guidance) aimed at assisting businesses with their assessment of the application of the UK competition rules to environmental sustainability agreements entered into between competitors. The aim of the guidance is to ensure that businesses are not unnecessarily deterred from cooperating, in a competition compliant manner, in order to achieve sustainability objectives that benefit consumers.

Publication of the final Guidance follows consultation on the CMA's draft guidance in February 2023 (see our blogpost on the draft guidance here). The final Guidance, while largely reflecting the structure and content of the draft guidance, has been expanded with more detail, further clarifications and additional practical examples which will assist businesses in assessing their agreements.