Competition Law in Latin America and Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions – The Way Forward

Abstract

The Latin American region is rich in minerals – such as lithium and copper – that are critical for the global transition to clean energy, is home to the largest rain forest in the world, and enjoys geographical advantages for the deployment of renewable energy technologies. The latter could provide the region with an opportunity to develop green hydrogen, an energy source with the potential to play a significant role in energy transitions of hard-toabate industries such as steel production. The region has therefore a strategic importance in the global effort to achieve reduction targets of greenhouse gas emissions required for the goal to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius as established in the Paris Agreement. This paper provides an overview of the possible market power problems associated with the development of this potential, such as high concentration of mining and refining activities, as well as market power in food value chains that may be driving deforestation in the Amazon. The paper sketches antitrust enforcement interventions that do not require changing the prevailing goals and analytical framework of competition law enforcement as well as interventions that would require such a change, identifying areas where future research should be conducted in order to inform policy change.

Keywords: Competition law and climate change, competition and greenhouse gas emissions, antitrust law and sustainability, Competition law in Latin America