HKU Competition Law Lecture Series:
Navigating the Competition – Sustainability Interface: Insights from Practice in a Changing Global Climate
17 Nov 2025 (Mon), 12:30 – 1:30 PM
Rm 901, Cheng Yu Tung Tower, The University of Hong Kong
REGISTER HERE
The debate on the interplay between sustainability and competition law initially focussed on granting more leeway for co-operations between competitors to jointly achieve carbon reductions or other environmental benefits that they couldn’t realize if acting alone. A number of competition agencies from Europe and the UK to Japan and Singapore have since issued guidance indicating where businesses may collaborate to achieve better ESG outcomes. At the same time, enforcers in Europe and Asia have heavily sanctioned firms that agreed to tamper competition on the environmental performance of their products. Most recently, U.S. antitrust enforcers have taken action against industry coalitions that were meant to improve climate impact – an remarkable evolution when considering where the debate around sustainability and competition law started. In his presentation, Dirk will distil the key takeaways from this global policy and enforcement journey and outline the practical relevance for the sustainability work of a consumer goods company active in 190 markets.
About the Speaker:
Dirk Middelschulte has been Global Chief Counsel Competition at Unilever, based in Brussels, since 2017. He started his career in private practice before joining Deutsche Bahn AG at its headquarters in Berlin in 2006 as in-house counsel for IP, regulatory and competition law and led the group’s antitrust advice & compliance team from 2010 onwards. Dirk moved to Danone in Paris in 2015 as Global Compliance Director, prior to joining Unilever. He has repeatedly published and spoken on topics relating to competition law and sustainability. Dirk has been a non-governmental advisor to the European Commission in the International Competition Network (ING) since 2019 and will come to Hongkong directly after attending a workshop of the ICN cartels working group in Seoul.
Chair: Julian Nowag, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong
For inquiries, please contact Ms. Candy Ip at .