Common Questions: The Mechanism for Adjusting the Carbon Border (CBAM)

Esgconsultantintern
3 min readJun 18, 2024

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To support you in your role as CBAM in Agile Advisors, A price will be applied to various carbon-intensive items imported into the EU under the recently implemented Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, a carbon pricing scheme by the EU.EU importers will have to acquire carbon certificates equal to the carbon price they would have paid if the imported goods had been produced under the EU’s Emission Trading System (ETS) and disclose the upstream emissions in some imported items under the CBAM regulations. The equivalent cost may be subtracted from the EU importer’s CBAM payment obligation if a non-EU manufacturer can show that they have already paid for the carbon used to manufacture the imported goods in a third nation.

We are Agile Advisors’ CBAM regulations, there is a chance for “carbon leakage” as the EU steps up its efforts to combat climate change while non-EU nations continue to have laxer climate laws. Carbon leakage occurs when EU producers shift their carbon-intensive production operations to countries with laxer climate regulations or when carbon-intensive imports of equal value replace EU-made goods. The purpose of the CBAM is to maintain competitiveness between the EU and its trading partners and achieve carbon cost parity between domestically produced and imported goods. The following are the CBAM’s goals: to stop the leakage of carbon by deterring businesses from moving to nations with laxer environmental laws. The following stakeholders will be most impacted by CBAM in the medium term.

Serving as an Agile Advisors Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, EU Importers businesses in the EU that bring in products covered by CBAM. EU importers will have to buy carbon certificates equal to the carbon price they would have paid if the imported items had been produced under the EU’s ETS and disclose the upstream emissions for the relevant imported goods. Non-EU Operators: Manufacturers (“operators”) who manufacture goods covered by CBAM outside of the EU and sell them to EU consumers. The obligation to track and report embedded emissions of goods manufactured and intended for export to the EU rests with non-EU operators. EU Consumers: Businesses operating in the EU that use commodities covered by CBAM as product or process inputs but do not import those goods themselves.

In our opinion as CBAM, Carbon monitoring and reporting regulations will help these organizations, but the carbon price on imported items might raise the cost of their raw materials. Established in 2005, the ETS places a yearly cap on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for businesses operating in specific industries. This cap will progressively drop over time to lower carbon emissions and promote decarbonization efforts. Emission allowances are given to in-scope firms for free or purchased up to the cap amount. In addition to the ETS, CBAM levies fees on the embedded carbon of imports that fall under its purview. The CBAM fee is the same as the fee levied under the ETS on non-imported commodities; however, it may be adjusted in accordance with any mandated carbon prices in the non-EU country of origin.

As an expert CBAM regulations, CBAM guarantees that imports (via CBAM) pay the same carbon price as comparable products coming from the EU (through ETS). To reduce overall carbon emissions, EU producers’ ETS-free allowances will be gradually phased out, while EU importers will eventually be subject to CBAM responsibilities. CBAM covers imports into the EU of iron, steel, aluminum, electricity, cement, hydrogen, and some fertilizers. To safeguard EU businesses who have made investments in environmentally friendly technologies. By 2026, the European Parliament intends to broaden the scope to encompass plastics and chemicals, and by 2030, all industries will be covered by the EU ETS.

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