Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) starts to apply in its transitional phase

Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) starts to apply in its transitional phase

This Sunday, 1 October, the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) will enter into application in its transitional phase. CBAM is the EU's landmark tool to fight carbon leakage and one of the central pillars of the EU's ambitious Fit for 55 Agenda. It will equalise the price of carbon between domestic products and imports. This will ensure that the EU's climate policies are not undermined by production relocating to countries with less ambitious green standards or by the replacement of EU products by more carbon-intensive imports. CBAM is a WTO-compatible measure that encourages global industry to embrace greener and more sustainable technologies.

In its transitional phase, CBAM will only apply to imports of cement, iron and steel, aluminium, fertilisers, electricity and hydrogen. EU importers of those goods will have to report on the volume of their imports and the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions embedded during their production, but without paying any financial adjustment at this stage. (...)