Update July 2022: The EU parliament finally voted in favor of the CBAM. The most significant change is that all deadlines are postponed by a few years. Reasons are plenty, such as the economic context, the ongoing war in Ukraine, the 2 years of covid lockdown, and the difficulties of populations and small companies. It is now possible to think that, until further notice, most objectives that were laid down for 2030 could be postponed until 2035. This could meet our previous projection of a 35% reduction in GHG emissions instead of the 50% planned by the EU Commission (see the CSRD roadmap), 35% being already optimistic if the situation of 2022 does not evolve in 2023/2024.
Objectives of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)
- Preventing carbon leakage
- Indirectly motivating foreign manufacturers to lower GhG
- Complementing the EU ETS
- Reinforcing international climate agreements and actions
Details
As the EU increases its climate ambitions, the gap with third countries’ climate action is expected to widen, with an increased risk of carbon leakage. Carbon leakage occurs when a business transfers its production to another country with less emission constraints, in an «environmental dumping » objective.
Additionally, imports from countries with less or no GhG constraints may appear mechanically more competitive due to the added constraints and costs upon businesses inside the EU and other countries with strong climate policies.
Currently, the risk of carbon leakage is partially addressed under the “EU ETS” which is being extended to maritime transport, buildings, and road transport sectors. The CBAM specifically addresses imports of goods at EU borders and is WTO compliant.
Concerned Goods and measured GhG
The CBAM is meant for any goods in the future, but only a few significant ones are listed right now. The measured GHG in between brackets.
- Cement (CO2)
- Iron and Steel (CO2)
- Mineral and Chemical Fertilizers and related chemicals (CO2 N2O)
- Aluminum (CO2, PFC)
- Electricity (pre-calculated value)
Mechanism
The price to pay for the Certificates reflects the « embedded GhG emissions » of the imported quantities.
The « Specific Embedded Emissions » (SEE) is expressed in « CO2 per Tons of goods », and only concerns direct emissions necessary to the production of those imported goods (eg, Scope 1).
Electricity is subject to different certificate values due to the singularity of the energy market and transportation methods.
Certificate Price Calculation
Everything is in the downloadable document below summarizing CBAM Appendix 1.
- Receive it by email