Understanding the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism
Turning carbon compliance from complexity into clarity.
What is CBAM?
The European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is reshaping global trade.
From 2026 onwards, importers will have to account for and pay for the carbon embedded in their products.
Conforist Carbon Intelligence helps you automate every step — from data collection to verified CBAM reports.
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CBAM is an EU climate policy designed to prevent “carbon leakage” — when production moves to countries with weaker emission rules.
It applies a carbon price on certain imported goods, aligning their cost with the EU’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS).
This ensures fair competition and encourages cleaner production worldwide.
Key Points
Introduced by the European Commission as part of the Green Deal.
Targets energy-intensive sectors such as iron & steel, aluminium, cement, fertilisers, electricity, and hydrogen.
Requires quarterly reporting of embedded CO₂ emissions.
Becomes fully operational in 2026, with financial obligations.
Who needs CBAM?
CBAM affects companies that export goods to the European Union in covered sectors.
If you are a manufacturer, exporter, customs agent, or importer, you will need to:
Checklist:
Calculate embedded carbon emissions in your products.
Collect emission data from suppliers or production facilities.
Submit a Quarterly CBAM Report (XML/PDF) to the EU portal.
Purchase and surrender CBAM certificates equal to verified emissions.
How Conforist Simplifies CBAM
We turn a regulatory burden into an automated workflow.
Our Carbonflow engine digitises CBAM compliance from data ingestion to certificate optimisation.
Feature Grid
- CO₂ Calculation Engine – Computes embedded emissions per product based on raw materials, energy mix, and origin.
Quarterly Report Automation – Generates CBAM XML/PDF reports ready for submission to the EU CBAM system.
Data Verification Layer – Validates supplier emission data or applies approved default values.
Certificate Management – Tracks certificate costs and optimises purchase timing.
CBAM Credit Exchange – Enables trading of excess or missing CBAM certificates among compliant companies.
Why Act Now?
Why Preparing Early Matters
Businesses that start collecting emission data early will avoid future compliance bottlenecks.
CBAM is not a one-time form — it’s a recurring obligation.
Automating it today protects your market access and credibility tomorrow.