Your CBAM resource hub
Last updated · 8 Jun 2026Find your way through the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism.
Plain-English answers, free tools, and updates you can trust, for any company caught by CBAM. We read the regulation so you don't have to.
Key CBAM dates
The definitive period.
CBAM is now a financial obligation, not just reporting. Above the 50-tonne threshold you need authorised CBAM declarant status to import covered goods.
First annual declaration and certificate surrender.
Covering your 2026 imports. Certificate sales open earlier, from 1 February 2027.
The definitive period is live since 1 Jan 2026, certificate sales begin 1 Feb 2027, and the first annual declaration and certificate surrender fall on 30 Sep 2027. The rules keep moving, and if Brussels changes them, we'll tell you.
Just been told you're a “CBAM declarant”? Start here.
A customs broker or your biggest EU customer just told you that you need to be an “authorised CBAM declarant,” or that you've crossed the 50-tonne threshold, or they're demanding your “embedded emissions data” in a format you've never seen. You don't have a carbon team. You're worried a shipment will get stuck or you'll lose a customer.
Take a breath. Most of this is more manageable than it looks once someone explains it plainly. CBAM puts a carbon price on certain imports, and an authorised CBAM declarant is simply the party allowed to bring those goods in and account for their emissions. We'll help you work out whether you're in scope, what you actually have to do, and by when. No jargon, no sales pitch.
Not sure if any of this is even your problem yet? Check in two minutes →
Start here
Start where you are
Four routes through the regulation, depending on what you need right now.
Free tools
Free tools, no email wall
Use them on the page. We'll only ask for your email if you want your result or a PDF sent to you.
Why use this hub
Why use this hub
Independent
We're not selling you compliance software, and there's no demo to book. That means no pressure to "request a quote" at the bottom of every answer. We just explain the rules.
Always current
CBAM keeps moving: the 2025 Omnibus simplification, new default values, quarterly certificate prices and proposed scope expansion. Every page carries the sources we used and the date we last checked them, and we update when things change.
Plain English, with free tools
A scope checker, a cost calculator, a default-values table and a deadline tracker, written for people without a carbon team. Terms are explained the first time we use them, then linked to the glossary.
The CBAM Brief
We watch Brussels so you don't have to.
CBAM changes every few months. One email, plain English, tells you what changed, what it means for you, and what to do about it. So you can stop refreshing EUR-Lex and get back to your actual job.
- A monthly issue rounding up what moved and what's coming.
- Breaking-change alerts the moment something material lands: a new default-value set, a certificate-price method change, a scope expansion or fresh Commission guidance.
- Plain-English summaries with a link to the official source, every time.
The CBAM Brief
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By the numbers
CBAM by the numbers
The figures worth keeping in your head. Each one is set in law or in the official guidance we link from the pillar page.
Covered sectors: cement, iron & steel, aluminium, fertilisers, electricity and hydrogen, defined by CN code in Annex I.
The de minimis threshold. Below this cumulative annual net mass you are exempt (electricity and hydrogen are in scope at any volume).
The Q1 2026 CBAM certificate price, per tonne of CO₂e, published 7 April 2026. One certificate covers one tonne.
The CBAM factor: the share of embedded emissions you pay for, ramping from 2.5% in 2026 to 100% in 2034 as free allowances phase out.
The penalty per tonne of CO₂e for each unsurrendered certificate, indexed to inflation, and you still owe the certificates.
The first annual declaration and certificate surrender, covering your 2026 imports.
Figures reflect Regulation (EU) 2023/956 as amended by the 2025 Omnibus, Regulation (EU) 2025/2083. Each is sourced and dated on the page it comes from.
The short answers
CBAM questions people ask
What is CBAM?
CBAM is the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, established by Regulation (EU) 2023/956. It puts a carbon price on imports of certain carbon-intensive goods — cement, iron and steel, aluminium, fertilisers, electricity and hydrogen — so they face a cost comparable to what EU producers pay under the EU Emissions Trading System. Its definitive period has been live since 1 January 2026.
Does CBAM apply to me?
Potentially, if you import any of the six covered goods into the EU. Since the 2025 Omnibus simplification, importers whose cumulative annual mass of cement, steel, aluminium and fertilisers is 50 tonnes or less are exempt — but electricity and hydrogen are in scope at any volume. Our free scope checker walks you through it in a few plain-English questions.
Where can I track CBAM deadlines and status?
The key dates are: certificate sales begin 1 February 2027, and the first annual CBAM declaration and certificate surrender are due 30 September 2027 (for 2026 imports). Our deadlines tracker keeps a live, sourced view of these dates plus the registry, default values and proposed scope changes as they move.
Stay ahead of the next CBAM change.
Free, plain-English updates. We watch Brussels so you don't have to.