Course Description
The EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism entered its definitive phase on 1 January 2026. It is no longer a reporting exercise — it is a financial regime with penalties of EUR 100 per tonne and no upper ceiling.
For exporters of steel, aluminium, cement, fertilisers, electricity and hydrogen to the EU, the mechanism is existential rather than administrative. Where verified installation-level emissions data is not supplied, EU importers must apply default values that are deliberately punitive — and the commercial consequence is not a compliance cost but the loss of the customer.
This course equips exporters to respond. Participants learn how CBAM works, what falls in scope, the division of obligations between EU importer and third-country producer, the economics of default values versus verified data, the reporting and declaration timeline, verification requirements, and the strategic options available to an exporting business — including the 2028 extension to downstream goods.
What you will achieve
By the end of this training course, participants will be able to:
- Explain how CBAM works and its legal basis
- Determine which goods and emissions fall within scope
- Distinguish the obligations of EU importers and third-country producers
- Understand default values and their commercial consequences
- Explain CBAM certificates, pricing and the link to the EU ETS
- Understand the reporting, declaration and verification timeline
- Assess the commercial exposure of an exporting business
- Develop a CBAM adaptation strategy including downstream extension
How the course is delivered
The course combines the CBAM legal framework with commercial exposure analysis, using realistic export scenarios from carbon-intensive industries. Participants quantify the gap between default values and verified data for their own product categories.
The programme is written from the perspective of the third-country exporter rather than the EU importer, and addresses the strategic question of how to retain EU market access under a carbon border regime.
Designed for
This training course is ideal for:
- Export and commercial directors in metals, cement and fertilisers
- Sustainability and environmental directors
- Compliance and regulatory affairs professionals
- Finance professionals assessing carbon cost exposure
- Government and trade officials supporting exporters
Daily programme
- Why CBAM exists: carbon leakage and the EU ETS
- Legal basis and the definitive phase from January 2026
- Goods in scope and CN codes
- Roles: EU importer, authorised declarant, third-country producer
- Embedded emissions: direct, indirect and precursors
- Default values and why they are punitive
- Verified data versus defaults: the cost gap
- CBAM certificates, pricing and ETS linkage
- Reporting obligations and the declaration cycle
- Verification requirements and accredited verifiers
- Penalties and enforcement
- Carbon price paid in the country of origin: adjustment
- Quantifying business exposure
- Data readiness and the path to verified reporting
- The 2028 extension to downstream goods
- Adaptation strategy workshop and review
Certification & accreditation
BII Certificate of Completion
BII Certificate of Completion Upon successful completion, participants receive a BII Development Institute Certificate of Completion with a unique reference code that is independently verifiable. Our certificates are recognised internationally and reflect successful completion of your chosen programme.
