Germany to launch CBAM awareness campaign

German emissions trading authority Dehst is launching an awareness campaign on compliance with the EU's carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), as many companies have still not registered or handed in the mandatory report at the end of the first reporting phase.

"It appears that a large number of companies do not know that their imports fall under CBAM," Juergen Landgrebe, head of climate action, energy and emissions trading at Germany's federal environment agency UBA — which hosts Dehst — told Argus. The awareness campaign is being run by industry federation BDI and the German chamber of commerce and industry DIHK.

Dehst cannot quantify the number of missing reports, as only the companies will know whether or not they fall under CBAM, Landgrebe said. It is possible that some companies are unaware that CBAM applies to their imports, he said.

Import of supposedly minor products such as screws also fall under CBAM, head of Dehst's economics unit Jan Weiss said at the E-World conference in Essen last week.

Landgrebe commended the flexible reaction of the European Commission, which has introduced a "late button" on its CBAM platform and extended the reporting deadline. The first report was due on 31 January, but registration has only been possible since 12 January because of technical issues. No one will incur a disadvantage for being late, Landgrebe stressed.

The EU's CBAM aims to prevent so-called carbon leakage — whereby companies relocate to other jurisdictions to avoid carbon costs — in sectors covered by the bloc's emissions trading system, and is initially being applied to cement, iron and steel, aluminium, fertilisers, electricity and hydrogen. Reporting obligations began with the launch of the transition period on 1 October, while the levy on imports will be phased in from the start of 2026.

CBAM is already having positive effects, Landgrebe said, with countries such as Turkey and Taiwan looking into the carbon intensity of their export products.

By Chloe Jardine