Page 123 - Research on Financial Development Mechanism and Path of Forestry Carbon Sequestration in Developing Countries under Double Carbon Targets

Chapter 3 Low-carbon and Economical E-commerce

1.3 Countermeasures of China E-commerce to CBAM

1.3.1 Understanding the relevant policies and standards of CBAM

The carbon border adjustment mechanism will be applicable to the actual declared
carbon content in the EU’s imported goods, and its calculation formula will be sub-
ject to the provisions on the production of similar goods in the EU’s carbon emission
trading system. The carbon border adjustment mechanism will be officially operational
from 2026. At that time, EU importers are required to purchase carbon border adjust-
ment mechanism certificates equivalent to the carbon price payable for goods produced
under EU carbon pricing rules. On the contrary, non-EU manufacturers that have paid
carbon prices in third-party countries for the carbon emissions from the production of
these imported products may be fully exempted from the corresponding fees from the
obligations under the carbon border adjustment mechanism. As a result, the carbon
border adjustment mechanism promotes the reduction of carbon leakage risk by en-
couraging non-EU manufacturers to green their production processes and encouraging
countries to introduce carbon pricing measures. In order to prove the legal certainty and
stability of the mechanism to enterprises and other countries, the carbon border adjust-
ment mechanism will be gradually applied, initially only to some commodity categories
with high risk of carbon leakage, such as steel, cement, fertilizer, aluminum, hydrogen,
electricity, etc. During the transition phase, the above-mentioned commodities will
be applied to a reporting system from October 1, 2023, with the aim of promoting the
smooth implementation of the mechanism and promoting communication and dialogue
with third-party countries. From 2026 onwards, importers will begin to pay carbon tar-
iffs under the carbon border adjustment mechanism.
1) Policy context
The origin of CBAM: The EU has not stopped its efforts to control carbon emis-
sions. Since the 1970s, the EU has embarked on the road of climate control, which has
gone through the following three periods:
During the germination period (1973-1990), pollution control was the main focus,
and the adjustment of energy structure was complementary. In 1973, the European
Community launched the first “Environmental Action Plan” to reduce environmental
damage, indicating that the European Union began to discuss climate control measures
from the perspective of environmental protection. By 1990, the European Community
had demanded that the total carbon dioxide emissions in 2000 should be controlled at

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