CBAM Consulting Services: Emissions Reporting for EU Exports

A CBAM consulting service helps companies exporting to the EU (steel, aluminium, cement, fertilisers, electricity, hydrogen) calculate and declare embedded emissions under the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism — which formally applies from 2026. Getting prepared correctly helps you avoid being charged for CBAM certificates (a carbon cost) based on high default values, avoid customs clearance delays, and keep your competitive edge in the EU market. This article explains CBAM, what businesses need, and how a consulting firm can help.

From 2026, CBAM enters its definitive phase: EU importers must buy and surrender CBAM certificates corresponding to the embedded emissions in their goods. The pressure falls on Vietnamese exporters — if you cannot provide accurate emissions data, your goods will be assessed using default values (usually higher than actual), increasing costs and reducing competitiveness.

What is CBAM and which businesses are affected?

CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism) is an EU mechanism that places a carbon charge on imported goods to level them with the carbon costs borne within the EU. The covered goods are iron and steel, aluminium, cement, fertilisers, electricity and hydrogen. If your company exports these goods to the EU — directly or through the supply chain — you need to provide embedded emissions data to your EU importer.

Figure 1: CBAM diagram: the 6 covered goods and the flow of embedded emissions data from Vietnamese exporters to EU importers

What do businesses need to prepare for CBAM 2026?

The core requirement is calculating the embedded emissions of each product using an EU-accepted methodology: direct emissions from the production process, indirect emissions from electricity, and data by batch/product code (CN code). You need a system for collecting energy and raw material data, the correct calculation methodology, and reports in the required template to deliver to your EU partners on time.

Container trucks carrying export goods

How does a CBAM consulting service help?

A CBAM consultant helps you: (1) identify the goods and scope covered; (2) calculate embedded emissions using the EU methodology instead of being assessed at high default values; (3) prepare reports and data to provide to importers; (4) link the work to your internal greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory so data can be reused. Doing it right from the start is usually far cheaper than the CBAM certificate costs incurred because of missing data.

Figure 2: The 4 steps a CBAM consultant helps with and the factors that determine CBAM consulting costs

What does the cost of CBAM consulting depend on?

Market prices depend on the number of products to be calculated, the complexity of the production process, the availability of energy/raw material data, and the number of facilities. Companies that already have a GHG inventory save significantly because the emissions data can be reused. Budget early so you are ready for your EU partners' reporting periods.

See also: GHG inventory costs in 2026 (the baseline data for CBAM) and GHG inventory services.