UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) – a primer

30 September 2026

The UK government is in the process of launching its UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (UK CBAM), a new tax on imports of specified carbon-intensive goods that will take effect on 1 January 2027.

It is designed to prevent 'carbon leakage' by ensuring that importers of specified carbon-intensive goods pay a charge reflecting the carbon emissions embodied in those goods, equalising carbon costs between domestic UK producers and foreign competitors. Although the UK CBAM will be broadly similar to the EU CBAM, it has notable differences in design, scope and timing.

This briefing provides a primer on the UK CBAM and the appendix sets out some of the key differences from the EU CBAM.

Download PDF