UK CBAM: Draft Legislation on Technical Implementation Released

The UK has published draft tertiary regulations outlining the technical requirements for the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), specifically covering the rules for emissions monitoring and the verification framework. This legislation provides detailed guidance on how operators and accredited verifiers must track, calculate, and authenticate the embedded emissions of CBAM goods.

Emissions Monitoring Methodologies

Operators are required to establish and implement a formal monitoring plan to track direct greenhouse gas emissions at the installation level. The regulations permit several monitoring approaches based on technical feasibility and data accuracy:

• Calculation-Based Methodologies: Operators can determine emissions using standard methods or mass balance methods based on activity data and laboratory analyses.

• Measurement-Based Methodologies: Alternatively, Continuous Emission Measurement Systems (CEMS) can be utilized to directly measure the concentration of greenhouse gases in flue gas.

• Sector-Specific Rules: Tailored monitoring methodologies are mandated for complex production processes, including those for cement clinker, nitric acid, and primary aluminium.

The Verification and Accreditation Framework

To ensure data integrity, the regulations establish a rigorous oversight framework for accreditation bodies and verifiers.

• Verifier Competence: Verifiers must be accredited and strictly comply with international standards, specifically ISO/IEC 17029 and ISO 14065. Personnel must undergo continuous competence monitoring.

• The Verification Process: The verification workflow requires verifiers to conduct a strategic analysis, perform a risk analysis, and formulate a comprehensive verification plan before testing data and control systems.

• Site Visits: Physical site visits to the installation are generally mandatory. However, these can be substituted with virtual visits or waived entirely under highly specific conditions, such as unforeseeable extraordinary circumstances or if the verifier has conducted a physical visit in recent preceding monitoring periods without significant changes to the installation.

Reporting Templates and Compliance

The draft legislation provides comprehensive templates that must be used for final reporting.

• Operator's Emissions Report: This report must detail the total direct emissions, activity levels, emissions intensity of the manufactured goods, and granular data concerning any precursor goods utilized.

• Verification Report: Upon completion, verifiers must issue an authenticated report concluding whether the operator's emissions data is "satisfactory," "satisfactory with comments," or "unsatisfactory" depending on the presence of material misstatements or uncorrected non-conformities.

You can find more details by reading the full draft document here: The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (Emissions and Verification) Force of Law Notice (Draft)