A CBAM number that beats the default — and survives review.
Verified actual emissions cost less than CBAM default values: a worked example puts verified steel at €77/t against a €130/t default — a €53/t gap, or about €530,000 a year on 10,000 tonnes. The first CBAM declaration is due 31 May 2027. CarbonSig models your embedded emissions and routes them through independent third-party verification.
- ISO 14040/44-compliant calculation engine
- 40,000+ emission factors
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Verified actual emissions — modelled from your production data, then reviewed by an independent accredited verifier.
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A default value — assigned when nobody can prove otherwise. You don’t choose it, and you pay for it.
Definitive phase live since January 2026. First declaration due 31 May 2027.
Who CBAM applies to — and who’s asking you for data.
CBAM’s definitive phase — the one with financial obligations — started in January 2026, and 50,000+ EU companies are affected. Every one of them needs an embedded-emissions figure for the goods they bring in.
You make steel, cement, aluminium, fertiliser or ammonia, and you sell into the EU. Your customer files the declaration; the number in it describes your production. So the figure comes from you — or a default value stands in for it. If you’re not sure which scheme you report to, start with which standard applies to you.
The EU importer files
They submit the CBAM declaration for the goods they import, and they carry the cost of whatever figure it contains.
The producer supplies the number
Only you hold the production data behind the embedded emissions — which is why your customer is asking you for it.
What default values cost you.
Our published analysis of the CBAM default-value penalty works one case all the way through: verified emissions at €77/t, against a €130/t default value for the same steel.
On 10,000 tonnes of that steel, that gap is about €530,000 a year.
Worked example for Turkish steel from our analysis of the CBAM default-value penalty — not a CarbonSig price, and not a quote for your goods.
That is the cost of not being able to prove the figure you actually produce.
Certificates tracked €55–70/t in early–mid 2026, so treat the certificate price as an input that moves, never a fixed constant — the gap moves with it.
The gap widens every year.
Free allocation is withdrawn on a fixed schedule: 97.5% of free allocation remains in 2026, 90% in 2028, 51.5% in 2030, and zero from 2034. As free allocation falls, the CBAM charge on the same embedded emissions rises, so a verified figure is worth more each year than the year before. CarbonSig models and verifies that figure.
- 97.5% 2026
- 90% 2028
- 51.5% 2030
- Zero 2034
Free allocation remaining The share CBAM charges you for
Your deadline.
The first CBAM declaration is due 31 May 2027 — the first mark on that timeline, and it lands while free allocation is still near its peak. Verification is not a same-week exercise: an accredited third party has to review the model before the figure counts, so the modelling starts well before the filing date. See what third-party verification costs and how long it takes.
It isn’t only the EU.
A UK CBAM starts in January 2027, covering steel, aluminium, cement, ceramics, glass and fertiliser. One product model can answer more than one scheme, so the work you do for the EU is not spent when the next one arrives.
Aluminium producers are already feeling it: Europe is drawing a green line through the aluminium market.
What a verified CBAM number actually requires.
A figure you calculated yourself is self-attested. A figure an independent, accredited third party has reviewed and issued a formal opinion on is verified. On a CBAM declaration that difference is the whole point, and the two are never interchangeable.
CarbonSig gets you verifier-ready and hosts the verification; we do not verify. The verifier is independent, accredited, and engaged separately — what we replace is the consultant, not the auditor. See how verification runs in the platform. For the methodology behind the number, read the standards it is calculated to; for the mechanics, how a product model is built.
ISO 14064-3
Aligned with the standard for verification and validation of GHG assertions.
ISO 14067
Aligned with the product carbon footprint standard your figure is calculated to.
GHG Protocol Product Standard
Aligned with the product-level accounting a verifier expects to see.
CBAM
The Verifier Hub is aligned to CBAM alongside the standards above.
From production data to a figure a verifier will put their name to.
You build the product’s system model from your own production data, calculate it on an ISO 14040/44-compliant engine, and register it. An independent verifier reviews that registered model in the platform, round by round, and issues the opinion.
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Model the product
Inputs carry Scope 2 and 3, direct emissions carry Scope 1, and processes chain to an output. Every node shows its data state: incomplete, draft, or reviewed.
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Bring the reference data
40,000+ emission factors from Ecoinvent, IPCC, US EPA and EPD International, attached to the node that uses them.
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Calculate it properly
An ISO 14040/44-compliant calculation engine, and arithmetic your verifier can follow: net emissions = sources − sinks − credits.
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Get it verified, in the platform
Register the model and an independent accredited verifier reviews it in the Verifier Hub — aligned to ISO 14064-3, ISO 14067, GHG Protocol and CBAM — through to “Verified on CarbonSig.”
Illustrative model — a steel billet product carbon footprint.
A cement consortium already did this.
Teralta’s Middle East cement consortium modelled its production in CarbonSig, cut the estimated verifier review time, and surfaced allocation hotspots that spreadsheets had kept invisible.
- Process nodes modelled
- 40+
- Reduction in estimated verifier review time
- 60%
Read how the cement consortium reached a number its customers trust.
A verified number opens doors a default closes.
A declaration your importer can file
Your verified actual emissions in the declaration, instead of a default value assigned because nobody could prove otherwise.
Premium markets
Verified low-carbon steel commands 20–30% premiums in Europe. Green steel premiums run €50–300/t.
Market figures from our published analysis — not a CarbonSig guarantee.
One model, more than one scheme
The same product model reports to ISO 14067, the GHG Protocol Product Standard and the next scheme that asks — without starting again.
CBAM questions.
What does CBAM cost if I use default values instead of verified data?
More than verified data does. In the worked example from our CBAM default-value analysis, verified emissions price out at €77/t against a €130/t default value — a gap of €53/t. On 10,000 tonnes of Turkish steel that is roughly €530,000 a year. Certificates tracked €55–70/t in early–mid 2026, so the size of the gap moves with the certificate price.
When is the first CBAM declaration due?
The first CBAM declaration is due 31 May 2027, covering the definitive phase that started in January 2026. The EU importer files it, but the embedded-emissions figure inside it describes your production — so it has to come from you.
How does CBAM free-allocation phase-out work?
Free allocation is withdrawn on a fixed schedule: 97.5% of free allocation remains in 2026, 90% in 2028, 51.5% in 2030, and zero from 2034. As free allocation falls, the CBAM charge on the same embedded emissions rises — which is why a verified figure is worth more every year than it was the year before.
How do non-EU producers supply verified CBAM emissions data?
You model the product’s embedded emissions from your own production data, then have an independent, accredited third party verify them. On CarbonSig you build and register the model, and the verifier reviews that registered model in the platform, round by round, until they issue a formal opinion — “Verified on CarbonSig.” A figure you calculated yourself is self-attested, not verified.
Does the UK have a CBAM?
Yes. A UK CBAM starts in January 2027, covering steel, aluminium, cement, ceramics, glass and fertiliser. One product model can answer more than one scheme, so the modelling and verification work you do for the EU is not spent when the next scheme arrives.
Let’s get your embedded emissions verified.
Model the product, register it, and have an independent verifier review it in the platform — so the figure in your customer’s declaration is yours, not a default.
Independent verifier required separately. Costs vary by project scope.