"We are building a decarbonization network around the world."

We started CBAMBOO, because Daniel Sharp and I believe that climate regulation has the power to improve the world. The climate emergency is the biggest problem facing humanity. On the other hand, the European Union has the world's most advanced carbon pricing. And with CBAM, the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, the EU chose an innovative regulatory approach to avoid carbon leakage ....

... which occurs when companies shift production from the EU to countries with less stringent carbon emission regulations to avoid carbon taxes.

Exactly. With CBAM, the EU aims to incorporate carbon pricing into international trade. But we hope this is only the beginning. That is why we started CBAMBOO and began networking. It is our mission to simplify CBAM compliance and to accelerate decarbonization.

How exactly does CBAMBOO work?

In short, we connect decision-makers with their supply chain to track and minimize embedded carbon emissions. In this way, they can stay compliant with CBAM and future regulations. And they will be able to integrate product-based carbon emissions into every purchasing decision.

Do you see further regulations coming to other markets outside of the EU?

We think political decisions and regulations will support the EU effort. We expect the United Kingdom to follow in 2027, and even in the U.S. we see some initiatives. I think it could move surprisingly quickly. From a regulator’s perspective, the EU has let the genie out of the bottle. They now can prove that it is possible to generate revenue by taxing imported embedded carbon. But we are definitely in the early years of carbon pricing.

What is the biggest challenge for companies implementing CBAM?

Companies have to report the emission data of their suppliers. At the moment, they have a very big headache about how they are supposed to put all this data along their supply chain together.

... because companies are no longer allowed to use default values

Yes, now they have to determine the real data. To solve this problem, we have created CBAMBOO. This is a way better solution than, for example, spreadsheets – because spreadsheets are only good when calculating, but poor for collecting data. With a platform, you will never have the problem of versioning. But real-time data is only one side of the challenge - the other is actually good data. And this is why we do not only offer a platform. We build a network around the world.

And why do you think the EU didn't build such a data network itself?

The EU could have built it - but we can act more internationally. The information required for CBAM includes many layers of the supply chain. We already have "declarant" and "operator" customers inside and outside of the EU, contributing data to the platform. And as the network grows, it becomes much easier for companies to share emission data and comply with CBAM and other decarbonization requirements. Efficiency rises. And start-ups like CBAMBOO are good vehicles for this kind of innovation. Of course, every participant gets to choose exactly who they share their data with.

Wouldn't keeping default values be a simpler approach?

In the first moment, perhaps. But it would not matter if you chose one factory or another. No one would have the incentive to invest in decarbonization - this is only possible with real time data. Thinking long-term, the EU just started a global trend in decarbonization. As for the companies: Of course, a lot of them have never done any carbon accounting. But with CBAMBOO they don't have to fear it.

How can AEB customers profit from the partnership with CBAMBOO?

In general, we are convinced CBAM requires a solution like ours. Around the world, companies are doing the same steps manually, reaching out to the same companies and asking them for data, sending them in spread sheets. We've just built a better way. With AEB’s Import Filing Solution, AEB customers already have an excellent data set to start with. They just have to add the data of their suppliers and build up the CBAM report on the CBAMBOO platform. At the beginning, there is some work to do, but in the end the reports will be done in minutes, not weeks.