Three carbon regimes.
Three different answers.
A Gulf business can be inside all three of these at once, and carbon credits play a different role in each: the compliance instrument for aviation under CORSIA, useless against the EU's border charge, and a registered asset under the UAE's own law. These pages say which is which, in plain language, with the primary sources linked.
Last reviewed 19 September 2026 · General information, not legal or tax advice
CORSIA: the 2027 mandatory phase
Who has to offset, the 85%-of-2019 baseline, how the requirement is calculated, which credits are eligible and why most are not, and the 31 January 2028 deadline for the 2024 to 2026 period.
- Carbon credits
- Credits are the compliance instrument, if eligible
- Next date
- 1 Jan 2027 · units due 31 Jan 2028
- Reviewed
- 19 Sep 2026
EU CBAM: what changed in 2026
The importer files and the exporter sets the bill. Covered goods, the 50-tonne threshold, certificate sales from February 2027, the first declaration in September 2027, and why voluntary credits cannot be surrendered.
- Carbon credits
- Credits cannot be used
- Next date
- 1 Feb 2027 · first declaration 30 Sep 2027
- Reviewed
- 14 Sep 2026
UAE NRCC and the Climate Change Law
Cabinet Resolution 67 of 2024 and Federal Decree-Law 11 of 2024: the three tiers of obligation, who must register, what the end of the adjustment period on 30 May 2026 did and did not mean, and the penalties.
- Carbon credits
- Registered credits, for designated entities
- Next date
- In force
- Reviewed
- 14 Sep 2026
Start from the question, not the regulation
- "We export aluminium, steel, cement or fertiliser to Europe." Read EU CBAM first. Your customer pays; your verified emissions data sets what they pay; no credit reduces it.
- "We operate, lease, fuel or supply international flights." Read CORSIA. The obligation is real from 2027 for everyone, and only host-country-authorised credits satisfy it.
- "We are a large UAE emitter, or we trade credits in the UAE." Read UAE NRCC. Registration, reporting and the federal register are already in force.
- "We have a net-zero or carbon-neutral commitment." None of the three regimes is your obligation, and none of them forbids voluntary credits. What matters is that a credit bought for a voluntary claim is never presented as compliance, and that a claim follows a recognised framework.
Each explainer carries a review date, a not-advice notice and links to the primary text. When a date or threshold changes, the page is updated and the review date moves; if the review date is old, check the source before relying on it.
Not sure which of these applies to you?
Tell us what you make, where you sell it and how it travels. We will say which regime is your problem, which is your customer's, and where verified credits legitimately fit.