This essay analyses the urgency for Indonesia to respond to the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which increasingly positions carbon emissions as a key determinant of export competitiveness. Although Indonesia has strengthened the legal basis for Carbon Economic Value (Nilai Ekonomi Karbon/NEK) through Presidential Regulation No. 110 of 2025 and has launched a Carbon Exchange, the effectiveness of these measures remains hampered by a credibility gap. This gap focuses on three aspects: excessively low domestic carbon prices; challenges in Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV), especially the need to measure embedded emissions at the product level; and the lack of synchronisation of operational regulations between ministries for International Carbon Transactions under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. Thus, although Presidential Regulation No. 110 of 2025 has provided the necessary legal framework, the success of economic protection lies in the quality of technical implementation to secure export access to the global market.