The Türkiye Emissions Trading System regulation was prepared by the Climate Change Directorate under the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change and published in the Official Gazette. The regulation establishes the rules for implementing the emissions trading system to be established in Türkiye, as well as the legal framework for the national carbon market.
The system aims to encourage reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, accelerate the transition to low-carbon production technologies and support the green transformation of industry.
New obligations for industrial facilities
Facilities covered by the regulation will be required to monitor and report their emissions and have the relevant data verified. They will also surrender the required emissions allowances corresponding to their verified emissions.
Seyit Ardıç, president of the Ankara Chamber of Industry, said the new system would turn carbon from merely an environmental indicator into an economic parameter affecting production costs, investment decisions and competitiveness.
Ardıç said obligations such as obtaining an emissions permit, preparing verified annual emissions reports, tracking activity data and surrendering allowances would affect the production, energy, finance, investment and senior management processes of industrial companies as a whole.
The system is expected to directly affect activities in the energy, iron and steel, aluminum, cement and lime, glass and ceramics, paper and pulp, and certain chemical and hydrogen production sectors. It was stated that the cost impact could be passed on to the machinery, automotive and electrical and electronics sectors through supply chains.
Low-carbon focus in the steel sector
Veysel Yayan, secretary-general of the Turkish Steel Producers Association, said the emissions trading system represented a new economic approach that would affect the industry's cost structure, investment decisions, technology choices and international competitiveness.
Yayan said the system should be assessed together with the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, adding that future competitive advantage would depend not only on low production costs but also on low carbon intensity and carbon costs.
According to Yayan, renewable energy investments, energy efficiency, low-carbon electricity procurement, electric arc furnaces, the utilization of waste heat and improvements to production processes are among the main areas that could reduce the steel industry's carbon costs.
Yayan said the steel sector's production structure, which is heavily based on electric arc furnaces, could provide an advantage, but added that low-carbon electricity, strong scrap infrastructure, investment plans and green finance would need to be addressed together for this advantage to translate into a competitive edge.
Call for revenues to be directed to the green transition
Volkan Bozay, chief executive officer of TÜRKÇİMENTO, said the emissions trading system could play a constructive role in Türkiye at a time when low-carbon production was becoming central to international trade rules and new development models.
Bozay said facilities that improve energy efficiency, introduce innovative production processes and invest in low-carbon technologies could gain a competitive advantage through the system.
Bozay also said the provision concerning the use of revenues from the primary-market sale of allowances for combating climate change, research and development, and the green transformation projects of industry could create a sustainable financing cycle.
Bozay said the cement sector viewed the system not merely as a compliance obligation but as an opportunity to gain an edge in global competition. He added that a predictable, transparent and balanced implementation process, along with cooperation among the public sector, private sector, academia and civil society organizations, would be important for a successful transition.
Bozay said the emissions trading system would contribute to developing policies and mechanisms to support industry's transformation in line with Türkiye's 2053 net-zero emissions target.
