ANKARA

Türkiye’s first Climate Law, recently approved by parliament, aims to ensure that the costs associated with carbon-intensive activities remain within the country, thus preventing the payment of additional carbon taxes in Europe, a sector representative told Anadolu.

Onur Unlu, chair of the Turkish-based Energy Efficiency and Management Association, stated that the Climate Law lays the groundwork for an emissions trading system aligned with green growth and net zero emissions goals.

Unlu said the system will introduce a cap consistent with the net-zero emissions target and is designed to encourage emission reductions. Upper limits will be determined according to sectoral emission rates.

“Companies exceeding these limits will pay a pollution fee equal to the exceeded amount but the new system also includes an incentive for businesses emitting greenhouse gases below the limit, and these companies will be able to sell their unused emission rights to other companies,” he said. “A carbon trading platform based on supply and demand will emerge.”

Unlu said these steps will help shrink the country’s current account deficit as most carbon emissions come from energy consumption.

“If an active emissions trading system is established and companies going over limits pay the fees, their products won’t be subject to additional tax under the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, so these carbon-intensive activities will remain in Türkiye,” he said.

The system will encourage the shift to clean technologies and efficiency in energy-intensive industries, while facilitating compliance with the European Green Deal and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism.

Such a trading system “is significant to the Climate Law, and the Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change Ministry completed preparations on the system and the institutions to operate the system are beginning to take shape,” he said.

The law is a key step towards reaching the country’s 2053 net zero emissions target, he added.

He also said his group has been working to ensure that energy performance contracts are included in the nationally determined contribution and other strategy documents to be updated in the future.