Türkiye’s First Climate Law Published
Recent Development
Climate change has reached a crucial point with increasing impacts all around the world and is transforming countries’ economic, social and legal priorities. Accordingly, it requires countries to take decisive steps in terms of legislation. In this regard, in order for the steps taken to combat climate change to be adopted and to improve implementation, Türkiye’s first Climate Law (“Law”) was published in the Official Gazette dated 9 July 2025 and numbered 32951 and has entered into force.
As an overview, the Law sets forth (i) the fundamental principles to combat climate change, (ii) the duties of the institutions and organizations responsible for the policies to be implemented and monitored for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and (iii) the procedures and principles regarding the implementation of the emissions trading system.
The Law is available here (in Turkish).
What is Introduced in the Law?
A. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Mitigations
Greenhouse gas emissions will be mitigated in line with the sectoral policies included in the Nationally Contribution Decleration, which is periodically prepared under the coordination of the Climate Change Presidency (“Presidency”) affiliated with the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change (“Ministry”) in cooperation with related institutions and organizations, and in accordance with international agreements and standards. This process will be guided by the net-zero emission target as well as the strategic documents and action plans published and updated by the Presidency. The Nationally Contribution Decleration, which includes the country’s commitments and targets for greenhouse gas mitigation and climate change adaptation, is submitted periodically to the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Institutions and organizations will take mitigation measures to be implemented in the sectors included in the National Contribution Declaration, as follows, and these measures will be implemented by considering the equitable transition requirements:
– energy, water and raw material efficiency
– prevention of pollution at its source
– increased use of renewable energy
– reduction of the carbon footprint of products, businesses, institutions and organizations
– use of alternative clean or low-carbon fuels and raw materials
– expansion of electrification, development and increased use of green technologies
– establishment, implementation and monitoring of the zero-waste system
In the following periods, within the scope of achieving the objectives set forth in the Law, various obligations will be stipulated for enterprises through the regulations issued by the relevant public institutions and organizations.
Those who fail to submit the verified greenhouse gas emission report within the deadline will be subject to an administrative fine from TRY 500,000 (approx. USD 12,500) to TRY 5,000,000 (approx. USD 125,000) and this fine will be doubled for enterprises included in the ETS.
B. Adaptation to Climate Change
Within the scope of the National Contribution Declaration, the net zero emission target and the strategies and action plans published by the Presidency, institutions and organizations will carry out compliance activities to prevent existing or potential loss or damage, minimize risks and benefit from climate change incentives.
Those who violate the procedures and principles, prohibitions or limitations specified by the legislation regarding ozone-depleting substances and fluorinated greenhouse phases will be subject to an administrative fine from TRY 120,000 (approx. USD 3,000) to TRY 2,500,000 (approx. USD 62,500) depending on the type of violation.
C. Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism
The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (“CBAM”) will be established to address the embedded greenhouse gas emissions of goods imported into the Turkish Customs Territory, and the reporting, scope, content, procedures and principles regarding the CBAM will be determined by the Ministry of Trade in coordination with the ministries.
D. Implementation Tools and Incentivizing Investments
The Law sets forth the principles of implementation instruments, which refer to the realization of financing, technology development and transfer, as well as capacity enhancement activities to combat climate change. Accordingly:
– Investments to mitigate carbon emissions, including green and sustainable capital market instruments and bank loans, can be supported.
– Support mechanisms will be developed for investments aimed at waste reuse. In this regard, a mandatory utilization rate for the use of recycled materials can be introduced for enterprises.
– Green technologies will be developed and disseminated.
Within the scope of efforts to combat climate change, activities that contribute to (i) the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, (ii) climate-friendly investments, and (iii) the R&D and sectoral technological transformation required by green growth and the mechanisms put in place in this respect will be supported. Strategic sectors and priority projects will be considered for the incentives to be provided. Accordingly, adequate mechanisms will be established to support legal entities and public institutions and organizations operating in strategic priority sectors for the implementation of the Law, in particular, the sectors included in the ETS.
E. Emissions Trading System
The Emissions Trading System (ETS)[1], which refers to a national and/or international market-based mechanism that operates based on the principle of setting an upper limit on greenhouse gas emissions in line with the net zero emission target and encourages greenhouse gas emission reductions by buying and selling allowances,[2] will be established by the Presidency. National allowance planning will be prepared, and allocation of allowances will be realized. National allowance plans will be published in the Official Gazette. The ETS market will be operated by Energy Exchange Istanbul (tr. Enerji Piyasaları İşletme Anonim Şirketi) which has been designated as the market operator.
Under the Law, the relevant provisions of Law No. 6446 are reserved with respect to the information and documents that may be requested by the Energy Market Regulatory Authority and the market operator within the scope of monitoring and supervision activities to be carried out in the ETS market.
Under the ETS, enterprises carrying out activities that cause direct greenhouse gas emissions, the principles of which will be determined by means of a regulation, will need to obtain a greenhouse gas emission permit from the Presidency to carry out these activities.
Enterprises included in the ETS will be required to submit annual allowances corresponding to the verified annual greenhouse gas emission value.
Under the ETS, offsets will be allowed to cover part of the allowance obligations with an equivalent amount of carbon credits.[3] Businesses not covered by the ETS will be able to voluntarily enter into obligations and purchase carbon credits to offset their emissions.
Among the enterprises included in the scope of the ETS, those that operate without a greenhouse gas emission permit or continue their activities with an expired or canceled greenhouse gas emission permit will be subject to different administrative fines depending on the presence or absence of verified annual greenhouse gas emission reports. Accordingly:
– Enterprises with a verified annual greenhouse gas emission report will be fined TRY 5 (approx. USD 0,13) for each ton of carbon dioxide equivalent emission amount included in the report with the highest emission value submitted to the Presidency in the last five years.
– Enterprises that do not have a verified annual greenhouse gas emission report will be fined from TRY 1,000,000 (approx. USD 25,000) to TRY 10,000,000 (approx. USD 250,000).
F. Data Requests and Audit
Institutions and organizations will share the information, documents and data that the Presidency deems necessary for the implementation of the Law within the requested period and without any charge.
The Presidency has the authority to inspect the activities subject to administrative sanctions due to nonfulfillment of the obligations under the Law. The relevant parties will fulfill the necessary conditions for the inspections, provide the Presidency or the authorized inspection unit all requested information and documents, as well as the raw materials, fuels, products and wastes, emission amounts, emergency plans, monitoring systems and greenhouse gas emission reports and other information and documents related to the activities that may cause climate change, provide all kinds of convenience during the inspection and cover the expenses of the analyses and measurements to be made by the authorities.
Real persons and private legal entities that fail to fulfill the obligation to provide information, documents and data stipulated in the Law or that make misleading statements will be subject to an administrative fine of TRY 170,000 (approx. USD 4,250).
G. Penalties
Those who violate the regulations published pursuant to the Law will be given time by the Ministry to correct the violations, for a one-time period not exceeding one year. If the violation is not corrected at the end of the given period, the activity will be partially or completely suspended by the Ministry until the violation is corrected. Granting of a correction period and suspension of the activity will not preclude the imposition of administrative fines stipulated in the Law.
The amount of administrative fines to be imposed for each act under the Law will not exceed TRY 50,000,000 (approx. USD 1,250,000).
The administrative sanctions that will be imposed by the Energy Market Regulatory Authority within the framework of the Electricity Market Law No. 6446 and the provisions of the relevant legislation and the sanctions stipulated in terms of criminal offenses under the Turkish Penal Code No. 5237 are reserved.
Conclusion
The Law outlines the responsibilities of public institutions and organizations as well as the private sector in combating climate change. It aims to ensure that all stakeholders act in cooperation to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, which is essential in combating climate change in line with the net zero emission target. It also sets forth climate change compliance activities. As the effects of climate change are widely felt nowadays, companies’ utmost attention to comply with the legislation is more important than ever. In this regard, companies should act in compliance with the obligations stipulated in the Law and closely follow future legislative developments on climate change.
[1] The “ETS” is a market mechanism that aims to control the greenhouse gas emissions of enterprises. The system is based on rewarding enterprises that mitigate their emissions while sanctioning enterprises with excessive emissions. Accordingly, the competent authority sets an upper limit for the country’s total amount of emissions by determining the national allowance scheme. Subsequently, the total amount of emissions is distributed to the enterprises as allocations in specific quotas. The relevant enterprises are required to have greenhouse gas emissions in the amount of the allocated allowance and to report their annual emissions to the Ministry in accordance with the regulations stipulated in the relevant legislation. The reports assess whether the relevant enterprises have exceeded the amount of allocated carbon emissions. Companies that emit greenhouse gas emissions below the allocated amount under the ETS will be able to sell the remaining allowances to other companies. Likewise, companies that exceed their allowance can purchase carbon credits from another company and thus realize offsets. In the event that the amount of verified emissions stated in the annual emission reports exceeds the amount of emissions allocated to the relevant enterprise, administrative fines and additional obligations will be imposed on the relevant enterprise.
[2] “Allowance” refers to a greenhouse gas emission right that is the equivalent of 1 ton of carbon dioxide for a certain period of time and is transferable and issued in dematerialized form. Within the scope of the ETS, free allowances can be provided in proportion to historical emission data or benchmark values, and allowances cannot be subject to collateral agreements.
[3] “Carbon credits” refer to the credits generated as a result of the approval and certification of greenhouse gas emission reduction or removal activities by independent organizations and are stated in terms of 1 ton of carbon dioxide equivalent.
