Turkish Green Taxonomy Regulation Published
The Turkish Green Taxonomy Regulation (Regulation) was published in the Official Gazette dated 24 September 2026 and numbered 33380 and entered into force on the same date. The Regulation sets out the procedures and principles governing the Turkish Green Taxonomy (Taxonomy) with the aim of promoting financial flows towards sustainable investments and preventing greenwashing.
The key matters addressed under the Regulation are summarized below:
Key Framework of the Taxonomy and Activities Within Its Scope
Taxonomy is a classification system for identifying economic activities aligned with environmental objectives. These objectives are greenhouse gas emissions reduction, climate change adaptation, sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources, transition to a circular economy, pollution prevention and control, and protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems.
Under this framework, certain activities are divided into various classes based on environmental objectives. Activities covering certain sectors are recognized as “eligible economic activity”. Among those falling into this class, those complying with certain additional requirements are classified as “aligned economic activity”. In addition, activities that, subject to certain conditions, support the transition in sectors where low-carbon alternatives are not yet available are referred to as “transition activities”, while activities with a substantially positive environmental impact are defined as “enabling activities”.
Key Concepts and Relationship with Existing Legislation
The Regulation builds on the conceptual framework established by Climate Law No. 7552 (Climate Law) and secondary legislation on sustainable finance. Concepts defined under the Climate Law, such as “climate change adaptation”, “net-zero emissions”, “greenhouse gas emissions reduction” and “sink area”, are also included in the Regulation.
The Regulation also shows parallels with the Regulation on the Calculation of the Green Asset Ratio of Banks (Green Asset Ratio Regulation), published by the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BRSA) in 2025. Both regulations are based on similar environmental objectives and the principles of substantial contribution, doing no significant harm and compliance with minimum social standards. However, while the Green Asset Ratio Regulation uses these criteria to classify assets financing economic activities, the Regulation applies the classification directly to economic activities. The Regulation also defines “greenwashing” as the deceptive use of public relations, financing, advertising or marketing methods to create a misleading perception regarding the contribution of products or services to environmental objectives and their alignment with the Taxonomy.
Technical Screening Criteria
Whether an economic activity substantially contributes to environmental objectives and does no significant harm to the other objectives is assessed against technical screening criteria determined by the Directorate of Climate Change (Directorate). The criteria are determined quantitatively to the extent possible and may be updated by the Directorate. Activities relating to the production of solid fossil fuels are not considered environmentally sustainable.
Reporting and Taxonomy Transition Plan
The Regulation introduces key performance indicators based on revenue, capital expenditure and operating expenditure for reporting purposes. The taxonomy transition plan, which constitutes a complementary element of the report, is a strategic plan designed to achieve compliance with the technical screening criteria or manage risks arising from the transition to a low-emission economy. The procedures and principles governing transition plans and verification will be determined by the Directorate.
Entities carrying out economic activities covered by the Taxonomy may report voluntarily. Reporting is mandatory for intermediary institutions, investment companies, portfolio management companies, banks, insurance and reinsurance companies, and pension companies.
Administrative Fines
Entities subject to mandatory reporting that fail to comply with their notification, information and document submission obligations will be subject to the administrative fines stipulated under the Climate Law.
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