Draft carbon crediting and offsetting regulation introduces Turquoise Credits

What happened

On 1 August 2025 Türkiye's Climate Change Presidency published the draft Turkish Carbon Crediting and Offsetting Regulation and opened it for comment until 18 August 2025. The Presidency described the draft as the second step taken after the Climate Law.

Key elements of the draft:

• TR KDS: The Turkish Carbon Offsetting System (Türkiye Karbon Denkleştirme Sistemi) gets a legal framework. Credits can be generated by projects that reduce or remove greenhouse gases in activities outside the ETS scope.
• Turquoise Credit: A credit representing one tonne of CO₂ equivalent generated in TR KDS is called a Turquoise Credit (Turkuaz Kredi). Issuance and tracking of credits will be carried out by the Turkish Standards Institution (TSE); methodology approval and overall coordination sit with the Presidency.
• Two registries: A Turkish Carbon Offsetting Registry and a Turkish International Carbon Registry are being set up.
• Use: Credits can be used for offsetting both in voluntary commitments and against ETS obligations.
• International dimension: Credits generated under the Paris Agreement are to require corresponding adjustments (the reciprocal accounting that prevents double counting); pilot and transitional provisions leave room for temporary use of international credits in the ETS.

Under the draft text, projects entering TR KDS must not have generated credits under another international programme and must not have received a YEK-G certificate (Türkiye's renewable energy guarantee of origin) or a similar energy certificate. Projects are also expected to contribute to at least three Sustainable Development Goals.

Who is affected

• Companies developing, or planning to develop, projects in Türkiye under international voluntary programmes: the Climate Law already makes registration of domestic voluntary market projects in the national registry mandatory.
• Companies buying credits for net zero or carbon neutral claims: which registry holds the credits and where they are retired will be recorded.
• Installations covered by the ETS: they may be able to meet part of their obligation with domestic credits, at a share set by the Carbon Market Board.

Draft provisions may change in the final text. The TR ETS Regulation published on 27 August 2026 confirmed that credits from projects within Türkiye's borders can be used to surrender allowances, at a share to be set by the Carbon Market Board.

What companies should do

• List your existing carbon projects, the programmes they are registered under and their credit vintages.
• Review sales contracts that may require authorisation and corresponding adjustments under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.
• Reassess the quality of the credits you buy and your claims (offset, contribution) against the new rules.

Alalëa supports carbon credit strategy and project assessment: carbon markets.