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The Türkiye Green Taxonomy Regulation was published in the Official Gazette No. 33380 dated 24 September 2026.

Türkiye Green Taxonomy Regulation

The main objective of the Regulation is to support economic activities aligned with sustainable development goals, increase the flow of finance toward sustainable investments, and prevent greenwashing practices. In this context, the Türkiye Green Taxonomy establishes a common classification system for assessing economic activities from an environmental sustainability perspective.

The Regulation covers the activities of public institutions and organizations, businesses, and financial institutions. It sets out which economic activities fall within the scope of the taxonomy, the technical screening criteria to be applied, reporting and verification processes, and the use of the Online Taxonomy Management System. The legal basis of the Regulation is Climate Law No. 7552 dated 2 July 2025.

According to the Regulation, merely describing an economic activity as “environmentally friendly” or “green” is not sufficient. For an activity to qualify as a taxonomy-aligned economic activity, three fundamental conditions must be met simultaneously: the activity must make a substantial contribution to at least one of the defined environmental objectives, it must not cause significant harm to any of the other environmental objectives, and it must comply with minimum social safeguards.

The Regulation identifies six key environmental objectives:

  • climate change mitigation,
  • climate change adaptation,
  • sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources,
  • transition to a circular economy,
  • pollution prevention and control,
  • protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems.

Therefore, the taxonomy does not focus solely on reducing carbon emissions. It adopts a broader sustainability perspective that also includes resource efficiency, waste reduction, circular production, water use, pollution control, and biodiversity protection.

The Regulation also incorporates the principles of “substantial contribution” and “do no significant harm”. For example, if an activity significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions but causes serious harm to water resources, biodiversity, or pollution control objectives, it will not automatically be considered taxonomy-aligned. Technical screening criteria to be developed for each economic activity will form the basis of this assessment.

Another important element is the requirement to comply with minimum social safeguards. In addition to environmental sustainability, the protection of workers’ rights and broader social rights is also required. In this context, consideration will be given to the ILO’s fundamental labour conventions, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and applicable Turkish labour and social security legislation.

Technical Screening Criteria

Technical screening criteria will be developed to determine whether economic activities are genuinely aligned with the taxonomy. These criteria will be established by the Climate Change Presidency and, as far as possible, will consist of measurable and quantitative indicators. Carbon footprint standards, life-cycle impacts, scientific data, technological developments, sector-specific conditions, and financial impacts will be taken into account in the assessment.

One particularly noteworthy provision is that production activities involving the use of solid fossil fuels will not be regarded as environmentally sustainable economic activities. The technical criteria will also be updated periodically. Where updates are made, the revised criteria will be published no later than 15 December each year and will apply from the following year onward.

Indicators to Be Measured for Companies

One of the most important aspects of the Regulation for businesses is the use of key performance indicators. The economic significance of taxonomy-eligible or taxonomy-aligned activities will be assessed mainly through three indicators:

Turnover, meaning the proportion of company revenue generated from products or services falling within the scope of the taxonomy;

Capital expenditure (CapEx), meaning the proportion of company investments that are taxonomy-aligned;

Operating expenditure (OpEx), meaning the proportion of operational expenses related to activities covered by the taxonomy.

For this reason, the taxonomy is not a matter solely for environmental or sustainability departments. It creates a framework that requires financial, accounting, investment, production, and sustainability data to be assessed together.

Reporting System

Public institutions, organizations, and businesses carrying out at least one of the economic activities listed in Annex 1 may submit taxonomy reports using templates to be published by the Climate Change Presidency. Separate reporting obligations are established for financial institutions.

Banks, brokerage firms, investment companies, portfolio management companies, insurance and reinsurance companies, and pension companies are among the financial institutions subject to reporting requirements under the Regulation. However, a transitional period has been granted to financial institutions until 1 January 2029.

This has an indirect but important implication for the real sector. Financial institutions may request taxonomy-related data from companies to which they provide loans or in which they invest, in order to calculate their own taxonomy performance. The Regulation explicitly allows financial institutions to request taxonomy reporting from companies within their scope.

Accordingly, in the future, access to green finance or certain financial instruments may increasingly depend on factors such as:

carbon footprint, energy consumption, environmental performance, the nature of investments, and taxonomy alignment.

This should be understood as a practical implication that may arise from the Regulation rather than as a direct legal obligation concerning lending decisions.

Reports will generally be uploaded to the Online Taxonomy Management System by the end of the sixth month following the end of the relevant financial year. In addition, where the share of a specific economic activity remains below 10% of the company’s total turnover, capital expenditure, or operating expenditure, there is scope for the related key performance indicators to be excluded from reporting.

Taxonomy Transition Plan

The Regulation addresses not only the reporting of current performance, but also companies’ future transformation strategies. A taxonomy transition plan is defined as a strategic plan prepared by businesses to achieve compliance with the taxonomy’s technical criteria or to manage risks arising from the transition to a low-emission economy.

The transition plan is regarded as a complementary element of the taxonomy report. Detailed implementation procedures will be determined separately by the Climate Change Presidency.

Digital System and Transparency

Taxonomy-related reporting and procedures will be carried out through the Online Taxonomy Management System. As a general principle, taxonomy reports uploaded to the system will be publicly accessible. This is intended to make companies’ environmental sustainability claims more comparable and verifiable.

The Regulation also provides that entities failing to submit the information and documents required for reporting may be subject to administrative fines under the Climate Law.

What Does This Mean for Businesses?

In simpler terms, under the Regulation it will no longer be sufficient for a company simply to state:

“We operate in an environmentally friendly manner.”

Companies will increasingly need to demonstrate, in measurable terms, which taxonomy activity their operations correspond to, which environmental objectives they contribute to, whether they cause significant harm to any other environmental objective, whether they comply with social safeguards, and what proportion of their turnover, capital expenditure, and operating expenditure is taxonomy-aligned.

For this reason, the Türkiye Green Taxonomy can be regarded as an important regulatory framework that brings together carbon footprint management, energy and resource efficiency, circular economy practices, sustainable investment planning, and access to green finance within a single structure.