Turkey’s parliament has approved plans for a system that will enable the pricing of CO2 emissions in the Turkish shipping sector.
This will close a loophole that could be used to circumvent the European Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). An amendment to the ports law will make it possible to tax ship emissions in Turkish ports. The fees will be levied on shipowners whose merchant ships release CO2 when entering and leaving the seaports. It will be decided in the near future which types of ships will be affected and how high the charges will be. Turkey plans to regulate over 10 million tons of CO2 with the new system.
Turkey plans to align with EU ETS
The country is laying the foundations for the introduction of a comprehensive Turkish CO2 market. As in the European Union, the government’s strategy is to establish an emissions trading system. This is to be aligned with the EU ETS.
Compared to the previous year, container throughput in Turkish ports rose to 1.2 million TEU from January to May 2024, an increase of 54%. The largest share – at 340,000 TEU, more than a quarter – is accounted for by EU countries. According to the Maritime Executive, this growth had given rise to fears that shippers could tranship goods via Turkey in order to avoid the EU’s CO2 levy. As none of the ports are considered “adjacent” under the latest update of the EU ETS, it has not been possible for the EU to include Turkey itself in the system.
