# Can carbon offsets be traded or used in Turkey?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/can-carbon-offsets-be-traded-or-used-in-turkey

Inside the national emissions trading system (ETS), the International Carbon Action Partnership (ICAP) reports that an August 2026 regulation allows covered plants to surrender domestic offset credits for a share of their duty, but offsets in the pilot are not decided. On voluntary credits, including selling them, the sources I read say nothing.

## What an offset is

A carbon offset is a credit for one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent that a project avoided or removed. A buyer retires the credit, which takes it off the market, and then claims it. In Turkish this is karbon denkleştirme.

Two things get mixed up. A credit that counts toward a legal duty is a compliance offset. A credit a company buys by choice, for its own climate claim, is a voluntary credit.

## Where offsets are written into Turkish rules (ICAP's summary)

- Climate Law No. 7552 (July 2025) created the legal basis for a national ETS. ICAP's summary says the Carbon Market Board sets offset credit limits and the Directorate of Climate Change (DoCC) regulates offsetting and the use of carbon credits in ETS compliance.
- The ETS regulation, published in the Official Gazette on 27 August 2026: ICAP reports that regulated facilities may surrender domestic carbon offset credits for a share of their annual compliance obligation.
- The pilot covers 2026 and 2027 emissions. ICAP reports that the DoCC's pilot rules of 1 October 2026 say offsets can be used only if the Board decides on their scope and limit. ICAP lists whether offsets can be used in the pilot as still open.

## What no source I read confirms

- Which projects or registries would count as a domestic offset credit. ICAP's summary does not say.
- The size of the share. It is a Board decision and none of the ICAP pages give it.
- Whether Turkish companies may buy, retire or sell voluntary credits, and how a voluntary credit is treated in law or tax. No source I read confirms any rule for selling them. The pages I read do not address it, and I am not stating a rule either way.
- Whether foreign credits can be used in the ETS. ICAP says the DoCC develops policy on importing and exporting carbon credits, and reports no rule.

## This is not YEK-G

YEK-G stands for Yenilenebilir Enerji Kaynak Garanti Belgesi, the renewable energy source guarantee certificate. Under the regulation of the Energy Market Regulatory Authority (Enerji Piyasası Düzenleme Kurumu, EPDK), each certificate is an electronic document worth 1 megawatt hour (MWh) of electricity, and it proves that a set amount of the electricity supplied came from renewable sources. An offset is a tonne of carbon dioxide avoided or removed. A YEK-G certificate does not offset anything and an offset does not prove green power.

## What a Turkish company should do next

1. If your plant is covered by the ETS, ask the DoCC in writing whether offsets are allowed for your first compliance year, and which credits count. The Board has to decide first.
2. If you want to buy voluntary credits, get written advice from a Turkish lawyer or tax adviser before you buy. Do not rely on this page for that.
3. Keep your own measured emissions record ready, because any offset share is a share of your measured duty.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible keeps the project record from field data to a verifier evidence pack and registry submission, and supports partner access for credits. An accredited verifier checks the project and the registry issues the credits. Senseible is not a verifier, registry, broker or lender. It never guarantees issuance. For your own footprint, bill upload applies Turkey's official grid factor (Ministry of Energy, 2023) to the electricity on each bill, and labels it with that source. This is the location-based figure; a YEK-G certificate does not lower it here.

- [YEK-G or Yeşil Tarife](https://senseible.earth/answers/yek-g-or-yesil-tarife-turkey)
- [YEK-G or a direct PPA](https://senseible.earth/answers/yek-g-certificate-or-direct-ppa-turkey)
- [Turkey's emissions trading and the EU carbon border deduction](https://senseible.earth/answers/turkey-ets-pilot-cbam-deduction)
- [Carbon removal projects](https://senseible.earth/carbon-removal/projects)
- [Carbon credits](https://senseible.earth/carbon-credits)

Sources: [ICAP, Turkish Emission Trading System (ETS Map page, read 7 November 2026)](https://icapcarbonaction.com/en/ets/turkiye), [ICAP, Türkiye unveils regulation for its national emissions trading system (31 August 2026)](https://icapcarbonaction.com/en/news/turkiye-unveils-regulation-its-national-emissions-trading-system), [ICAP, Türkiye's Carbon Market Board clarifies initial national ETS pilot design (8 September 2026)](https://icapcarbonaction.com/en/news/turkiyes-carbon-market-board-clarifies-initial-national-ets-pilot-design), [ICAP, Türkiye issues implementation rules for TR-ETS pilot phase (5 October 2026)](https://icapcarbonaction.com/en/news/turkiye-issues-implementation-rules-tr-ets-pilot-phase), [EPDK, Elektrik Piyasasında Yenilenebilir Enerji Kaynak Garanti Belgesi Yönetmeliği (current text, last amended 17 December 2024)](https://www.epdk.gov.tr/Detay/Icerik/23-2-3/mevzuat)

Last reviewed 2026-11-07. Every ETS fact is ICAP's summary of Turkish rules, read on icapcarbonaction.com on 7 November 2026; the Official Gazette and DoCC texts could not be opened here, so check them before you rely on a detail. World Bank, Verra and Gold Standard pages could not give a readable answer, so nothing here rests on them.