Emissions trading schemes: IKI is driving cross-border dialogue

In September 2024, a delegation from Ukraine visited Türkiye to learn about the structures of Turkish MRV (monitoring, reporting and verification of greenhouse gas emissions) systems and their performance.

The programme for the three-day trip to Ankara, Türkiye, was organised by the projects ‘Supporting the implementation of an emissions trading scheme (ETS) in Ukraine’ and ‘MRV Capacity Development for Türkiye’, which are funded by the International Climate Initiative (IKI). Both projects are being implemented by Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).

The event was opened with presentations from the Turkish Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change (DoCC), its Department for Monitoring Greenhouse Gas Emissions and the MRV project team on the monitoring of greenhouse gas emissions, the related data management system and the planned introduction of an emissions trading scheme and green taxonomy in Türkiye. Insights were also provided into the management of fluorinated greenhouse gases (F-gases) as well as the DoCC’s current structure and activities.

On the second day, the delegation visited the Şişecam Flat Glass Factory in the Polatlı district near Ankara. At the factory, the visitors were given a tour of the glass production and a briefing on the verification process for the plant’s emissions reporting, providing valuable insights into the management of industrial greenhouse gas emissions.

The final day of the trip focussed on the accreditation processes related to greenhouse gas emissions presented by the Turkish accreditation authority TÜRKAK. The project teams from GIZ Ukraine and GIZ Türkiye also found time for in-depth discussions on the implementation of MRV systems in both countries.

Promising starting point for future partnerships

The results of this three-day trip offer a promising starting point for future partnerships on climate change mitigation, particularly once Ukraine emerges from its current crisis and begins on a process of normalisation.

Svitlana Hrynchuk, Ukraine’s Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, also expressed her satisfaction with the cooperation between the two countries. In a meeting with Mustafa Levent Bilgen, the Turkish Ambassador to Ukraine, Hrynchuk praised the successful partnership on the MRV project and the warm welcome given to the Ukrainian delegation in Türkiye: “This opportunity for our experts to familiarise themselves with the experience of Türkiye in implementing MRVs will help us to avoid the usual pitfalls when we start implementing these kinds of systems in Ukraine.”

This bilateral meeting, facilitated by the IKI, underlines the growing level of international cooperation seen in relation to tackling climate change and developing common strategies.