In the European Union, the struggle against climate change has always had an important position. Within this framework, studies are carried out at least as important as eliminating the effects of the pandemic in the world. In recent years, the European Green Deal is among the most up-to-date studies within the EU climate change studies.

What is the European Green Deal?

The European Union has the goal of becoming the first carbon neutral continent with the works to be carried out until 2050 within the scope of the plan to struggle against climate change. In this sense, as a result of the European Green Deal, many regulations have been made to reduce carbon emissions resulting from international commercial activities. Through regulations such as carbon tax, different global greenhouse gas emission reduction efforts are shared with commercial stakeholders.

What is included in the European Green Deal?

The European Green Deal, which has been carefully and broadly prepared, basically has scopes determined by 7 strategies. For a clearer and clearer understanding, these scopes can be analyzed separately.

• The first scope is biodiversity and taking all necessary measures to protect the ecosystem, which is in a highly vulnerable point of balance today.
• Farm to fork is the second step and involves creating sustainable agricultural methods for consumers and producers.
• The scope of clean energy includes reducing the world’s need for fossil energy sources as much as possible and thus switching to natural energy sources that do not create carbon emissions, such as solar, wave and wind.
• Sustainable industry includes supporting and leading the way for sustainable and environmentally friendly production.
• While construction and renovation are the next scope, a more sustainable construction sector is attempted to be achieved. The aim is to reduce carbon emissions from the sector’s activities.
• Sustainable transportation is a different scope, which includes supporting the use of environmentally friendly transportation vehicles that generate the lowest level of carbon emissions.
• Elimination of pollution is the last scope, while the aim is to take all necessary measures to remove air, water and soil pollution in a quick and effective manner.

What is the Significance of the European Green Deal?

Today, there is an arrangement such as paying a tax of € 80 per ton of carbon emission, such as the Carbon Border Adjustment, in response to carbon emissions in EU countries. In addition to this, in countries and companies with lighter sanctions within the scope of climate change arrangements, carbon tax application is demanded by considering the carbon content while exporting to the European Union.

The implementation of such an application will reshape the competitive advantage and will have a significant impact on countries like Turkey that export to the European Union countries. This is because within the system, countries with low emission rates will be exempt from tax or will be able to trade with European Union countries with very low taxes. However, countries with high emission values such as Turkey and China will have to face additional carbon costs.

In addition to all these issues, the existence of sustainability and Paris Agreement provisions within the framework of the European Union’s free trade agreements may also have critical financial and commercial repercussions for Turkey.

Which sectors will be more affected by the European Green Deal?

Due to the Carbon Border Adjustment in the framework of the European Green Deal, every sector exporting to the European Union will be under the effect. But especially in terms of considering Turkey;

• The cement and construction sector, as the sector with the highest carbon emissions, will have to face the highest financial obligations.
• In terms of the retail sector, there are different stages in this sector such as production, logistics, distribution, and transport, and each of these stages has carbon dioxide emissions.
• While the textile sector is at the third point of the ranking, it is also one of the sectors with the highest export relationship between Turkey and the European Union countries. However, in this sector, electricity is used very intensively in the production phase. Therefore, high carbon emissions are generated.
• In terms of agriculture and food sectors, the farm to fork strategy in the agreement will be directly linked to the agriculture and food sector.
• The industrial sector is also a sector that produces very high results in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. A major environmental, circular, and digital transformation will also need to be realized in this sector.
• While the energy sector is in the last group, the fact that Turkey has 72.8% responsibility in terms of greenhouse gas emissions reveals the need for a major reform. In this framework, there will be a necessity to switch to renewable energy and clean energy instead of fossil fuels.

When will the European Green Deal Compliance Start?

While the first presentation for the European Green Deal was made in 2019, strategy studies were launched gradually as of 2020. Looking at the European Union work schedule, there is information on the implementation date and methods in terms of Carbon Border Adjustment, which will start as of 2023.

What Preparations Can You Do for the European Green Deal?

In many different sectors in Turkey, companies need to achieve rapid development to withstand competition in trade with EU countries. In this regard, carbon emissions are at the forefront within the framework of the European Green Deal and the Border Carbon Regulation that comes indirectly. In order to be prepared in this regard and to take a strong place in the competition;

• It will be necessary to focus on the corporate carbon footprint and product carbon footprint values in the following processes by calculating the carbon footprint. By calculating these values, organizations can continuously monitor the carbon emissions they are responsible for and create a good carbon management system.
• In the next step, carbon emission costs should be calculated. In fact, although there is no charge for carbon emissions in our country at this point, both the European Green Deal and different national international practices show that these practices will start soon. To be prepared in advance, you can make a cost due to carbon emissions resulting from your activities within your company. At this point, you can also support carbon mechanisms with reports.
• It will be necessary to develop a carbon emission strategy as another important point. In this respect, after calculating the carbon cost potential of the company, a strategy should be determined at the point reaching from supply to production in order to reduce it and gain competitive advantage. In this way, a significant reduction in carbon tax can be achieved.

What Can We Do for You in This Process?

As Greenlife Consultancy, we can provide you with services in applying practical methods in carbon emission management with accurate and up-to-date data. We provide easy management with our professional team at many points in terms of carbon footprint management.

All your work can be reported for you within international standards, steps can be fulfilled within the framework of new regulations and practices, and the opportunity to gain competitive advantage in follow-up and trade can be achieved.