The Platform Will Calculate the Carbon Footprint, Enabling Exporters to Save 500 Million Dollars
TİM Chairman Mustafa Gültepe announced that companies will be able to calculate and report their carbon footprint for free using the GREENTİM Platform. He stated, "When we calculate the carbon footprint of our 150 thousand exporters on GREENTİM, we will save approximately 500 million dollars. At a time when we are talking about sustainability and waste prevention, such a saving is very meaningful."
The Türkiye Exporters Assembly (TİM) has added a new service to the services it offers to exporting companies in the process of complying with the Green Deal. Companies will be able to calculate and report their corporate carbon footprint for free through the GREENTİM Platform developed by TİM after about a year of work. Thanks to the artificial intelligence-supported platform, exporters will save approximately 500 million dollars in total.
The introduction of the GREENTİM Platform was made at a meeting attended by TİM Chairman Mustafa Gültepe and Chairman of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK) Prof. Hasan Mandal. Mustafa Gültepe emphasized in his speech that the European Union (EU) is Türkiye's largest and irreplaceable market. Gültepe, who stated that 41% of Türkiye's total exports are to EU countries, continued:
“A big test awaits us in the EU market. Our determination and speed in complying with the Green Deal will determine our success in this test. One of the first topics we will encounter is the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). Exporters who do not comply with this regulation will have to bear additional costs when sending products to the EU market. Therefore, there is no way out for us other than to comply with the Green Deal to maintain and increase our competitiveness. Reporting under the SKDM started last year for the iron-steel, cement, aluminum, fertilizer, and electricity sectors. Carbon tax will be implemented from 2026 for these five sectors, which make approximately 10 billion dollars of exports to the EU annually. 21% of our exporters will be directly affected by the implementation. If we fail to complete the necessary preparations, we will have to pay 138 million euros in carbon tax in 2027. In 2032, the cost will rise to 2.5 billion euros.”
PRIORITY WILL BE GIVEN TO 32 THOUSAND EXPORTERS THAT WILL BE DIRECTLY AFFECTED BY THE CARBON BORDER ADJUSTMENT MECHANISM (CBAM)
Mustafa Gültepe, who stated that they lead the sectors in the process of complying with the Green Deal, recalled that they announced the TİM Sustainability Action Plan with the slogan 'Producing for the World Without Consuming the World' three years ago. Gültepe, who announced that exporting sectors have also completed their action plans, said:
“Today we are here together for the introduction of our GREENTİM Platform. GREENTİM is an artificial intelligence-supported sustainability platform that emerged after about a year of meticulous work. Companies of all sizes will be able to calculate, report, and facilitate the reduction of their corporate carbon footprint through our platform. Companies will be able to conduct their analysis according to national and international standards, and create custom reports. Carbon footprint and sustainability reporting have already become mandatory for many companies, both in exports and in accessing finance sources. For example, companies that are publicly traded and meet certain conditions are required to prepare these reports. Banks also want to see these reports to lend to green transformation projects. With GREENTİM, we are opening the way for companies to easily make these reports. When we calculate the carbon footprint of our 150 thousand exporters on the GREENTİM Platform, we will save approximately 500 million dollars. I believe that such a saving is very meaningful at a time when we talk about both sustainability and waste prevention. We will give priority in GREENTİM to 32 thousand companies directly affected by the carbon regulation. We want these companies to complete their carbon footprint calculations quickly.”
GREENTİM'S DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE WILL BE STRENGTHENED WITH EU FUNDS
Mustafa Gültepe announced that the GREENTİM Platform, accredited by the Turkish Standards Institute (TSE), will be continuously updated according to needs. Gültepe, who stated that they will strengthen the platform's digital infrastructure with EU funds, concluded:
“Hopefully, we will soon add product carbon footprint and water footprint calculation modules to GREENTİM. GREENTİM has shown its importance even in its early stages. At the Istanbul Carbon Summit held last month, our platform was deemed worthy of the 'Low Carbon Hero Award'. Based on the reports obtained from the platform, we will provide mentorship support to our companies to reduce their carbon emissions. The Green Innovation Technology Mentorship Program, led by TÜBİTAK and of which we are a solution partner, will guide us. We have started to form our mentor pool. We received 66 SME and 98 mentor applications from 12 provinces. We will match SMEs with expert mentors in sustainability. Thus, our SMEs will determine their current status in green transformation using the GREENTİM Platform. Then, they will create roadmaps with our mentors. TÜBİTAK will provide SMEs with 90% grant support under the program. We invite all our exporting SMEs to benefit from these programs.”