Building capacity in Türkiye for maritime decarbonisation

Customer challenge

Türkiye has set an ambitious target to achieve net zero emissions by 2053 and is now seeking to accelerate decarbonisation across its maritime sector. As a nation with strong trade ties to the European Union, Türkiye’s shipping industry is already influenced by EU legislation, including the EU ETS and FuelEU Maritime, prompting the need for a coordinated national response.

To support a smooth transition, Türkiye is exploring the most effective policy instruments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining maritime competitiveness. At the same time, the country is assessing its potential to produce zero GHG fuels and identifying opportunities to deploy them along strategic green shipping corridors. This work aims to build a clear pathway for a cleaner, more resilient maritime industry aligned with global climate objectives.

Solution

Ricardo was selected by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to deliver the “Türkiye Regulatory Setup, Market Mechanisms and Capacity Building for Maritime” programme on behalf of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure of Türkiye. The project forms part of the ‘Maritime Decarbonisation and Green Shipping Programme for Türkiye’ co-funded by the European Union and EBRD.

This Programme aims to advance the green agenda in Türkiye’s maritime sector by enhancing environmental protection, mitigating climate change, and supporting a low-carbon, circular economy through sustainable blue economy practices.

The Programme was formally launched in Ankara on 11 September 2025. The launch event marked the beginning of the capacity-building elements, implemented through a series of training, stakeholder engagement and knowledge-sharing activities. Following an initial Awareness Raising event in Istanbul on 12 September 2025, and a first training event focussed on vessel operators on 20 November 2025 (also in Istanbul), there are two further stakeholder training events planned in Türkiye for the first half of 2026. Ricardo is complementing these capacity building sessions for industry with study tours for the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure and other Government partners to visit other European countries to learn from their maritime decarbonisation plans and policies.

For more information on this project and to get in touch regarding upcoming events, please contact us using the form to the right. 

Customer benefit

The project enables the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure of Türkiye to access the international maritime policy, technical, and economic expertise in Ricardo. This is being used to gain specialist input on:

• the design of and options for a monitoring, reporting and verification system for the maritime sector in Türkiye
• assessing and evaluating the options for maritime decarbonisation policy and incentives in Türkiye
• training Turkish industry stakeholders and building capacity in government entities
• assessing the potential for green shipping corridors from Türkiye and identifying the potential for low / zero GHG fuel production in Türkiye to service the future needs of the sector.

With the timescales of this project spanning major milestones at EU level for maritime decarbonisation policy (the coming into force of the FuelEU Maritime Regulation, and the increase to 100% coverage of emissions within the scope of the EU Emissions Trading System), as well as the developments at the International Maritime Organization on the Net-Zero Framework, Ricardo has been extremely well-placed to advise maritime policy design.  

For the EBRD, convening a diverse group of stakeholders across Türkiye’s maritime value chain – including shipowners, shipbuilders, port operators, bunkering service providers, and others – is increasing the visibility of the joint EBRD and EU funded Programme. It is raising awareness of the benefits of decarbonising the Turkish maritime sector through the coming together of EU grants, EBRD loans, and co-financial investments to unlock alternative fuel infrastructure, onshore power supply in ports and/or the construction of new low-GHG, energy/fuel-efficient vessels, helping Türkiye to achieve its decarbonisation goals while remaining competitive in a global market.