Turkey's draft carbon sink forest regulation would hand state forests to private firms for 49 years

A leaked draft regulation in Turkey proposes leasing state forests to private companies for 49 years to manage them as carbon sink forests. Critics say this would effectively privatize forests, allowing firms to sell carbon credits and timber while sidestepping constitutional protections. The regulation lacks details on area or per-hectare targets, making its climate benefit unclear. An expert notes that even optimistic scenarios would only add about 2 million tonnes of CO2e annually, roughly 0.3% of Turkey's total emissions. This risks damaging biodiversity and water regimes for negligible climate gains. The OGM would receive a share of carbon revenue, creating a financial incentive to approve more extraction. The public loses access, while companies profit.