What is TSRS and Why Did It Become Mandatory?
TSRS (Turkish Sustainability Reporting Standards) is a national sustainability reporting framework that aims to enable companies to report their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance in a comparable, auditable, and transparent manner. TSRS aims to present not only the environmental impacts of companies but also their resilience to climate risks, social approaches, and governance structures from a holistic perspective.

Developed in full compliance with global reporting standards (IFRS/ISSB), TSRS transforms sustainability from a voluntary communication and reputation tool into an integrated management issue within the financial reporting discipline. This makes sustainability data as important, measurable, and auditable as companies’ financial statements.

The main reason TSRS became mandatory is that climate change, resource constraints, and social risks are no longer just environmental issues for companies, but directly represent financial risks and opportunities. Climate-related physical risks, regulatory pressures, carbon pricing, supply chain disruptions, and investor expectations; This directly impacts the long-term profitability and competitiveness of companies.

In this new era, TSRS imposes on companies the responsibility of disclosing not only “what they do,” but also the risks they face, how they manage these risks, and how they prepare for the future. Therefore, TSRS is positioned not just as a reporting obligation, but as an integral part of companies’ sustainable growth and financial resilience strategies.

A New Era in Sustainability Reporting: KGK Decisions
With the decisions taken by the Public Oversight, Accounting and Auditing Standards Authority (KGK), sustainability reporting has been made official, binding, and subject to audit for the first time in Turkey. This development has moved sustainability from voluntary reporting to integrating it into the same discipline as financial reporting for publicly traded companies that meet the threshold values.

With the KGK decisions, companies are expected to disclose their environmental and social activities in sustainability reporting, as well as to present these activities with measurable, verifiable, and standards-compliant data. TSRS has become a reporting area evaluated together with financial statements; sustainability performance is directly linked to companies’ financial situation and future goals.

In this new era, auditability and data accuracy are paramount. KGK (Turkish Public Oversight Board) regulations mandate the consistency, traceability, and reliability of data used in sustainability reports. Thus, the often-reported, declarative, or marketing-oriented reports of the past are being replaced by reports that are fully compliant with standards, based on a strong technical infrastructure, and open to audit.

This change brings about a new and comprehensive compliance process, especially for medium and large-sized companies. Strengthening the data collection infrastructure, clarifying internal responsibilities, and ensuring integration between financial and sustainability teams are the fundamental building blocks of this process. This new era, initiated by KGK decisions, offers companies a strategic opportunity for stronger governance, transparent reporting, and long-term sustainable growth.

Who is TSRS (Turkish Sustainability Reporting Standards) for?
TSRS is designed as a mandatory reporting framework for companies exceeding certain financial and operational thresholds. However, the impact of these standards is not limited to the companies within its scope today. TSRS represents an inevitable area of ​​transformation in the medium and long term for numerous organizations operating in Turkey.

Specifically;

Publicly traded companies; due to investor expectations and transparency obligations,
Large-scale industrial and manufacturing firms; due to high environmental impact and supply chain pressures,
Financial institutions; due to the increasing role of ESG criteria in credit, risk, and portfolio management,
Exporting companies trading with the EU; within the scope of CBAM, supply chain reporting, and green trade requirements,
TSRS also offers an important preparation ground for medium-sized companies that are not currently subject to mandatory coverage. Companies that voluntarily report in compliance with TSRS can adapt to future regulations more quickly, present a more reliable profile to investors and financial institutions, and strengthen their corporate governance structures early on.

TSRS is a comprehensive transformation framework that concerns not only companies within its scope but also all organizations that want to integrate sustainability into their business strategy and aim for long-term growth and international competitiveness.

3 Critical Criteria: Total Assets, Annual Net Sales Revenue, and Number of Employees
These three criteria determine whether you are subject to TSRS.