COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Turkish environmental officials arrived in Denmark on Monday to tout their greenhouse gas reductions and desire to maintain the national status quo.
Ankara said it was free from commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, though it ratified the Kyoto Protocol. Officials said they intend to pursue a business-as-usual model at the climate-change conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, noting their emissions are already below other industrialized nations.
Ankara expects its greenhouse gas emissions to increase as per-capita income rises, though officials are quick to note that national emissions are already roughly 75 percent less than the United States and roughly half of what Denmark emits, Turkey's leading English-language daily Today's Zaman reports.
U.N. researchers have said industrialized nations must cut their greenhouse gas emissions substantially in the next decade to avoid a detrimental increase in the global average temperature.
Turkish Environment and Forestry Minister Veysel Eroglu noted a national energy efficiency law already in place mandates a reduction of 75 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions by 2020.
Ankara said it was free from additional reduction commitments and maintained its aim to keep that freedom unless financial support and technology transfers are offered at Copenhagen.
