At a time of increased international concern and negotiations for greenhouse gas emission reduction, country studies on the underlying effects of greenhouse gas emission growth gain importance. The case of Turkey is particularly interesting due to rapidly growing emissions, accompanied by a political will and actions to reduce the quick growth. The refined Laspeyres method is used in this study to identify factors that accelerate or reduce the increase in Turkish CO2 emissions. A year-by-year decomposition over 1990-2007 is carried out at sectoral level based on disaggregated data that is consistent over time and consistent with international standards. Various interesting results on the underlying effects of sectoral emission growth are found. Valuable insights are gained into CO2 impacts of sectoral policies including energy and emission intensities, fuel switching and activity changes. The results yield important hints for the planning of energy and climate policy. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.