Trinidad’s prime minister said Thursday that his small industrial nation does not bear a major responsibility for the global buildup of greenhouse gases, even if it ranks among the top 10 per capita in carbon emissions.

Patrick Manning, whose country is hosting dozens of leaders this week to discuss climate change, said the government of Trinidad and Tobago rejects any environmental analysis based on per capita production of carbon dioxide emissions.

“China is the largest emitter in the world, followed by the United States. That’s the reality of the situation,” the prime minister told reporters ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Port-of-Spain. “The per capita argument is one that we consider unsustainable.”

Resource-rich Trinidad, the most industrialized nation in the Caribbean, is one of the world’s leading suppliers of natural gas and petrochemicals such as ammonia. But it has a population of just 1.3 million, about 1,000th that of China.

“When the earth responds to concentration of greenhouses of gases in the atmosphere it does not do so on a per capita basis, it does it on the basis of absolute emissions,” he said.

Trinidad plans to announce voluntary changes that will reduce its carbon output, the prime minister said.

Manning’s comments reflect some of the underlying debate as world leaders prepare for a major climate conference in December in Copenhagen. There is still wide disagreement over who should bear the costs of reducing carbon emissions.

Members of the Commonwealth, mostly former British colonies who gather every two years to discuss a range of issues, hope to produce a statement that will influence the negotiations in Denmark next month.

Non-Commonwealth leaders such as French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon are also expected to join the meetings in Trinidad to help push for an international agreement on reducing emissions.