The UK's shipping industry has rejected the European Union's new emissions trading scheme, claiming it is unworkable in a global business.

The Guardian reports that campaigners have called for the inclusion of an emissions trading scheme as part of the EU's carbon reduction programme.

But Mike Brownrigg, director-general of the UK Chamber of Shipping, dismissed the idea as unworkable, claiming that ships would simply refuel at non-EU ports to avoid emissions quotas.

Brownrigg maintained that any solution must be "global - through the International Maritime Organisation - rather than regional".

He added that "we are just at the beginning of this discussion" - despite what The Guardian describes as "years of talks between shipping companies and governments over how to reduce emissions from the sector".

The Guardian has more on the story HERE.