The UK’s Environment Secretary, David Miliband, is trying to persuade the EU to extend its emissions-trading scheme to the roads, the Epoch Times reports. If successful, car-owners could be given a carbon allowance which they could extend by buying surplus credits from other road-users whose own emissions fall below their allocated quota.

Miliband said that in order to deliver a low-carbon transport policy the EU must also extend the scheme to road-users.

“Britain only accounts for two per cent of global CO2 emissions and only a fifth of this comes from road transport,” said Paul Biggs, spokesman for the Association of British Drivers.

In January, officials in Richmond, a London suburb with few provate garages and driveways, started basing annual parking fees on how much carbon dioxide a car emits.