The Clean Arctic Alliance is urging the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and shipping companies to cut black carbon emissions from their vessels operating in the Arctic. Following reports that global sea ice cover hit a record low, Dr. Sian Prior of the alliance stated that swift action must be taken to reduce black carbon emissions.
February 2025 was the third warmest month globally, with temperatures 0.63°C above the 1991-2020 average for February and 1.59°C above the estimated pre-industrial level used in the COP21 accord. This is the 19th consecutive month with global surface air temperature exceeding 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
According to Dr. Prior, if heavy fuel oil vessels switch to cleaner distillate fuels, black carbon emissions could be reduced by up to 90%. The Clean Arctic Alliance suggests that a new regulation under Annex VI of the MARPOL Convention should mandate the use of polar fuels, which emit low or zero black carbon emissions.
Bill Hemmings, advisor on black carbon issues for the alliance, notes that recent IMO discussions outline fuel quality characteristics of distillate grade fuels. These “polar fuels” are widely available and can be more easily cleaned up in case of spills compared to residual fuels.
The International Maritime Organization is set to address black carbon emissions next at its Pollution Prevention and Response sub-committee meeting in early 2026.
Source: https://safety4sea.com/ngo-urges-the-imo-to-address-arctic-black-carbon-emissions