Shipping nations face pressure to cut black carbon in the Arctic

In the UK, at the International Maritime Organization Pollution Prevention and Response meeting in London next week, the Clean Arctic Alliance will be calling on IMO member states to regulate black carbon emissions from ships, mandate cleaner fuels in the Arctic, and ban scrubber discharge in protected waters.

“We call on IMO Member States to urgently agree to the development of a black carbon regulation in MARPOL Annex VI which requires that only polar fuels can be used in and near to the Arctic,” said Dr. Sian Prior, Lead Advisor to the Clean Arctic Alliance. Black carbon, a byproduct of incomplete fossil fuel combustion, has 3,000 times the warming effect of CO₂ over 20 years and is accelerating Arctic ice melt.

The Alliance is urging the IMO to replace residual fuels with distillate-grade DMA marine fuels or alternatives with lower black carbon emissions. “The IMO must agree that only distillate-grade DMA marine fuels or other fuels which result in similar or even lower levels of black carbon emissions will replace all residual use,” said Bill Hemmings, Black Carbon Advisor to the Clean Arctic Alliance.

The meeting will also address scrubber waste discharge, which the Alliance argues should be banned, as it allows ships to continue using high-emission fuels. The IMO faces growing pressure to take decisive action before Arctic climate changes become irreversible.

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