UN Shipping Body shows support for Polar Fuels, but takes no action to reduce Black Carbon Emissions

February 3, 2025

As a meeting of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Pollution Prevention and Response sub-committee (PPR 12) closes today in London, the Clean Arctic Alliance welcomed the broad support from IMO member states, and parts of the fuel and shipping industry, for the development of a polar fuels definition, but called on shipping nations to urgently move forward on regulating such fuels to reduce the impact of black carbon – a potent short-lived climate pollutant – on the Arctic.

The Alliance also expressed its disappointment over the lack of progress on banning scrubbers – exhaust gas cleaning systems that remove harmful pollutants and particulate matter from exhaust emissions, meaning the pollutants are dumped into the ocean, rather than the atmosphere.

“While the Clean Arctic Alliance welcomes the steps taken by IMO member states this week in supporting the development of the concept of polar fuels – cleaner fuels, with lower black carbon emissions, appropriate for use in the Arctic – there was as yet no commitment to regulate for the use of these fuels in order to reduce emissions of black carbon in the Arctic”, said Dr Sian Prior, Lead Advisor to the Clean Arctic Alliance.

“IMO Member States must now urgently commit to the development of a new regulation in MARPOL Annex VI – the international convention which regulates discharges and emissions from ships – ahead of their next meeting (PPR13, likely in 2026), in order to address one of the longest running issues on the IMO’s agenda – reducing the impact of black carbon emissions on the Arctic”, said Prior. “This new rule must mean that only polar fuels – once defined – can be used in and near to the Arctic.”

“With the Arctic warming four times faster than the rest of the planet, and rapidly approaching the point where changes such as the loss of sea ice, melting of the Greenland ice sheet, and slowing down of ocean circulation patterns drives further warming, it is a travesty that the IMO and its member states allow the shipping industry to continue increasing emissions of black carbon”, added Prior. “While shipping emissions in and near the Arctic continue to rise, other sectors, such as land-based diesel-powered engines, oil and gas operations and agriculture, are actively reducing their emissions of black carbon.”

Polar Fuels
“The good news is that this week, the marine fuel industry has demonstrated to PPR 12 the fuel quality characteristics of distillate grade DMA fuels which should replace residual fuels in the Arctic and lower ship black carbon emissions”, said Bill Hemmings, Black Carbon Advisor to the Clean Arctic Alliance. “These characteristics could form the basis of a new mandatory IMO regulation. Furthermore it was made clear that these fuels – dubbed ‘polar fuels’ – are both readily and widely available globally and far easier to clean up if spilt than residual fuels This is a significant step forwards to a definition of DMA polar fuels, which along with low or zero carbon fuels being developed to reduce ship GHG emissions, can finally lead to real cuts in shipping’s climate impacts on the Arctic.”

Scrubbers
“The Clean Arctic Alliance is disappointed that there still remains a lack of consensus amongst IMO member states around banning scrubbers globally or even regulating discharges from scrubbers, despite mounting evidence of environmental impacts”, said Eelco Leemans, Technical Advisor to the Clean Arctic Alliance. “Currently there are no global restrictions on scrubbers discharges even in protected areas, but with growing domestic regulation in countries such as Denmark, Sweden and Finland, the shipping sector faces a growing patchwork of national regulation, resulting in different standards being applied around the world. IMO member states must commit to mandatory regulation at PPR 13 in 2026 starting with the adoption of a resolution that will call on shipping operators to immediately stop the release of scrubber discharge wastes in marine protected areas, habitats important for endangered wildlife, and other ecologically sensitive areas such as the Arctic.”

See also:

Relevant IMO Papers on scrubbers: