The Clean Arctic Alliance is calling on International Maritime Organization (IMO) member states to support a proposal requiring ships operating in the Arctic to use cleaner fuels with lower black carbon emissions, as the organisation's Pollution Prevention and Response committee meets this week.

A paper submitted to the PPR 13 meeting (9-13 February) by Denmark, representing Greenland at the IMO, along with France, Germany and the Solomon Islands, proposes a new mandatory Arctic fuel measure for MARPOL Annex VI. The measure would establish characteristics for fuels considered suitable for Arctic use — termed "polar fuels".

Dr Sian Prior, lead advisor to the Clean Arctic Alliance, said: "After 15 years of consideration of cleaner fuels by the IMO, north Atlantic coastal nations must now take the lead by supporting one another in the efforts to clean up air-polluting emissions from international shipping, and bringing other IMO member states on board."

The proposal comes as Arctic sea ice extent reached its lowest level in December in the 47-year satellite record, according to the alliance. Prior noted that black carbon emissions from shipping contribute to the melting of sea and land ice, with global consequences, and increase the risk of respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses in local communities.

The proposed fuel characteristics include maximum limits for fuel density, viscosity and carbon residue to help limit sooting, according to Bill Hemmings, black carbon advisor to the Clean Arctic Alliance. He said: "Polar fuels will prevent the use of residual fuels or blends including heavy fuel oil (HFO) used by many ships worldwide today, often in conjunction with exhaust gas cleaning systems (scrubbers)."

The alliance is urging member states to support the proposal in a working group at PPR 13 and forward it to the Marine Environment Protection Committee meeting in April–May for approval.

A new report commissioned by the Clean Arctic Alliance, produced by Energy and Environment Research Associates, analysed black carbon emissions from Arctic shipping between 2019 and 2024. The report found that while distillates are the dominant fuel choice in the Arctic, residual fuel use remains present and is increasing as ship traffic grows.

According to the report, black carbon emissions have grown by 47% in the five years from 2019 to 2024. Norway's Exclusive Economic Zone has the highest black carbon emissions within the 60°N and AMAP Arctic areas, the report states.

The existing Arctic heavy fuel oil ban, scheduled for full enforcement in 2029, is limited to the Polar Code region. The report indicates that even with full implementation, black carbon reductions would be limited to between 2.4% and 5.0%, depending on geographical scope, due to already widespread use of distillate fuels.

The geographic scope of the proposed Arctic fuel measure is yet to be decided. The proposal suggests waters north of 60°N latitude, which would encompass all Polar Code Arctic waters. The report notes that in the Atlantic part of the Arctic, over 366,000 tonnes of residual fuel use in 2024 was beyond the Polar Code Arctic waters.

The alliance is also calling on member states to develop a regulation in MARPOL Annex VI to facilitate restricting scrubbers in Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas.

Eelco Leemans, technical advisor to the Clean Arctic Alliance, remarked: "Scrubbers at present justify the continued use of heavy fuel oil (HFO), the dirtiest of all fuels. The shipping industry should get its act together by rapidly moving away from HFO and from fossil fuels in the longer term."

Black carbon is produced by incomplete burning of fossil fuels and has an impact more than 1,600 times that of CO2 over a 20-year period, according to the alliance. The pollutant accelerates melting when deposited on snow and ice, reducing the reflective capacity of polar ice caps.

The Clean Arctic Alliance comprises 24 non-profit organisations campaigning for Arctic protection.