Clean Arctic Alliance Urges Nordic Council to Adopt Resolution on AMOC and Polar Fuels
Cubierto por 3 fuentesPublicado
- Portal PortuarioClean Arctic Alliance instan a Consejo Nórdico a adoptar resolución AMOC y cumplir promesa sobre combustibles polares
- safety 4seaNGOs urge Nordic countries to support stricter Arctic shipping fuel rules
- Hellenics Shipping news“Cut Shipping’s Black Carbon to Protect the Arctic”: Clean Arctic Alliance Response to ICCI & UNEP Overshoot & Cryosphere Reports
Clean Arctic Alliance called on Nordic Council parliamentarians, meeting in Finland on October 26 and 27, 2026, to adopt a resolution on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) and to follow through on commitments made regarding the use of fuels in polar areas to reduce black carbon emissions from Arctic shipping.
Concern over AMOC
AMOC is a system of Atlantic Ocean currents that carries warm water northward and cold water southward. Arni Finnsson, Chair of the Board of the Icelandic Nature Conservation Association, noted that Iceland has already identified changes in AMOC as a security risk, while Iceland's Minister of the Environment, Energy and Climate, Jóhann Páll Jóhannsson, described this threat as a matter of national security. The Alliance called on Nordic lawmakers to acknowledge the associated climate, environmental and social risks and to strengthen monitoring and preparedness.
The polar fuels proposal
The Alliance urged Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden to reaffirm the commitment made in the Nordic Council's October 2025 resolution, which supports requiring cleaner polar fuels for ships operating in the Arctic. The proposal, led by Denmark together with Germany, France and the Solomon Islands, and backed by Greenland, will be discussed at the IMO's Sub-Committee on Pollution Prevention and Response (PPR 14) meeting in January 2027, and according to Hellenic Shipping News it must gain the support of Arctic states such as Canada, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.
What the rule would require
The proposed measure would require ships operating in designated Arctic waters to use cleaner distillate fuels, such as marine gas oil (MGO), or other suitable alternative fuels, restricting the use of residual fuel blends that generate higher black carbon emissions. According to Portal Portuario, blends of marine diesel oil (MDO) and ultra-low sulfur fuel oil (ULSFO) would be barred, as would heavy fuel oil (HFO) used with scrubbers, except under ECA designation.
The role of black carbon
Dr. Sian Prior, Senior Advisor at Clean Arctic Alliance, argued that the IMO's polar fuels regulation would fill an important gap in the current regulatory framework by directly targeting black carbon emissions from ships. According to Hellenic Shipping News, black carbon accounts for around 20% of international shipping's climate impact and, when it settles on snow and ice, accelerates melting by reducing the reflectivity of polar surfaces, in a context where, according to ICCI and UNEP reports cited by that outlet, Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets are melting about six times faster than they were 30 years ago.
