The IMO is failing to control the release of black carbon: The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is failing to reduce black carbon emissions despite a push to use cleaner fuels and other pathways being identified over a decade ago, Clean Arctic Alliance lead advisor Sean Prior said in a statement following an IMO pollution prevention and response subcommittee meeting last week.

What needs to happen: The IMO must adopt mandatory regulations requiring ships to move towards distillate fuels while operating near or within the Arctic region, the statement notes. No agreement came on the support of a ban or regulation for scrubber wastewater either, and the group did not come to a consensus regarding the switch to cleaner alternative fuels, the statement says.

Why is this important? Black carbon — which makes up some one-fifth of international shipping’s climate impact — is a “short-lived climate pollutant, produced by the incomplete burning of fossil fuels,” with an impact 3k times greater than CO2 emissions over the course of two decades, according to Clean Arctic Alliance. Black carbon accelerates melting if deposited onto snow and ice, leading to a “disproportionate impact” if released near the Arctic.

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