"Despite more than fifteen years of debate, the IMO, the United Nations Maritime Navigation Body, Keep ignoring the easiest solution: request ships to switch to cleaner fuels immediately when they operate in the Arctic." Kay Brown pointed this out, Director of Arctic Policy of the environmental organization Pacific Environment, presenting the report "On thin ice: Why black carbon demands urgent action" carried out by Pacific Environment and Clean Arctic Alliance to assess the impact of the maritime transport on the Arctic region. Impact of the document highlights to be worrying: "Despite the investigations and the call for voluntary action by the IMO - Brown explained - the black carbon emissions from the maritime transport in the Arctic continues to grow rapidly uncontrolled. Without mandatory requirements, markets do not have the certainty needed to steer fleet operations towards low black carbon options. We call on the IMO to to respond to this Arctic crisis and to urgently address the growing impact of black carbon on health and humans".

The report highlights that the expansion of maritime transport in the Arctic region is causing an increase in the release of in the air of black carbon, which then settles on snow and ice accelerating its dissolution. The fastest result Arctic sea ice retreat is opening up new routes of by extending the period in which navigation in the region is practicable, with the effect of aggravating the problem. The document explains that, according to the status report of the Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME), the number of ships transiting in the Arctic increased from 1,298 in 2013 to 1,781 in 2024, with an increase of +37%, while the cumulative distance traveled within polar waters increased by +108%, going from 6.51 million to 12.7 million nautical miles. The fishing vessels account for the largest share (34%) of this distance bulk carriers, icebreakers and research vessels that hold significant shares.

Ahead of the meeting of the Pollution Prevention Subcommittee and Response (PPR) of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of the IMO, scheduled from 9 to 13 February 2026, the report calls on the International Maritime Organisation to impose a swift transition to 'polar fuels' for use in the arctic region, fuels that are more suitable to be used in this area to reduce the environmental impact of shipping, a measure that would produce immediate benefits. The document recalls that, After carbon dioxide, black carbon is considered the second main cause of global warming caused by the maritime transport and one of the causes of the rapid dissolution of the sea ice. Between 2015 and 2021, black carbon emissions related to maritime transport in the Arctic have almost doubled and global level, about 20% of the total climate forcing of the shipping is due to black carbon.