"Climate Change: Polluting Arctic shipping was 65% made up by Novatek’s fossil fuel cargo in 2019."

Along with a rapid expansion of fossil fuel investment, the Arctic region has seen a surge of climate change effects in the last decades¹. By 2050, the 23 million km² northern hemisphere permafrost⁴ may decrease up to 25%¹. In September 2018, the sea ice reached a minimum extent of 4.59 million km², 26% (1.63 million km²⁾ less than the 1981-2010 average minimum. In 2018 alone, 9.89 million km² of ice was lost between March and September. Further, the Arctic surface air temperatures continue to warm at twice the global rate². Loss of sea ice and warming effects may lead to an acceleration of the Siberian permafrost thaw³.

The Arctic sea ice retreat is opening a shipping passage at the Northern Sea Route (NSR), reducing the distance for trade between Europe and Eastern Asia. The number of vessels passing through the NSR has increased from 4 in 2010 to 207 in the 2011-2015 period⁵. Shipping emits over 940 million tonnes of CO₂ each year and is responsible for 2.5% of GHG emissions globally⁶, which are the core cause of rising temperatures⁷. In the NSR region, polluting emissions from shipping further intensify warming effects^8;p145. Studies show that NSR shipping does not offer more climate benefits than other routes, as the Arctic is particularly climate-sensitive^9;p2.


Novatek is one of the largest natural gas producer company in Russia. In 2017, it entered the international gas market by launching LNG production at Yamal in the Arctic^10;p20. Novatek’s fossil fuel distribution increasingly became the major performer in Arctic shipping. In 2019, the NSR delivered more than 31.5 million tonnes of cargo shipments, 57% more than the previous year. The cargo was comprised of 90% fossil fuels. Natural gas from Novatek’s Yamal LNG project, i.e. 20.5 million tons, represented 65% of the total¹¹.

NSR shipping emissions can have profound climate consequences in the Artic. Novatek’s share of LNG cargo places the company as the major contributor to shipping emissions in the region.

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